Photo by crazywebsite.com
February 5, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, Super Bowl XLVI will pit the 12-7 New York Giants against the 15-3 New England Patriots.
At the final whistle of 60 minutes of grueling affliction, only one team can stand on the platform at mid-field holding the glimmering Vince Lombardi trophy while confetti falls upon them. The only question is what city will celebrate the ticker tape parade, New York or Massachusetts?
The NFC champion Giants and AFC champion Patriots have each had problematic seasons. The Giants showed inconsistency throughout the year. At one point the NFC champions lost four in a row and just squeaked into the playoffs after beating the Dallas Cowboys in week 17 of the season. The Giants ranked in the lower tier of many team categories in the NFL. The Giants ranked thirty-second in rush offense, twenty-ninth in pass defense and nineteenth in rush defense.
The Patriots were no better. The AFC champions didn’t beat a team with a winning record until the AFC Championship game against an offensive struggling Baltimore Ravens team. The Patriots ranked twentieth in rush offense, dead last in pass defense and seventeenth in rush defense. The two teams are considered the worst defenses to ever square off in the Super Bowl.
The key word for this Super Bowl is rematch, which has two explanations. The rematch of Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008 in Glendale, Arizona at University of Phoenix Stadium is one. The Patriots came into the game with an 18-0 undefeated record and were looking to win one more to accomplish the “perfect season.” The Giants came into the game as a wild card team.
As all sport fanatics know, on third down and five with 1:15 left in the fourth quarter and the Patriots up 14-10, Giants quarterback Eli Manning threw a desperation pass to David Tyree who caught the ball with his helmet for 32 yards. The rest is history. With 0:35 seconds left Eli Manning threw a 13 yard strike to Plaxico Burress to win the Super Bowl 17-14.
The rematch of the ninth week of 2011 was the second one. The two teams went into halftime tied at 0-0, which was odd to see from two teams with high-powered offenses and weak defenses. In the third quarter the Giants got 10 points from a Lawrence Tynes field goal and an 11-yard run by Brandon Jacobs. The Patriots came firing back taking the lead 20 to 17 with 1:36 left in the game. With 0:19 left in the game Eli Manning hit Jake Ballard for a 1-yard touchdown and propelled the Giants to a 24-20 victory.
Super Bowl XLVI is one of the hardest to predict in recent history. A statistic that makes this game intriguing is that this will be the thirteenth rematch of a regular season game. The loser of the regular season match is 7-5 in the rematch that takes place in the Super Bowl. An interesting side-note to this statistic is that in 2007, the Giants lost to the Patriots in week 17 38-35. Five weeks later they beat the Patriots 17-14 in the Super Bowl. This year, the Patriots lost to the Giants 24-20.
I’m a believer in statistics and I also think that the Patriots are a stronger offensive team then the Giants. The game will go down to the wire but the Patriots will get their revenge and come home with their fourth Lombardi trophy. The game will end with Patriots 28 Giants 24. MVP will be Tom Brady 319 yards 3 touchdowns 1 interception.
