Super Bowl Match-Ups: Giants “O” vs. Pats “D”
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Fox NFL analyst Troy Aikman calls the Patriots defense “the worst defense” he has ever seen make it to the playoffs. That suspect defense will be put to the test Sunday by Eli Manning and the NY Giants in Super Bowl XLVI.
By now we all know of this unit’s shortcomings. The question is, can they be good enough to win one more game?
When the Patriots and Giants met in Foxboro back in early November, the New England defense shut out the Giants offense in the first half. In the third quarter, two Tom Brady turnovers led directly to 10 points for New York.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBut, with the game on the line and less than 2 minutes to play, the Pats defense let Manning and the Giants march 80-yards down the field and score the game-winning touchdown with just :15 seconds to play. The Giants played that game without WR Hakeem Nicks and RB Ahmad Bradshaw.
What will happen Sunday? Your guess is as good as mine.
One thing’s for sure, and that is that Eli Manning has vaulted himself into the category of elite quarterbacks with his play this season. Manning threw for 4,933 yards and 29 TD’s this season and had a quarterback rating of 92.9. His play in the 4th quarter of games this season was spectacular.
Manning has been even better in the postseason completing 76 of his 123 passes (62%) for 923 yards, 8 TD’s and just 1 INT. His postseason quarterback rating is 103.1.
There is a reason for Manning’s success. He has as talented a trio of wide receivers as there is in the NFL in Nicks, Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham. This could spell trouble for a Patriots secondary that couldn’t cover Mo, Larry and Curly!
New England’s only hopes rest in two areas. First, they will need a solid pass rush to force Manning to make quick decisions. Vince Wilfork was the most dominant player on the field in the AFC Championship game against Baltimore. Can he be that man again on Sunday? Bill Belichick certainly hopes so.
The Patriots are also hoping that Manning will make a dumb mistake which he has been known to do on occasion. And while those mistakes seem to be much less frequent that they were earlier in his career, Manning’s numbers this season indicate that he is still capable of less than stellar play.
In New York’s 9 wins this season, Manning threw for 18 TD’s and just 4 INT’s with a quarterback rating of 102.0. In their 7 losses, he threw for 11 TD’s and 12 INT’s with a rating of 82.3. The Patriots hope that this is the Eli Manning that shows up on Sunday.
Don’t bank on it! With a secondary that has more holes than Swiss cheese, Manning should be able to do some damage against the Patriots in the Super Bowl. It will be all about minimizing that damage for the New England defense.
Edge: NY Giants
Tomorrow we examine the special teams units of the Patriots and the Giants.
