Its Different This Time

Last time the Giants met the Patriots in the Super Bowl, the Pats were undefeated.  Last the Giants met the Pats, they were one of the largest underdogs in Super Bowl history. Last time, the Giants pulled off one of the greatest upsets of all time, aided by David Tyree's other-worldly catch on that legendary game winning drive.  That was 5 years ago, which in a normal person's lifespan, isn't all that long ago... but in the NFL, that's a pretty long time ago.

This time, the Pats are 13-3 and the Giants are 9-7.  This time, the Giants eeked into the playoffs... and knocked off some of the best teams in football to get to the Super Bowl.  When you actually look at whom the Giants lost to this past season, you ask yourself "How did THEY get to the Super Bowl?"  Then you look at some of the teams they beat.  Then you look at how they beat the Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers, and San Francisco 49ers (a surprise team in their own right) and it's not hard to realize that not only does THIS Giants team belong there, at 9-7, they might just be better than the 13-3 Patriots.

So who's going to win?  In the NFL, it really is all about match ups.  The Pats front line, in the playoffs, have been stout.  The Giants running game has been beast-like again during their run to the Super Bowl.  Something's gotta give... The Pats D or the Giants O.  On the flip side, it's very similar.  The Giants D is suspect at LB and in the secondary.  The Pats offense is a juggernaut when everything is going right.  When it's not, the Pats can still put up almost 30 points, and this Pats team knows how to put opposing teams away.

You can honestly flip a coin as to who will win this game.  Vegas has the Pats by 3 and experts say the Giants will win.  This game can go in ANY direction.  The Giants, aside from the Saints, might just be the only team out there that can actually BLOW OUT the Patriots.  If Brady plays like he did last week against the Ravens and Eli has a good game, Giants blow out the Patriots.  If Eli has a bad game and Brady has a good game, Patriots blow out the Giants.  And if they're both bad or they're both good, you will have a really close game on to watch.  But I'll break it down for you anyway, position by position.

QB - Patriots

RB - Giants

FB - Giants

WR - Giants

TE - Patriots

OL - A wash

DE - Giants

DT - Patriots

LB - Patriots

CB - Giants

S - A wash

K - Patriots

P - Patriots

ST - A wash

Just from that alone, says nothing.  It will be who can exploit who better.  In 2007, the Giants were the absolute luckiest team Super Bowl winning team ever.  You can compare that victory to the one of the 2001 Patriots over the Rams... another game predicted to be a blow out.  

That will not happen this time.  There will be no easy prediction.  The teams are evenly matched.  Right now, I'm favouring the Giants and it's only because of this... The Giants have had a ridiculous months worth or tough games.  To get into the playoffs, they had to beat the Dallas Cowboys.  They blew the Cowboys out!  Then they destroyed the Falcons.  Then they destroyed the best regular season team and defending Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers... IN Green Bay!  Then they destroyed the 49ers in San Francisco.  New England beat Buffalo, had a BYE week, beat Denver AND Baltimore both at Foxboro.  Only Baltimore was worthy adversary and if it wasn't for Baltimore's Pro Bowl Kicker Billy Cundiff pulling a Benedict Arnold by shanking a 32 yard FG, the outcome might have been different.  The Giants haven't just been winning, they've been consistently dominant.

Giants 30 - Patriots 24

-Juice

Brady's Legacy

Tom Brady and Super Bowls... it's like Forrest Gump and Jenny. They often run into each other through the unlikeliest of means, occasionally walking away unhappy, but more often than not, when the two get together, great things happen.

Brady has been to 4 Super Bowls, winning 3 of them. He won 3 Super Bowls in his first 4 seasons as a starting QB for the Patriots. That is something that has never been heard of. He hasn't been the best QB of his generation (that distinction goes to Peyton Manning), but nobody has been a more clutch performer. As he's matured, you can see the growth in the difference of his play too.

When Brady was starting out, he was the substitute for Drew Bledsoe. The "just don't blow us the game kid" type of player. After all, Belichick traded away Rohan Davey, NFL Europe's MVP, for some guy out of Michigan the Pats drafted in the 6th round. Offensive Coordinator Charlie Weis used him in that role too. The running game, led by Antwain Smith, was the focal point and Weis wanted the receivers in well designed plays, make a big play. There were a lot of short dump passes. A lot of screen plays. A lot of short misdirection throws. The short to mid throw (often 2-13 yards) were the kinds of throws Brady thrived at completing. Brady and the Patriots created a lot of success with this type of offense, but he was still a game manager as a rookie. Early on though, he still proved to be clutch. None of that was on better display against the St.Louis Rams in the Super Bowl of 2001.

