In a rematch of Super Bowl XLII, this game between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots, has a few story lines. First, will Eli Manning win his 2nd ring, this one in his brother's home? Second, will the Patriots get their revenge on the Giants? It's also a rematch from earlier in the season, in which Eli Manning shocked the Foxboro faithful with a last second game winning TD pass. These questions will all be answered in a mere few hours.
This game is simply going to come down to both team's defenses. I'm not saying this will be a defensive struggle, sans LSU and Alabama, but the game will hinge on these two defenses. Can the New England Patriots finally step up and stop somebody? Their secondary is atrocious, as they are the worst in the league at stopping the pass, and in the bottom half of the league in stopping the run. If the secondary doesn't come too play today for New England, Eli Manning could have another good game like he had in Week 9, when he beat the Patriots 24-20.
On the defensive side for the Giants, it's going to be all about pressure, pressure, and more pressure. The talented, quick, and explosive front 4 for the Giants will have to get to Brady early and often tonight if they expect to win. Their secondary also isn't one of the bests, as they are near the backside of stopping the pass but the explosiveness of the defensive line, helps the struggling secondary out. Jason Pierre-Paul, Justin Tuck, and Osi Umenyiora lead the pass rush for the Giants and if they harass Brady, I don't see anyway the Giants don't win a second super bowl in 4 years.
Offensively for the Patriots, they're going to be without a healthy Rob Gronkowski. Gronk who will play tonight, hasn't gone full speed in two weeks, due to a high ankle sprain he suffered in the AFC Championship. With Gronk being Brady's favorite target, Tom Terrific will need to look to spread it around even more so tonight and get other guys involved. Aaron Hernandez will have an even bigger role today than usual, but I think we'll see him get carries out of the backfield more so than he did versus the Broncos. Could we possibly see a breakout game in Chad Ochocinco's first Super Bowl? While we probably won't see a huge game for him, he could help the Patriots move the chains and sustain drives.
When the two teams met earlier in the season, there was no Bradshaw, Hicks, or Osi, and they are all healthy tonight, and there's too much fire power on both sides of the ball, and they are playing the best ball of the two teams.
Prediction: New York Giants: 35 New England Patriots : 24
MVP: Victor Cruz (2 TD's)
