Super Bowl XLVI: New York Giants vs. New England Patriots Position-By-Position Breakdown

30 01 2012

There are about 155 hours left until the kickoff of Super Bowl XLVI, or three viewings of The Tree of Life if you want a rough comparison. The Patriots have already landed in Indianapolis and the Giants are due to arrive today, so in celebration of the official beginning of Super Bowl Week, I’m going to do a position-by-position breakdown of the big game. But before you read all the way through to the bottom expecting to find my prediction, I want to warn you that you’re not going to find it. If you think I’m going to be pressured into giving a prediction that I’ll regret all week, then you must be outside of your mind. It’s not happening.

Quarterback: Eli Manning vs. Tom Brady

If this breakdown was comparing how Eli Manning and Tom Brady played last week, then the outcome might be a little different. If it was comparing which quarterback was hottest at this very moment, then the outcome would definitely be different. But if we’re just comparing Eli Manning and Tom Brady straight-up, with no stipulations, then it’s hard not to tip the scales in Brady’s favor. I know Eli has won his last two games against Tom and I know he’s probably playing the best football of his life right now, but the fact is that Tom Brady is still Tom Brady, official UGG’s spokesman, until further notice. The fact that this is even as close as it is speaks volumes to how well Eli Manning is playing right now. I’ll leave it at that.

Slight Edge: Pats

Running Backs: Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw vs. BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Danny Woodhead

If this category was “Which running back tandem has the best names” then I’d have to give it to the Patriots. BenJarvus Green-Ellis almost has half as many names as he had rushing touchdowns during the regular season and Danny Woodhead sounds like a comic book character. But if we’re comparing them based on which tandem is more likely to swing the momentum of the game, it’s going to have to be Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. Bradshaw is the heart of the Giants offense, even if his numbers may not always show it. He didn’t play the last time the Giants and Pats met back in Week 9 and the Giants still came out on top, so having him around this time should be a big plus for Big Blue. And if Brandon Jacobs can break a few big runs, the Patriots defense will have major problems.

Edge: Giants

Wide Receivers: Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz, Mario Manningham vs. Wes Welker, Deion Branch, Chad Ochocinco

Right now, the Giants have the best wide receiving corps in the NFL and it isn’t even close. Each and every one of those three have had a significant impact on the Giants’ postseason run and they are a major reason why the Giants are going to be playing for the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday night. Nicks had enormous games against Atlanta and Green Bay, and when he was locked down against San Francisco, it was Victor Cruz that stepped up with 10 catches for 142 yards. And what about Mario Manningham? Well, he has only quietly scored 3 touchdowns this postseason, one in each game so far. His 3rd-and-15 catch against San Fran to put the Giants up 17-14 was one of the biggest plays of the season.

As for the Patriots receivers, we all know that Welker has had a monster season. Although the New England receivers are the exact polar opposite of the Giants’ squad in that they are more prone to controlling the middle of the field and not known for their big-play tendencies the way Nicks, Cruz and Manningham are, they are still dangerous and equally hard to cover in the 10-20 yard range. Plus, Ochocinco just bought a pair of Beats by Dre headphones for every single player on the Patriots which is probably the most important thing he’s contributed all year.

Edge: Giants

Offensive Line: Chris Snee, David Diehl, Kareem McKenzie, David Baas vs. Matt Light, Logan Mankins, Nate Solder

These two units are going to play an extremely important role in Sunday’s game. If the Patriots offensive line can protect Brady and make sure he isn’t running scared and throwing darts into the ground like Alex Smith during the 4th quarter last week, then the Pats should be in good shape. We all know what can happen if the Giants get pressure on Brady. We saw it in Super Bowl XLII and we saw it in Week 9. This is no secret. For the Giants, their line was simply abused by the 49ers defensive front last week. Manning was hit so many times he could have legally changed his name to Tina Turner. Luckily for the Giants’ line, the Patriots pass rush isn’t nearly as ferocious as San Francisco’s. For now though, and since the play of the Patriots’ line is much more closely connected to their success than the Giants’ line is, I’m going to give the edge to New England.