As he matured, he improved. The offense began to run through him. The running game, even with a showy running back like Corey Dillon, was not the main strategy on offense. It was actually quite balanced. It helped win them two more Super Bowls. Writers and historians were comparing Brady to the likes of Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas, and Terry Bradshaw... all Hall of Fame QBs. In the meantime, Manning, with much better statistical numbers, was being compared to Dan Marino, the greatest QB to never win a Super Bowl.

After those first four seasons, Brady's numbers continued to improve. When the Patriots went out and grabbed Super Receiver Randy Moss as well as an unknown with massive potential in Wes Welker, Brady's numbers exploded! Suddenly, he was throwing the ball like Manning, the offense was clearly running through him, but the Super Bowl victories were elusive. In 2007, with an undefeated Patriots team, the 1st undefeated team to reach the Super Bowl since the '72 Dolphins, Brady suffered his 1st Super Bowl loss... to Peyton Manning's little brother, Eli... and Eli's New York Giants.

So here we are again. It's 2012. It's been 5 years. It's the New England Patriots versus the New York Giants. Brady is now in his 5th Super Bowl in 10 seasons as a starting QB, something pretty much unheard of. He's got to be the best QB of all time right?

In my opinion, if Brady wins this Super Bowl, unless Peyton Manning wins 3 more Super Bowls before he retires, TOM BRADY WILL BE THE GREATEST QB EVER. Yes, Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw both have 4 Super Bowl rings. They are, however, both statistically trumped by Brady (not so much Montana as much as Bradshaw).

If Brady loses this Super Bowl, he will still be considered one of the greatest QBs to ever play the game, unless he makes it back there next season. No QB has ever been to the Super Bowl 6 times. Even if Brady loses that one, he'll be considered the greatest.

But IF he wins, it cements DYNASTY status for the New England Patriots (haven't missed the playoffs since 2008, when Brady got injured for the season.) IF Brady wins, there's no doubt that the kid from Michigan who came in because of a fluke injury to Pro Bowl and New England hero, Drew Bledsoe, will go down as not just the greatest QB in New England's history, but the greatest in the history of the NFL.

Juice

wOOtie Not Impressed

I’m here to squash all beliefs that this Baltimore Ravens team is going to march into Gillette Stadium next Sunday, man handle the Patriots, and then have a great time all the way to the Super Bowl. As Eminem would say, “kill the rumors it ain’t happenin’”.  I watched the playoff game between the Texans and the Ravens good and close, and what I saw was a battle of two offenses that couldn’t move the ball. Both defenses deserve credit, but besides a late game pick by Ed Reed, I wasn’t very impressed. The Ravens were at home and they still almost lost to a T.J. Yates commanded offense! Proceed to vomit all over the floor. T.J. Yates might be playing well, and better than your typical NFL rookie, but I didn’t see anything close to 5 touchdown passes in a half. Actually there wasn’t even a combined 5 touchdowns scored. Neither team scored 30 points. As far as this killer Ravens D, they didn’t sack Yates…..so if the source of stopping Tom Brady is getting to him, it’s going to be a long Sunday for the Edgar Allen Poe crew. Now I know that everyone on ESPN is going to try and make it out to be some type of epic battle, but if I was Belichick I would just skip getting ready for the Ravens and worry about our NFC opponent. Make no mistake that whoever represents the NFC is gonna BRING IT. No pushovers in that playoff bracket. But until next Sunday, Roll Tide.

-wOOtie

Defensive Struggles On Offensive Moves

Remember the beginning of the year? Remember how excited everyone was about the 48 hour period where the Pats signed not one but two big name free agents at once? Remember how we all thought that the Patriots defense and struggles would be back on track? Remember how everyone last year complained that they relied on Brady too much and that it felt like Bill avoided any late game situation where he had to rely on his defense because he didnt trust them? Remember all of that? But we should be fine now right? I mean last year the secondary was really young, a lot of them rookies they just need time. The line backers that were drafted high like Mayo and Spikes would get another year under their belts and adjust. Now we have Haynesworth, and for cheap, man that line is gonna be a beast. Well I know we all remember these things but my question is, what the hell happened?

