The New York Giants vs. the New England Patriots in Indianapolis. In case you didn’t hear it for the millionth time, it’s a rematch of the 2007 Super Bowl where the Giants beat the undefeated Patriots.
Predictions and gametime commentary can go here.
As a Giants fan, I for one will avoid watching TV for the next two weeks. I had my fill of references to Super Bowl XLII during the championship game.
It’ll be a close game. The Patriots will need to continue on their “the best defense is a good offense” philosophy since they have no defense to speak of. Thus, the Giant’s pass rush will be key. Expect a lot of action from Jason Pierre-Paul. The Giant’s secondary will also have their hands full and will need to be way more alert than they were against San Francisco.
Conversely, the Giant’s O-line will need to do a lot better than they have all season long. Give Eli a couple of extra seconds, and he can thread any needle.
I don’t have the numbers, but the Pats’ defense, while 31st in yards, was only about 15th in scoring. Not good, but not terrible. Plus they’ve played really well in their last few games. They shut down a good Denver rushing game and did the same to Rice this week while keeping Flacco mostly in check. Manning is no Flacco, though, and he scares me.
On the other side, I think the Pats’ O line will be able to protect Brady - they’ve been really good at that all year. It will come down to if the Giants can cover both tight ends, and Welker, AND Branch on every play.
Quoting the entirety of the OP in the first response. Classic!
I have a feeling the Giants are going to get a ton of hype heading into this one. Expect every pundit to get on the bandwagon that the Giants are some massive underdog and that they are somehow smart of “going on a limb” to predict a Giants upset. I’d say these teams are really closely matched now that the Giants are healthy and the Patriots might be with a hobbled Gronk. Hell, one might make a heck of a case that the Giants should be favored if any of the Pats weapons are legitimately hobbled. That said, my early gut tells me that this is liable to be a Pats blowout against all expectations. Seeing Eli toss up so many balls that should have been intercepted over the past several weeks makes me gunshy on backing him.
I agree. This is not like 2007 at all. The Patriots are not the juggernaut this year they were then. But, they still are very good, probably a little better than the Giants. Both teams are peaking now, so it should be a great game- the Giants are much better than their regular season record, and the Pats defense has become much better than it was the first 12 games or so of the season.
Winning or losing this game wouldn’t affect Brady’s legacy either way really IMO, but a win really bumps Eli up there. Would be crazy if he doubled his brother’s SB win total in almost half the time.
I agree that the Pats defense is adequate in what matters (points allowed). I worry that the Giants can’t run, and we can’t stop the pass, so we have no advantage there. I’m predicting Pats by 14-21 pts. Score prediction: Pats 35 G-men 17
I don’t agree. I’ve seen more coverage sacks / opposing QBs throwing the ball away during these playoffs than during the last 2 years combined for the Giants. Right now, the pass defense is playing insanely well, save for a couple of blown coverages. I don’t see any reason the Giants win earlier this season vs. the Pats can’t be duplicated, or improved on.
I think Vegas is giving New England 3½ points. Based on the media coverage of the Giants (far more than the Patriots), however, it would seem that most people think the G-Men are set to embarrass Tom Brady again.
If the Giants can get hits on Brady early in the game, the game is theirs. If not, it will be close. What’s interesting is that the Patriots haven’t played indoors all season, while the Giants have just once (at New Orleans, where they received a colossal beatdown).
Interesting, I’ve never heard anyone say they hate Eli. As far as star QB’s go, he’s about as low key and “normal” as they get. I’m curious as to why you hate him. Unless you mean that it’s because him beating your team or something, which is certainly understandable.
It’s good news for the 49ers and San Fransisco, and it seems like it’s the first example of what the NFL lockout was all about. All in all, it sounds like a win-win. I have a couple of questions though. Why in gods name is this thing going to cost over a Billion dollars? I know that’s what Jerry’s house cost, but he went stupid big on that thing and I’m pretty sure it’s not justified. I suppose the Meadowlands cost about the same but that’s a huge building in the New York market for 2 teams, kinda justified. I suppose that if the Raiders get on board to share this space it makes a little bit more sense, but all in all I don’t understand where all this money is going. It’s not like every seat comes with it’s own granite and stainless steel privy. Also, South Bay? I’m not real familiar with the San Fran area but that seems like it’s going to be pretty inconveniently located for the bulk of current season ticket holders.
Also, there’s something to be said for one-upping other franchises. Jerry Jones set a new bar with the new Cowboys Stadium, not to mention the new Meadowlands.