Montag, 23. Januar 2012

Super Bowl: Despite Lucky Win, the Giants Have the Upper Hand in the Super Bowl

We can all admit it: New York wasn't at their best Sunday.

New York got saved by Kyle Williams fumbling two punts, including the one in overtime that set up New York's game-winning kick, as they held on to beat San Francisco 20-17 in the NFC Championship.

Despite Manning's mediocre game, he will be in Indianapolis February 5, for a rematch of Super Bowl XLII, a 17-14 Giants win over the New England Patriots. During the regular season, Eli Manning hit Jake Ballard with 15 seconds for the winning touchdown, giving New York a 24-20 win in Foxboro.

This time, the stakes are higher.

The last three times New England has met the Giants, they have gone 1-2, losing the last two and barely holding on for their lone win on December 29, 2007.

Now, it's time for Eli to prove he's elite or for Brady to prove he can beat Manning. And that's just one of the big story lines this game brings.

Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, anyone?

New York allowed two Vernon Davis deep touchdowns, and although they have been getting better with covering tight ends as the season has gone on, they will need to bring their best to stop the two-headed monster.

New England hasn't lost since they fell to the Giants. It's been 10 straight wins for the Pats, and Brady hasn't been slowed down. Against Denver, he tied an NFL playoff record with six touchdown passes.

 

But can he take down Eli Manning?

Before the season started, Eli Manning caused a stir across the nation by putting himself in the same quarterback class with Tom Brady. Sure, most people would take Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and even Peyton Manning over Eli, but when it becomes playoff time, Eli turns it on.

You can't argue with a 7-3 postseason record and a second Super Bowl appearance.

Maybe Eli didn't dominate the NFC Championship. Sure, he looked great during the second quarter, and he threw a fourth-quarter touchdown pass, but during most of the game, Eli was off.

But he beat Rodgers, he beat Ryan and he's got his team in the Super Bowl. Not to mention, New England's terrible pass defense.

On the defensive side of the ball, New York has the best front four in the NFL, featuring Justin Tuck, Jason Pierre-Paul and Osi Umenyiora. New England has some talent with Rob Ninkovich, Shaun Ellis and Vince Wilfork (who dominated the Ravens), but it can't match New York.

Holding Green Bay to 20 points (seven of those coming on a bad call) is no easy task. Winning by 17 over the Super Bowl 45 champs is even harder.

New York did it.

With Eli's habit of engineering fourth-quarter comebacks and winning big games, the Giants can rest if Eli has the fate of the Super Bowl in his hands. He's done it before, and he can do it again.

 

However, the Patriots have lost to the Giants before. Can they learn from their mistakes?

Brady hit Rob Gronkowski for a touchdown with 1:36 left to give New England a 20-17 lead during the teams' regular-season meeting, before watching the defense blow it for Brady and Co.

Both times, Eli has led the Giants to a game-winning score. So, will Brady have to give New England at least a seven-point lead to be able to hold on?

Oh, and by the way, New England has a horrible pass defense.

So when you look into the game closely, you see a horrible pass defense, a mediocre rushing attack, a mediocre receiving core and an offensive line vulnerable to the Giants' pass rush.

Now, let's compare that to the Giants' pass D, rushing attack, receivers and offensive line.

New York has stopped the best offenses (New England, Atlanta, Green Bay), Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs have turned it on during the postseason and Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham and Victor Cruz have dominated all season long (Cruz caught 10 passes for 142 yards in the NFC Championship).

And the offensive line has protected Manning extremely well this postseason.

So do the Giants have the upper hand next Sunday?

Yes.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1036372-super-bowl-despite-lucky-win-the-giants-have-the-upper-hand-in-the-super-bowl

Paul Fiercer Rasheed Wallace LeBron James Ben Gordon Josh Howard Jason Terry

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