Friday, February 1, 2008

How the Giants Can Win Superbowl XLII

I'm not big on predictions, so I'm not going to make a Plaxico Burress like prediction. I'm not going to say straight out that the Giants are going to win Superbowl XLII. What I will say is that the 18-0 Patriots can be beaten. It's true they haven't been beaten yet, but there's been moments in games against the Ravens, Giants, Eagles, Jaguars and Chargers where the other team could have stepped on the throats of the Pats and just didn't do to.

I watched Inside the NFL last night and Cris Collinsworth had a bunch of things that the Giants could do to beat the Pats.

Here were his keys to success against the Pats:

1) Hit Tom Brady
2) Bump Moss off the line
3) Stop the Screen.

All things that are easier said than done.

Here's my opinion on what I think the Giants have to do in order to beat the undefeated Pats :

1) Like Collinsworth, I believe that the Giants have to pressure Brady. They don't have to sack him every single time, but they need to get in his head, hit him a couple times and try to re-hobble Mr. "Panties in a" Bundchen's ankle.

2) Play great defense - The Giants completely smacked the Packers in the face with their smothering defense. They stopped the run and limited big gains from the Packers. They limited the powerful Cowboys offense and the secondary has come up big all postseason long. Corey Webster, Antonio Pierce and Justin Tuck have really played out of their mind this postseason. There's been a ton of energy from the defense before the play. If you see that same energy against the Pats, watch out. The saying goes: "Defense wins championships" and if the Giants continues it playoff run of holding down powerful offenses, I can see big things for the Giants.

3) Play great special teams - This entire postseason, Dom Hixon, R.W. McQuarters and Ahmad Bradshaw have put them in great field position with their punt and kick returns. This needs to continue against the Pats. Jeff Feagles - who will probably retire after the game - needs to hit a bunch of coffin corner kicks to back up the Pats offense. And Lawrence Tynes needs to come up big. He won't be getting 3 chances against the Pats.

4) Limit the mistakes - Eli hasn't thrown a pick or given up a fumble all postseason long. On his way to finally becoming a cult hero in NYC, he's done a terrific job of managing the Giants offense and executing on first downs. If he limits his mistakes in this game and executes the gameplay, he gives the Giants a great shot to shock the world.

We'll see what happens on Sunday night. I've had a good feeling all postseason long and I'm hoping that the Giants momentum continues through this game.

Go Giants!!

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