Edge: Pats

Tight Ends: Jake Ballard, Travis Beckum vs. Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez

Much like the wide receiver match-up, this one isn’t even close. Only instead of being in the Giants’ favor, this one clearly goes to New England. Jake Ballard can hold his own with just about anyone in the league and has had a great season filling the shoes of the departed Kevin Boss, but he’s leagues away from Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Gronkowski shattered tight end records left and right this season and even on a bad ankle, he’s the player that the Giants defense needs to make its number one priority going into Sunday night. His high ankle sprain is going to be the big story leading up to the game and it’s not likely that Gronk will be 100%, but Rob Gronkowski at 75% is still more dangerous than 90% of the tight ends in the league playing at full health. Plus, Aaron Hernandez plays like a wide receiver and the Pats have even started using him as a running back too because apparently their offense is run by a 12-year-old playing Madden.

Edge: Pats

Defensive Line: Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, Jason Pierre-Paul, Chris Canty, Linval Joseph vs. Shaun Ellis, Vince Wilfork, Mark Anderson

This unit is the Giants’ bread and butter. They will set the tone of this game and it’s up to the Patriots offensive line to keep them at bay, which will be easier said than done considering no offensive line has been able to successfully do that in over a month and a half. The Giants’ defensive line is a very close-knit group and they have big game experience too. Tuck and Umenyiora both played huge roles in the Super Bowl XLII victory and Tuck sacked Brady twice in that game. In fact, if it wasn’t for Eli Manning’s late game heroics, an argument could have been made to give Tuck the MVP of that game. Simply put, this game will be determined by how much pressure the Giants’ front four can put on Brady.

As for the Patriots, Wilfork had an enormous game against Baltimore last week, and it will be up to the Giants’ offensive line to keep him at bay on Sunday. If it was legal for defensive tackles to eat their way through the offensive line though, Wilfork would be absolutely unstoppable.

Edge: Giants

Linebackers: Michael Boley, Mathias Kiwanuka, Jacquian Williams, Chase Blackburn vs. Brandon Spikes, Rob Ninkovich, Tracy White

This is a tough category to call because the Giants linebackers have been really hit-or-miss all season. Only in the last five weeks have they begun to really gel and play some quality football. Jacquian Williams is finally making plays, Boley and Kiwanuka are finally both 100% healthy and Chase Blackburn went from eating Cheetos on his couch two months ago to playing a major role in another Giants Super Bowl run. It’s weird how football works. The linebackers are going to really be tested on Sunday with Gronk and Hernandez roaming the middle of the field. If they can cover and not let either tight end go all Vernon Davis on them, then they will severely limit the Patriots’ offensive options.

Slight Edge: Giants

Secondary: Kenny Phillips, Corey Webster, Aaron Ross, Deon Grant, Antrel Rolle vs. Devin McCourty, Kyle Arrington, Pat Chung, James Ihedigbo, Sterling Moore

I have to give the edge to the Giants here on principle. The Patriots owned the league’s worst passing defense all season, and even though they’ve looked a little better during the playoffs, you need to remember who they went up against the last two weeks: Tim Tebow and Joe Flacco. Two quarterbacks who aren’t exactly known for lighting it up. The most dangerous receiver they’ve had to cover was probably Demaryius Thomas. Let’s get real here for a second. They haven’t had to face a receiving corps like the one the Giants have since the last time they played the Giants. Plus, if they throw Julian Edelman out there on Cruz or Manningham it’s going to be a blood bath. The one thing the Patriots’ secondary has in its favor is that it’s opportunistic. They get a lot of takeaways, so as long as Eli can play mistake-free football and be careful with his throws like he was last week in San Francisco, then the Giants can avoid playing to the Patriots’ strengths.