The Haynesworth thing seemed great because even if it didnt work out it was for cheap so who cares? But my rational behind that is, thats great if youre a team that a move like that helps support what you already have, but they didnt have anything. The big complaint last year was they didnt have a pass rush, therefore the corners looked worse than they really are. So where is the pass rusher? Andre Carter looked like he could have been that at one point, but he hasnt been, and the line backers are doing nothing for you to stop the run or in the flats for coverage so what gives?

Today the Pats cut Haynesworth which is fine because it wasnt working out anyways but what was the point? Lets just see if it works and if not then screw it? Are we constantly making bad judgements about players or are we cheap? It to me doesnt seem like a money issue because they spent a ton of money in 07 and 08 and still have by products of those years on the team, but it almost feels like we have the product that didnt work still on the team. We have almost what we "have to keep" left over.

Pats First Quarter

Throw the game against Buffalo out. The Patriots have been offensively dominant against every team this season. EVERY... TEAM. Six games, five games in which the Pats score on the first drive of the game. They flat out can move the ball. Defensively, on the other hand, it's been better lately. So here goes.

OFFENSE - A
QB - A - It's pretty obvious Tom Brady runs the show. It's pretty obvious Tom Brady runs the show well.
RB - B - It's hard to knock this unit. Up until the Raiders game, the Pats RBs of Law Firm (Green-Ellis), Danny Woodhead, and Stephen Ridley were underused. When they were used, they were effective. Buffalo woke up an aspect of the game that needed to be re-awakened. Tom Brady runs the show, but the show needs the run to open for him.
WR - B - - While they've been effective and used, they sometimes disappear. Infact, it's pretty much been the Wes Welker show. Up until last week, Deion Branch had 1 catch for 4 yards in 2 weeks. Chad Ochocinco, who's been mostly riding pine, has been more productive than the #1 WR. It's not even about balance. There have been plenty of passes to go around, but they've been going to this group...
TE - A+- Hands down the most valuable aspect of the passing game. Everybody knows inside the Red Zone, Brady is going to throw Gronknandez* (*Big Hot TM). There is absolutely nothing a defense can do to stop this. They don't know how. In the open field, equally as effective. While their blocking could be better, they're in there to make plays and they make a lot of them.
OL - A - Last Sunday against the Jets gives you a great example of just how dominant the Pats line has been. Brady has hardly been knocked on his ass. Nevermind getting sacked. He doesn't get dirty. They've kept Pretty Boy Brady looking pretty.

DEFENSE - C-
DL - C- - Kind of a disappointment honestly. Haynesworth, while meaning well, hasn't been as effective because he hasn't really been on the field between injury and being a fat ass. Wilfork has been his normal, beastly, self, even rumbling for a big gain after picking off a pass. But the team only has 8 sacks through 6 games. It only has 2 forced fumbles. That's not getting it done
LB - D - I'm not impressed with the LB play at all. They're getting shredded playing zone. The man match-up has been decent. However, they're also part of the problem of putting pressure on the QB. They're part of the reason there's only been 8 sacks. The lack of pressure has really made this group look bad
CB/S- C+ - The secondary is taking a lot of shit. It's much like Brady taking a lot of shit for the 4 INTs against Buffalo. The unit is good. You can only cover a guy for so long. The team has 7 INTs. Most of it has come from this unit. The Pass Deflections could be greater, but the entire starting unit is under 6 Ft tall. It's a pretty bad mismatch when every game this season, the Pats have secondary has been scorched by WRs over 6'6". But the lack of pressure upfront has absolutely made this entire unit look awful
K - A - Gostkowski is a gem. Vinateri who?
P - B - Mesko has been great when the Pats are backed deep. He could be slightly better with balls placed inside the 20. Let's face it though. It's tough when you're hardly used.

Pats got the Up and Down Dallas Cowboys this week. Dallas boasts a skitzo QB (Tony Romo... read as "Tony OH-No!") who could either light the Pats up on D if the Pats don't get pressure... or could cost the Cowboys the game... if the Pats don't get pressure on Romo. The Cowboys also boast a solid running game and an excellent defense, which actually looks better than the Jets D at this point. Patriots should take this game though, but it might actually be close. 34-24 is my prediction with Romo throwing a pick 6 that costs Cowbitches the game.

~juice