02/01/08
Despite popular belief, the New York Giants do in fact have a chance of winning Super Bowl XLII Sunday evening.
The undefeated Patriots pose quite a challenge, but the Giants have the resources to come away victorious.
Although most underdog teams usually quietly make their way to the Super Bowl stage, the Giants are doing things a little differently with several players making comments not exactly lacking a confident stance within the last few weeks.
Some might believe encouraging the “Goliath” Patriots might not be the best way to go about things, but I think it is good for the Giants to come in with a fearless mindset.
Sure, the Patriots have gone undefeated thus far, but by studying game tape of their last two matchups, some weaknesses are actually apparent. The Pats’ defense will give up rush yards if the right gaps are utilized. This causes the New England safeties, especially the aging Rodney Harrison, to come up to the line of scrimmage. Using play-action passes to the tight end like the Jaguars did creates some big play opportunities. Eli Manning is accurate on play-action passes despite his overall lack of mobility.
The Giants are without all-pro tight end Jeremy Shockey due to injury, but rookie Kevin Boss has filled in admirably and is an above-average receiver. I truly believe the Giants will be able to put up a sufficient amount of points to win this game. The running back tandem of Brandon Jacobs and rookie Ahmad Bradshaw is going to have a decent day on the ground and maybe even catch a few passes out of the backfield. Veteran wide receivers Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer are capable of making clutch third down catches to keep the chains moving.
The key to this game will be the Giants defensive line. If the Giants can get a pass rush, the phenomenal New England defense can at least be slowed down. The Chargers proved this is possible during the AFC Championship game. With Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck, New York has enough talent on the defensive line to cause problems for quarterback Tom Brady.
The only weakness the Giants have is their secondary. While not derived of talent, injuries and inconsistency have been a problem. The overcoming of these problems has allowed the Giants to get this far. The Giants must cover New England receiver Wes Welker in the slot and watch out for running back Kevin Faulk out of the backfield to force the Patriots to punt.
Many are not giving New York very good odds, but they will compete well and the game will most likely be decided in the last few ticks of the clock. Just maybe the Patriots’ bid to be the best team ever will come to a discouraging halt.Brandon Jacobs and rookie Ahmad Bradshaw is going to have a decent day on the ground and maybe even catch a few passes out of the backfield. Veteran wide receivers Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer are capable of making clutch third down catches to keep the chains moving.
If the Giants can get a pass rush, the phenomenal New England defense can be slowed down. The only weakness the Giants have is their secondary. While not derived of talent, injuries and inconsistency have been a problem. The overcoming of these problems has allowed the Giants to get this far.
Just maybe the Patriots’ bid to be the best team ever will come to a halt.