Edge: Giants

Special Teams: Lawrence Tynes, Steve Weatherford, Will Blackmon, Devin Thomas vs. Stephen Gostkowski, Zoltan Mesko, Julian Edelman, Wes Welker

The Giants special teams play is probably what won the game for them against the 49ers. Weatherford punted the hell out of the ball all night, Thomas’s two fumble recoveries were responsible for 10 points and he might have singlehandedly put the Giants in the Super Bowl and of course Lawrence Tynes was the one who won it with his kick. But the truth is that Big Blue’s special teams have been shaky all season. Another game like last week’s is probably asking too much, but all they really need to do is play smart, mistake-free football. On the Pats’ side, Gostkowski is a model of efficiency and Edelman and Welker are always dangerous in the return game. We’ll call this one even.

Edge: Even

Head Coach: Coughlin vs. Belichick

For the second time in four years, Tom Coughlin has coached himself off of the hot seat and into the Super Bowl. He’s done a fantastic job of getting the team motivated and prepared down the stretch this season and especially in the playoffs and he’s converted guys like Antrel Rolle and Michael Boley and made them believers. In fact, he might be doing the best coaching job of his career right now. But so is Belichick. He’s taken a team with the 31st ranked defense in the league and brought them within one win of a Super Bowl title, which is amazing given the fact that he has based his entire career up until now on his defensive superiority. Basically this comes down to the fact that Belichick is Belichick — the slight edge here goes to the Pats, even though, much like the Manning-Brady comparison, this is much closer than it would have been a few years ago.

Slight Edge: Pats

 

Prediction: No way.


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Sports

Just Enjoy the Ride, Right?

26 01 2012

I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the last few days trying to figure out why this Giants Super Bowl run feels so different from the 2007 Super Bowl run. Am I not recalling the last one correctly? Is my memory skewed and tainted, now that I know the outcome was a Super Bowl title? It was only four years ago, so it’s all still pretty fresh, or as fresh as four-year-old memories can be. So why does this run feel so different, and why does it seem so much more stressful when we weren’t even supposed to be here in the first place?

I’ve tried to go back and put myself in the state of mind I was in during the 2008 playoff run, but it’s a little difficult now in hindsight, especially with the knowledge that we did eventually end up winning the Super Bowl. From what I can piece together though, that run seems to have been, in hindsight at least, a lot less taxing and less stressful than this one does, even though both teams were virtually in the same place before the playoffs began — fringe playoff teams that nobody ever expected to compete for a title.

So what’s the deal?

Was it because I didn’t expect the 2008 team to make a run, so the pressure was off and I simply enjoyed each game for what it was? No, it couldn’t have been that because as recent as a month ago I didn’t expect the 2011 Giants to make a run either. In fact, I had already begun mourning the lost season before JPP dragged us out of the grave against Dallas on December 11th.

What about the playoff games themselves? Nope, it couldn’t be that either, because with the exception of Sunday’s game against San Francisco, we’ve won by double digit margins in every game we’ve won on our five-game winning streak. If you compare the margins of victory in the 2008 playoff run leading up to the Super Bowl (10, 4, 3) with this year’s (22, 17, 3) it’s not even close.

There it is though. There’s a key phrase in that last paragraph that might explain everything: five-game winning streak. This season, we have essentially played two more playoff games than we were supposed to play, and we’ve played three more playoff games than the Patriots. Beginning with our Christmas Eve game against the Jets, every single game we’ve played since Week 15 has essentially been a playoff game. We’ve obviously heard this repeated quite a few times throughout this playoff run so far from Tom Coughlin and a handful of others, but I hadn’t yet looked at it from this perspective yet — as the reason why this playoff run feels longer, harder and more draining.

