Super Bowl XLVI Preview and Prediction

Well, I know Bay Area fans didn't get the Super Bowl that they all thought was possible a few weeks ago, but nonetheless, I'm sure most 49er fans will be tuning in to see exactly how their team could have matched up with the best offense in the AFC.

I'll make it short and sweet, because I made no bones about the fact I thought the winner of the NFC Championship was bound to go on a defeat the New England Patriots, and as much as I hate to say, I think the Giants are going to find away to beat Brady and Pats again in the big game. The Giants have been the hottest team in all of football since December, with the league's best-playing QB during the stretch, and has been by far the best team in this postseason so I don't foresee that changing Sunday. The Patriots will put up some points, no doubt, but so will the Giants, and New York's defense is about 5 times better than New England's unit, so even if Brady puts up some big numbers, it's not like the Giants will ever really be out of the game. The only way I see the Giants losing this game is if Eli shows up and has a terrible game, and the Giants end up losing the turnover battle in a bad way. The one thing the Patriots defense does do is gamble, and if they come up with a few big takeaways, than it will tremendously help their soft and beatable defense. I mean, they have a few nice players on that unit, but outside of LB Jarod Mayo, DT Vince Wilfork and CB Kyle Arrington (who's been banged up the whole postseason), they don't have any impact defensive players who the Giants really have to game-plan for. For instance, on the other end, the Patriots will have their hands full trying to keep the Giants ridiculous front-4 out of Tom Brady's face, something they had trouble doing vs. Baltimore.

The Patriots just have too many holes to overcome against such a solid team like the Giants. New York should really neutralize the Patriots already below average run game and will basically get to send the house after Brady while letting their solid secondary lock down on Pats receivers. Again, I still expect Brady to get his, probably throw for 300 yards and a few scores, but I think this games is the Giants' to lose. It doesn't help the Patriots that their top red-zone target (TE Rob Gronkowski) won't be playing at 100% either. The Giants have the ability to really control the game clock with Bradshaw and Jacobs vs. an average-at-best front, and move the chains with Manning, who was a robot on third downs in January. It should be relatively close, because of the Pats ability to put up quick points, and that coaching staff is a great one, so they'll throw all they can at the Giants. But in the end, I see another New York SB victory at the hands of Brady and the Pats.

PREDICTIONS:

New York Giants 34 - New England Patriots 28

Super Bowl MVP: Eli Manning (25-38, 315 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT)