Super Bowl XLII a battle for east supremacy

Rob Dauster Guest Writer

It’s a Super Bowl that’s guaranteed to be epic—no matter who wins. The New England Patriots, an 18-0 team led by all-star quarterback Tom Brady, are looking to make National Football League history by becoming the first team to post an entire season undefeated. The Patriots will face the New York Giants this Sunday in Super Bowl XLII, a team whose record has been anything but perfect.

The Giants began their season with two losses, and their future only continued to look more and more grim as the poor performances of Eli Manning and head coach Tom Coughlin heightened speculation that this would be their last season in New York.

Things seemed to turn around, though, as they went on to win six straight games and closed out the regular season 10-6 thanks to breakout years from wide receiver Plaxico Burress and running backs Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw.

In the last regular season game, the Giants gave the Patriots their toughest test of the season before succumbing 38-35.

The team continued their success in the playoffs, when Manning silenced doubters by leading the Giants to three consecutive road wins, clinching a National Football Conference Championship title and a trip to the Super Bowl.

Ironically, The Giants’ past two playoff game wins came from the two teams to whom they suffered their first regular season losses: the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers. The win over Green Bay was especially sweet as the Giants shut down the legendary Brett Favre in sub-zero temperature at Lambeau Field.

Despite the Patriots’ early season signal-stealing controversy, which cost head Coach Belichick $500,000, and the team $250,000 and a few early-round draft picks, the road to the Super Bowl has been fairly simple for New England. After picking up wide receivers Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth during the off-season, the team was picked as the American Football Conference favorite, using a record-setting passing attack to plow through the regular season with a 16-0 record, they then handily beat the Jacksonville Jaguars and San Diego Chargers at home in the playoffs.
On the coaching front, Coughlin is certainly seen as mediocre when compared to the Patriots’ Belichick, who already wears three Super Bowl rings.

Despite all of the talent on both of these rosters, however, the winner of Super Bowl XLII will be determined by the unsung heroes in the trenches—the offensive and defensive lines.
The defensive key for New York is to slowdown the Patriots by putting pressure on Brady. Against the Jaguars, Brady was able to sit in the pocket and pick apart the defense to the tune of 262 yards and three touchdowns, while the Chargers were able to pressure Brady and picked him off three times.
The Giants have three all-pro caliber defensive ends in Michael Strahan, Osi Yumeniora and Justin Tuck, and must be able to pressure Brady and make him feel uncomfortable in the pocket to have any chance of slowing down the potent Patriots offense. Easier said than done, however—the stellar Patriots offensive line has only allowed 21 sacks in the entire season.

While the Giants played a tight game against New England the last time they met, the stakes will be higher this weekend, and a previously conservative Patriots offense is sure to come out hungry to score.

The last wildcard is location. During the warmer first eight weeks of the season, the Patriots put up no less than 34 points per game. The Super Bowl will be played in Phoenix, where the weather is guaranteed to be warm, giving an incredible boost for New England’s passing game.

With all that in favor for New England, it’s hard to imagine that the Giants will be able to hang with their opponents, but millions of viewers will be tuned in to watch them try.