Every single one of our last five games have been must-win, do-or-die situations, and each victory has been like reaching a new plateau and then looking up and seeing how much mountain there is still left to climb. To compound all of that, there is the issue of perspective that goes along with it as well. For example, since the memories of the 2008 playoff run are still fresh and the vivid memory of winning a Super Bowl is still lingering, it’s only natural that we want more of it. That’s another major factor in what has set this run apart from the last one. The feeling of knowing what it’s like to win it all and not being happy with anything less than that. If you could isolate that feeling and recognize it for what it is, things start making more sense.

There has been a tremendous amount of tension released after each victory on this run. Beating the Jets allowed us to breathe a little easier and push past all of the distracting “New York vs. New York/Rex Ryan” hoopla and focus on making the playoffs. Then, beating the Cowboys allowed us to exhale because we clinched the division and got into the playoffs. The Falcons game allowed us to push past the “first home playoff game at MetLife Stadium” milestone and the “haven’t won a home playoff game in 11 years” stigma that was hanging over our heads. Beating a 15-1 Green Bay team almost felt like winning the Super Bowl, but it wasn’t and we had to recognize that we still had to get past San Francisco. When we finally did though, it allowed for the biggest wave of relief yet when Tynes’ kick sailed through the uprights.

But now, there is one final hurdle, and the fact that we’ve been here once before and jumped this hurdle only makes it that much more important. If we lose to New England this time, will the Pats’ revenge taint our fond memories of the SB XLII victory?

There are two weeks for Giants fans to sit back and enjoy the ride and soak in the joy of being in the Super Bowl, but when Sunday, February 5th rolls around, you better believe that anxiety will return. Because even though we weren’t even supposed to be here a month ago, now we are and there is a lot for us to prove. If it seems like there’s more to prove this year than there was in 2008, it’s probably because there is.


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Sports

Back to Lambeau

9 01 2012

I’ll be honest and admit that it crossed my mind for the briefest of seconds during yesterday’s game. With a little over 9 minutes left in the 4th and the Giants holding onto the ball and a 24-2 lead over the Falcons in an NFC Wild Card Playoff game, I did some quick math in the my head. The lead was 22 points, just one more point than the 21 point lead we held over the Eagles with 8:17 to play in that game last year.

And then, just as quickly as the thought came, it then vanished. And with every time Jacobs and Bradshaw barreled through the exhausted Falcons defensive line to pick up another first down and with every second that dripped off of the game clock, the thought grew more and more distant until it was replaced with something entirely different: that this was not the same football team that let the season slip away on that December afternoon against Philadelphia. Hell, this was not even the same team that showed up and let Rex Grossman slap them around the field just a few weeks ago.

The Giants team that has showed up for the last three weeks now seems like a brand new Giants team, but at the same time they look awfully familiar. Familiar because we’ve seen this Giants team before. They might have had a few different faces back then, but I’ll be damned if they don’t possess that same kind of intensity, the same kind of “nobody believes in us” mentality that propelled them to a Super Bowl title just four years ago.

Last time, we had Plaxico Burress and Steve Smith carrying the load for us. They’ve both since moved on to greener pastures (greener, as in the color they both now wear, but not necessarily better — both the Jets and Eagles missed this year’s tournament) but we have two new faces that have more than replaced them: Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz.

Last week, it was Victor Cruz supplying the shot of adrenaline via the electrifying 74-yard touchdown. Yesterday, the Falcons secondary made a concerted effort to minimize Cruz’s involvement, and they succeeded. But they forgot about Hakeem Nicks, and Nicks made them pay with a 72-yard touchdown catch of his own, turning on the burners in the secondary and leaving the Falcons in a trail of smoke behind him on the way to a 17-2 lead.

But it was something else that brought back those feelings of ’07 and ’08 yesterday that seemed to be missing for most of this season. It was the defensive intensity, the feeling that we could stop literally anyone when we needed to. Gone and forgotten were those memories of Rex Grossman and Charlie Whitehurst effortlessly converting 3rd and 14 plays as our winded secondary chased fruitlessly.

