Fourth and Long 01.30.08: A Preview of Some Game on Sunday
Posted by Matt McEwen on 01.30.2008
Oh...there's a game Sunday? I hadn't heard. I was to busy hearing about a boot.....
Sorry for missing last week....an expected move cause an unexpected and prolonged lack of Internet access. Oh well...what can you do?
Besides, with a two week break before the Super Bowl, did you really want to read an article last week? I hate the two week break myself, as I find it really pointless. It's the most hyped game in the world, even if it were to be a Cardinals/Raiders contest, and it just doesn't need another week to hype it up.
What's the end result of the extra week?
Tom Brady's freaking boot. Jeesh. Was it necessary to have EVERY NFL analyst around break down the intricacies of his just barely noticeable limp? I mean, seriously.
And somehow, BootGate managed to take just about all the attention off of the strange Randy Moss situation, possibly by design. I'm not saying that the Moss domestic dispute would be a distraction, but if "Brady faked the boot just to take everyone's mind off of Moss's situation and tricked us all" being a lead new story on some shows - Mike & Mike, I'm looking at you - doesn't tell you the extra week is just annoying, I don't know what does.
OK, so now I'm annoying myself by talking about the annoying things the extra week leads to.
But now...we can talk about what really matters.....the game itself.
And it could - mayhap even SHOULD - be a good one. It'll be a rematch of possibly the game of the year, when the Pats and G-Men closed out their seasons on a national simulcast that had more people watching it than a regular season game in years. If it's half as good as that game, then we're in for a treat.
The key for the Giants is the same that every team facing the New England juggernaut has been trying to do all season long - pressure Tom Brady and hope the secondary can cover his options long enough to either get a sack or a rushed play. Of course, as soon as the weather got cold and pass rushes started to try and lock in on the QB, Laurence Maroney et al in the backfield turned it on and ran all over most teams.
The Giants do have the best pass rush in the league though, so they may give Brady some scares. Of course, he did help to put up 38 points in the season finale, so maybe pressuring him isn't the key to success everyone thinks it is.
On the Giants side, Eli Manning has come of age in the playoffs and is playing essentially mistake free football right now. I don't expect that change right now. For all my doubts about his ability to stop making the back breaking mistakes, he's made me - and a lot of others - eat our words the last few weeks and should continue to do so on Sunday. Of course, the last time he made a game killing mistake was a late interception against the Patriots.
Overall, you'd have to be insane to pick against the Pats. They're 18-0 at this point for a reason. In that season closer, the Giants played as good as they can, and have carried that level play through their three playoff games. The Pats, on the other hand, did not play their absolute best that night, which I don't think will be the case Sunday night.
History will be made Sunday night - either the Patriots lock up the "Best Team Ever" with a 4th Super Bowl victory and a 19-0 record, or the Giants score one of the biggest upsets in history.
