Will the Super Bowl Be Patriotic or Will New England Experience yet Another Giant Letdown?

The Super Bowl is upon us, and as usual, we’ve ended up with a surprising match up. As we look at the 2012 New York Giants it’s pretty easy to forget that this team was 9-7, and needed a week 17 win over the Dallas Cowboys just to get into the playoffs. In spite of that, no one really seems all that surprised to see them in Indianapolis as we gear up for Super Bowl 46.

No one should really be surprised to see the team that will be lining up against them, as New England was the AFC’s number one seeded team this year, and as expected, they’ll be favored to win.

Come with me, if you will, as we delve into this seemingly excellent match up and hopefully come out with a clear cut winner that you can go ahead and bet your savings, child’s college fund, and retirement account upon. For entertainment purposes only.

THE MATCHUPS.

Quarterback.


There was a moment in the preseason when Eli Manning claimed that he felt he was in the same class as Tom Brady and America’s football fans collectively chuckled and agreed that it was kind of cute that Eli would say those kinds of things, especially because we all imagined him saying them whilst eating Oreos with his friends. No one is chuckling now, especially Bill Belichick, as Eli has yet again entered a Super Bowl as the NFL’s hottest quarterback.

The question at this point is: Does Eli Manning truly belong in the conversation alongside players like Brady and Rodgers? Next Sunday will go a long way toward deciding that.

As I compare the two quarterbacks, I try to remember that playoff football and regular season football are two completely different things. There’s a reason teams like this year’s Packers don’t go far in the playoffs. And that reason is that the playoffs require a different skill set.

Brady can easily torch the Broncos for 6 touchdowns and look like Joe Montana and John Elway’s secret cloned offspring, and while that may be fun to watch, games like that don’t really translate to games against actual playoff-caliber teams. From where I sit, Tom Brady has played one true playoff-type game, and his performance left a lot of questions about his ability to dominate against teams that can pressure him and cover his wideouts.

With all of that said, Tom Brady is still Tom Brady. You can obviously make the argument that he has struggled a bit this season against good competition and you’d be right. But in spite of that, I’ll still take Brady on two weeks rest against Eli. There’s not one look the Giants can give Brady that he hasn’t seen before, so while Brady v. Little Manning actually has some legitimate merit as a discussion this year, if you take the players off of their teams and just judge them on their own, there’s no way I can pick against Brady. Advantage Patriots

Running Backs/Offensive Line


I happen to believe that the Patriots have the most underrated running backs in the game right now, which is probably by Belichick design. The lawfirm of Benjarvus Green-Ellis combined with Danny Woodhead and Stevan Ridley have combined to give New England a fairly formidable backfield, provided they actually had any desire to use it.

The fact is that you don’t get this far without talent on the offensive line as well as in the running game, but as hard as I try to make a discussion out of this, the Giants have Ahmad Bradshaw. And I happen to believe they feature one of the NFL’s best (possibly the best) offensive lines. So let’s just move on. Advantage Giants.


Receivers


Rob Gronkowski evidently is walking around in a walking boot, which makes this argument rather interesting as no one really knows what his health will be come game time. My suspicion is that he’ll play, and that this is just some Patriots ploy to confuse the Giants and mess with gamblers, but either way I am going to assume that he won’t quite be 100%.

Whether Gronkowski is healthy or not, I saw Victor Cruz play last week, and as good as Wes Welker is, I believe Welker is ultimately coverable, and so he doesn’t scare me as much if I’m game planning for him. I love the Patriots tight ends, and it’s hard to argue against them having the best pair in NFL history, but I tend to believe that tight ends are easier to scheme against than great receivers. Whenever I watch New England, I always get this feeling that as good as their offense is, when they come up against a team like the Jets or Ravens who can cover them, Tom Brady ends up struggling. While I don’t believe the Giants necessarily have an elite group of defensive backs, I do believe that their ability to generate pressure with their front four will allow them to double team whoever they want, and unless Deion Branch suddenly forgets that this isn’t 2005, I’ll give the nod to the Giants. Cruz and Nicks just seem much tougher to match up with on the outside than Gronkowski and Hernandez who can be chipped and contained in the middle of the field to an extent. Although I preface this by saying that the Giants game plan last week of inexplicably hoping Antrel Rolle could cover Vernon Davis could easily make this pick look foolish. Advantage Giants.

Front Seven


I actually think this could be a discussion, because Vince Wilfolk is an absolute beast of a man, and New England’s front seven is a quality group, even if they’re unheralded. With all of that said; however, Jason Pierre-Paul, Osi Umenyiora, and Justin Tuck are unbelievably good. Those three names actually end this discussion, as they are essentially the reason the Giants are here, and the main reason you’d pick them to win if you were so bold. Advantage Giants.


Defensive Backfield


I could honestly go into a long rant about this, but the Giants drafted a first round cornerback in Prince Amukamara who is quietly turning into a decent player, while the Patriots have depended upon a wide receiver throughout much of the season to save a rather pedestrian Defensive backfield that has helped pad a lot a mediocre quarterbacks’ stats this year. So while the Giants don’t exactly feature Revis and Cromartie at corner, I’ll take their group if you give me the choice. Advantage Giants.

Special Teams


Last week was a reminder that this category does actually matter. Although it was ironic to see the Ravens, who are coached by a special teams coach, as well as the Niners who are widely agreed to feature one of the league’s best special teams units both play so poorly in this part of their games. I am going to take the Pats in this portion of our comparison as I think they are superior at kicker, and punter, and they happen to feature the aforementioned Julian Edelman in the return game. Advantage Patriots.


It’s not surprising that the Pats are favored in this game. The fact is, the NFL is an Offensive, quarterback-driven league. At least, that’s what you’d believe if you listen to enough sports talk radio and watch enough ESPN. Of course, this year’s playoffs have done good to remind us that the Defense is on the field for the exact same number of plays as the offense, meaning that while you can win a lot of games outscoring your opponents in the regular season, you can’t disregard one side of the ball and expect to win championships. While I do give credit to the Patriots for improving steadily on that side of the ball, and I think the future is bright for them if they can add a couple more pieces there, this game just feels like a Giants win to me.

To me this just boils down to one fact. The Giants are elite, or at least very good in all facets of the game, while the Patriots have holes, and areas where they’re average at best (i. e. defensive backs). So while I believe this is going to be an amazing game, and I could see it going either way, probably featuring some kind of insane and improbable play being made by whoever wins, if you are going to make me pick, I’m going with New York. And with them getting 3 and a half points right now, I’d feel really good about that. But then again, I don’t gamble, and I’m poor. Either way, it should be a great game, with great commercials, and as usual, half-time show just terrible enough to enjoy a guilt-free trip to the bathroom, and then the kitchen to grab another snack. (Hopefully with a nice handwashing in between).


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