By Daniel Ornelas
The Prospector
America's game will be on display for Super Bowl 46 Feb. 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis when the New York Giants take on the New England Patriots in a rematch of Super Bowl 42.
In the first Super Bowl match-up, the Giants prevented the Patriots from a perfect season, beating them 17-14 in the final minutes.
The 2012 version pits the same two head coaches and quarterbacks in Bill Belichick and Tom Brady for the Patriots, and Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning for the Giants.
Both franchises will be playing for their fourth Super Bowl title. Brady is tied with his boyhood idol and San Francisco 49er hall of famer Joe Montana for the most playoff wins in history at 16. With a win, Brady can not only surpass Montana but also tie him and Pittsburgh Steeler legend Terry Bradshaw as the only signal callers to win four Super Bowl trophies. Brady is making his fifth Super Bowl start, which also ties former Denver Bronco John Elway for the most starts by a quarterback.
For Manning, it's only fitting that he's playing in the house of his older brother Peyton, who has played his entire career with the Indianapolis Colts. Manning has a chance to surpass Peyton with one more Super Bowl victory than him.
Both teams enter the game with prolific offenses ranked in the top 10 in both total yards and points during the regular season. On the other hand, both squads also had two of the worst defenses during the regular season, ranking in the bottom six in total yards allowed.
The Giants have a defensive pass rush that ranked second with 48 sacks during the regular season and is tied for first in the playoffs with nine.
Despite their woes and 9-7 record, the Giants were able to beat the 15-1 defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers in the playoffs en route to the NFC Championship where they beat the 49ers 20-17.
The Patriots finished the season with a 13-3 record but didn't beat a team with a winning record the entire season until beating the Baltimore Ravens 23-20 in the AFC Championship.
Both Brady and Manning are familiar faces in this game, but both also will be throwing to many new ones this time around. Four years ago, Manning was throwing to the likes of wide receivers Amani Toomer, Plaxico Burress, Steve Smith, Jeremy Shockey and David Boss. And then there was David Tyree, whose miraculous catch set up the game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl 42.
None are with the team now, meaning guys like Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham, Jake Ballard and the Victor Cruz will get the call.
In Super Bowl 42, Brady had wide receivers Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth, Jabar Gaffney and Ben Watson. None are with the team this year, either. The only retuning player is Wes Welker, who is now joined by the duo of tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, who combined for over 2,000 yards and 24 touchdowns, Chad Ochocinco and Deion Branch.
Grankowski is questionable for the game, nursing an ankle injury.
Despite the turnover in personnel and lack of a good defensive play, the Patriots are still favored to win by three points. Coughlin's Giants have always played with a chip on their shoulder as the underdog. Expect the Giants front four to pressure Brady all day much like they did in Super Bowl 42 in which he was sacked five times.
Daniel Ornelas may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.
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