After the dust had settled from an exhilarating and drama-filled weekend of football, the New York Giants and the New England Patriots were the only two teams still standing. If this sounds familiar, it’s because we saw this same matchup just four years ago in Super Bowl XLII. With all that being said, who has the upper hand in this meeting?
Giants rookie linebacker Spencer Paysinger believes his team has great morale has been a key to the team’s postseason success.
“The team’s morale has been really high. I feel as if we’re peaking right now since seemingly shutting out the Falcons, frustrating the Packers, and gutting it out with the 49ers,” he said.
The Giants took a different approach than the Patriots on their season. With a 9-7 record they managed to pull it together just in time to squeeze out a divisional win and the No. 4 seed.
“This season has had its up and downs where we started off 6-2 then ended up losing five of the next six games. During the last part of the season we went back to [the] basics and started meshing really well on all three aspects of the games to the point where our confidence came back stronger than ever. It’s just been a magical journey getting to this point,” said Paysinger.
Las Vegas casinos already have the Giants at a three-point underdog to the Patriots. However, this seems to be a pretty close match up statistically.
In an article posted by Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com, Giants Coach Tom Coughlin said “the New England Patriots have won 10 games in a row, they are an outstanding football team, statistically we will have time to study and we know what we will find when we do study, a very good and talented football team that has put together real an outstanding string of wins”.
After their Week 9 loss to the G-men, the Patriots have been unbeatable, winning every game thus far.
“It hasn’t been perfect but they’ve never backed down,” said Coach Bill Belichick in a Foxsports.com report from Alex Marvez.
The Patriots have a great offensive threat with Tom Brady and his troublesome tag team of tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. In their previous meeting this season, the combo of Gronkowski and Hernandez caught 12 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns, according to ESPN.com.
“Gronk and Hernandez pose a missmatch no matter who they go up against. One thing that will always hold true is the fact that we have had success with playmakers when we are physical with them. Such as not letting them get off the line without being hit, tackling them hard, and using our defensive line to manhandle them against the run,” said Paysinger. “We feel if we can excel at those aspects of the game we will have a good chance at winning.”
To counteract the Patriot pass threat, the Giants are riding the talented and feared defensive line attack with Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, and Jason Pierre-Paul. The trio is responsible for 30 of the Giants 48 sacks on the season. Getting after Brady will be a focal point for the Giants defense next Sunday.
“Our defensive line is our life line, we go as they go. With that being said, we know that we can get to Brady with a collection of different blitzes and disguises. If our D-Line can get Brady to move in the pocket, we will win the game,” said Paysinger.
The Giants upperhand will come in the form of their explosive trio of receivers, and the leader of their offense, Eli Manning. Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham, and Victor Cruz have connected with Manning for 695 total yards and seven touchdowns in the playoffs. With Victor Cruz being the standout in the NFC Championship game, it appears that any one of the three can light up the scoreboard on any given night. With the combination of the threatening receiver crew and Eli Manning’s superb performance in the playoffs thus far, it seems as if the casinos might have picked the wrong winner.
Yet, in the end, regardless of the strengths and weaknesses of each team, it’s anyone’s game come Super Bowl Sunday.