Yesterday, it was our swarming and unrelenting defensive line that stuffed Matt Ryan on not one, but two 4th and 1 plays that single-handedly changed the complexion of the game. It was that same stellar defense that held Turner “the Burner” to only 41 yards on 15 carries and the same defense that made big-play threats Roddy White and Julio Jones non-factors all day. And it was the same defense that pitched a shut-out against an Atlanta Falcons team that scored 45 points last week in a rout of Tampa Bay.

It seems cliche to invoke the spirits of the past when talking about the present, because we all know that football doesn’t follow any patterns and has a very short memory, but sitting in MetLife Stadium yesterday among 85,000 other towel-waving fans who suddenly believe, it was impossible not to think of the team that brought us to the promised land four years ago, and impossible not to see the similarities that exist within team we watched completely dismantle a confused and overwhelmed Falcons team yesterday.

Although the offense got off to a slow start, it was Eli Manning, the one who has galvanized this team all year and brought us back from the dead countless times, that put the spark into the team with a 14-yard scamper on a huge 3rd and 2 play that was about as beautiful as it was awkward. But he put the team on his back, like he has so many times this season, and carried it for a first down.

From that point on, the New York Giants would never look back.

And now, it’s back to Lambeau we go, with the hopes of rewriting a story that has already been written once before.


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Sports

Win and In

28 12 2011

As you can probably guess, I had a pretty good Christmas. If you have read this blog at all in the past few years, then you can imagine how satisfying Saturday’s win was, not only for the Giants, but for me and the rest of the Giants fans fed up with hearing Rex Ryan’s overinflated ego parading around in the local media since he arrived here in 2009.

It was a sweet, sweet victory that was made even sweeter by the fact that the Giants were the “road” team in MetLife Stadium on Saturday and had the pleasure of quieting a sea of Jets fans and fire helmet-wearing cheerleaders. Although things got a little harrowing towards the end, the defense came up huge when it needed to and the safety on Mark Sanchez that aborted the Jets’ final chance at a comeback drive before it ever really started was the play that sealed the deal for Big Blue. Seconds later, when Bradshaw pranced across the goal line to make it 29-14, it was pure ecstasy for Giants fans everywhere.

But as we went to sleep on Christmas Eve with visions of Victor Cruz’s electrifying 99-yard touchdown catch dancing in our heads, there was another thought that was struggling to push its way to the front of our conscious: the Dallas Cowboys.

Now, there is one game to go and there is only one team that stands between the New York Giants and their first playoff berth since the 2008 season. For all intents and purposes though, the playoffs began last week for the Giants. The motivation and fire and intensity that was nowhere to be found against Washington two weeks ago, was definitely present against the Jets, thanks in part to Rex Ryan’s week of unabashed trash-talking. Now, it’s the second round of the Giants’ playoffs and Big Blue needs to make like 2007 and dispose of the Cowboys and the battered Tony Romo if they hope to fight another week.

Easier said than done.

It all comes down to one game, a de facto NFC East championship game. The winner will host a playoff game in round one in their building, and the loser will have to deal with an 8-8 record and a once-promising season that ended in bitter disappointment.

On December 11th, the Giants traveled to Dallas and completed a wild and improbable comeback to steal the NFC East throne from the Cowboys, albeit temporarily. With their backs against the wall and down by 12 with five minutes remaining, Eli Manning brought the Giants back from the dead and kept their playoff hopes alive.

On Sunday night, the Giants and Cowboys will have 60 minutes to battle it out on the field for the NFC East title. So while the rest of the world is making plans for New Year’s Eve, Giants fans are hoping that the real celebration comes around midnight on January 2nd, not midnight on January 1st.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Sports

We Really Do Need a Playoff System in College Football. Really.

