Super Bowl XLII

Well its down to two teams vying for the Vince Lombardi trophy. The 18-0 Patriots and the NFC Champs, the Giants. As well saw in week 17 the Giants played their best game of the year by almost beating the Patriots and coming close to spoiling their perfect regular season. It's not everyday that you get second chances and the Giants find themselves with that opportunity.

In the AFC championship the Chargers looked like the better team for most of the game. They ran the ball well and picked off Tom Brady three times. The Bolts defense looked dominant until Lawrence Maroney started getting the ball in the 4th quarter. Maroney is an extremely underrated RB because of the system he plays in but as you saw Sunday he can and will be a difference maker when he gets his touches. Look for Maroney to pound the Giants like he did in the second half of the Chargers game.

The Giants, in their championship game, did a great job controlling the ball and time of possession. They ran the ball 39 times vs. the 14 by the Packers and kept the chains moving by getting 8 first down runs. I cannot comprehend why the Packers made Favre sling the ball around 40 times in those frigid weather conditions but that's an afterthought. Eli did a fine job not turning the ball over (thank the ref's for that as well) and completing the tough pass when he needed to. The Giants played smart football and got the key game winning Field Goal in over time.

The question now is can the Giants duplicate their performance a month ago and score 5 times against the haunting Patriots defense. A defense that stops the run with ease and puts pressure on a QB like no other team.

In my "expert" opinion I say no possible way. Give the Patriots two weeks to look over their previous game film and prepare to for the Giants offense attack and I think Eli will be in the fight of his life. In Arizona, weather will not be a problem so look for Brady to chuck it all over the Giants secondary in the first half. Then in the second half, look for Maroney and the play action pass to blow the game out of reach.

The Giants put up a early fight but the dominance of the Patriots and the AFC take over the game in the long run.

Patriots 34 - Giants 17


-DLB