8 09 2010

On Monday night I watched an extremely well-played, competitive, entertaining and important college football game. Although we have just completed the first full week of college football and although it was only September 7th, I can see Monday night’s game between #3 Boise State and #10 Virginia Tech going down as one of the best games of the season by the time all is said and done. It had all the makings of a big, memorable game, right down to the neutral site with fans of both schools battling for control of the crowd, the obscenely hideous alternate uniforms and the late-game heroics engineered by Kellen Moore and the Broncos.

We all know that it was a big game. It was a big game for the Hokies and an even bigger game for the Broncos of smurf-turf fame, trying to establish some long sought-after credibility on their quest to finally reach the national title game. How do we know it was a big game? Because after Kellen Moore completed what ultimately proved to be the game-winning touchdown pass with 1:09 to go in the game, Brent Musberger reacted as if it was November 27th instead of September 7th and Boise State had just clinched a spot in the BCS Championship game.

Call me crazy, but I think there’s something a little backwards about having your season decided in the opening game, no matter what sport it is. Had Boise State not pulled out the victory at FedEx Field the other night, it would have been next to impossible for them to reach the national title game. With only two ranked teams on their schedule, a loss to one of them would be a blemish too big for BCS voters to ignore and they would be easily overlooked at the end of the season by other 1-loss teams with tougher schedules from the Big Ten, Big XII or SEC.

Does it make sense for a team to have their season decided by the first game? No, it doesn’t. It doesn’t make even the tiniest shred of sense, and that’s why there needs to be a playoff system implemented in college football. Now I’m not saying that it’s a definite lock for Boise State to reach the title game after Monday night’s win, but if you watched the game and listened to the reactions of Brent Musberger and Kirk Herbstreit, you would think that it is. After all, they currently rank at #3 in the BCS and the remainder of their schedule, aside from a September 25th match-up against #25 Oregon State, is about as soft as the Mets’ lineup. As long as they can run the table against their conference opponents like Utah St., Fresno St., Hawaii and Nevada and remain undefeated, they have a legitimate shot at playing for the national title. If either Alabama or Ohio State loses a game before Boise State does, and it’s largely possible that they will given their schedules, then the Broncos can catapult them into the top 2.

So why put an undefeated Boise State in the title game this year when they have been snubbed by BCS voters for the last 5 years? Because this year I think the BCS committee is finally ready to acknowledge the Broncos as a legitimate college football powerhouse and they are finally ready to give them their due. They have finished undefeated three times since 2006 but in each of those seasons never finished ranked higher than #4 in either the AP or Coaches Poll. So now, after almost a solid decade of winning, the BCS seems ready to allow Boise State to flirt with the one girl at the bar that they could never seem to approach before – the national title game.

Good for them, it’s about time…but I still have a problem with this. Now don’t get me wrong, I am all for seeing Boise State play for a national title. I think it’s great for college football to have a smaller school from a non-major conference like Boise State have a shot at winning the whole thing, just like I thought it was great for college basketball to see Butler battling Duke for a national title back in March. Everyone was afraid of how that would turn out, but look what happened, not only was it an instant classic, but Butler came within inches of stealing the title and people are still talking about it 5 months later. Tell me that isn’t good for the sport?

So that’s not the argument I’m making. The argument that I’m making is that we shouldn’t have to rely on a committee of voters to decide what teams should be worthy of playing for the national title, and likewise those teams like Boise State or TCU shouldn’t have to wait on a committee of voters to decide whether or not they are ready to be recognized for winning. A playoff system, much like the one implemented in college basketball, would allow teams to make their own paths to the national title. Would a team like Boise State survive in a playoff system against bigger powerhouses like Alabama, Florida or Texas? Who knows, anything is possible, but we’ll never know until it actually happens. Who would have ever bet on a team like Butler running the table all the way through the championship game this year? Nobody did, but it happened and it happened because they earned their way there, not because a bunch of voters put them there.

It’s time to allow the college football season to be decided in December like it should be, and not on Labor Day. It’s time for a playoff system.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Sports


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.