In this week’s 10 Reasons Why — a variation of your mundane Top 10 — I decided to go with a Super Bowl theme. Now I stated quite a while ago that I thought the Patriots would win the Super Bowl, so I figured I’d outline a few things that will count against the Giants this Sunday.
1. Their running game stinks
I figured I may as well hit on the biggest issue first. It wasn’t so long ago that the Giants had one of the most feared rushing attacks in the NFL. It was only three years ago that they had two running backs — Derrick Ward and Brandon Jacobs — rush for over 1,000 yards with Ahmad Bradshaw getting an additional 355 yards. However, the past few years the rushing attack has become more and more insignificant to the point where opposing teams are no longer afraid of them. Not only does this mean the Giants don’t get it done on the ground, but it also means that the play-action pass is far less effective which will give Vince Wilfork and company more chances to get to Eli Manning.
2. They are the first team to ever reach the Super Bowl having been outscored by their opponents in the regular season
Sound familiar? It should. This was one of the random stats that was applied to the Green Bay Packers to show how amazing they were – until they were knocked out of the playoffs. Then it became the story of why the Packers were doomed to lose. The Giants are no different. They have good defensive parts but as a whole they haven’t played particularly well, which doesn’t bode well going up against Belichick and Brady who have seen this defense once already.
3. They had a 9-7 regular season record
The question here is – why? Well, who did they lose to? The Seahawks, 49ers, Eagles, Saints, Packers along with the Redskins beating them twice.When you look at these teams, three of them — SF, NO and GB — made the playoffs. But on the other hand, they lost to the hapless Seahawks and inexplicably couldn’t beat the God-awful Redskins. We’ll get to the details of the losses to the Redskins a little bit later. The point here – there hasn’t been a team win the Super Bowl with a regular season record of less than ten wins — excluding the 1982 season which was shortened due to the player’s strike — since the Green Bay Packers beat the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl II, which dates back to 1967.
4. They lost to the Redskins twice
The week 1 loss is a mulligan of sorts considering the lack of preparation due to the lockout. However, the week 15 loss is far more troubling for the Giants. Not only was it to a Redskins team that was reeling from injury/suspension, but they were beaten badly, 23-10, in a game they should have lost by at least another ten points had it not been for Rex Grossman being the opposing quarterback. Worst of all, this loss came AFTER the win over New England. That means not only does Belichick have tape of what went wrong for the Pats in week 9, but he can also study the Redskins game and figure out how the Redskins managed what New England could not. Then to match up the trifecta, the Patriots beat the Redskins in week 14 which gives Belichick even more tape to use to formulate his gameplan.
5. The Super Bowl is in Peyton’s house
Lucas Oil Stadium may be Jim Irsay’s building, but it was Peyton Manning who got it built with his play over the past decade. Irsay himself stated this in an interview with NFL Network’s Rich Eisen yesterday.
This is bound to weigh on Eli’s mind along with being surrounded by the speculation of his brother’s future. Eli has wisely kept out of the media on the subject of Peyton, but the reality is that the pressure mounted on him will be greater than at any part of his career and will be yet another distraction not only on the field but also in his preparation for the game.
6. The Giants secondary is weak
It’s no surprise that the best defensive backs the Giants have available are Antrel Rolle, Kenny Phillips, Corey Webster and Aaron Ross. Terrell Thomas, Justin Tryon, Michael Coe, Bruce Johnson, Chad Jones and Brian Witherspoon are all on injured reserve. Regardless of why, the fact that there is so little depth in this team’s secondary means that the Patriots will find it so much easier to expose the Giants defense and run up the score.
7. Revenge is sweet
The Patriots haven’t forgotten the painful loss in Super Bowl XLII. You just know that this motivation is going to have New England playing harder and putting in more work than ever. Never underestimate the power of fierce emotion.
8. Giants may be on a hot streak – but so is New England
All through the playoffs we have heard about the Giants being on an incredible roll and how this puts them in an advantageous position. What they fail to mention is that the Pats have had to win to get here too. Furthermore, they’ve performed pretty well holding their opponents to 15 points, 130 yards rushing and 195 yards per game which suggests that the criticism that has been leveled at them isn’t as legitimate as you might think.
9. They keep pushing themselves as underdogs
See number 7 regarding motivation. The Patriots were too overconfident when they lost that Super Bowl. I don’t see them making that mistake twice.
10. Tom Brady
I saved the best for last. At the end of the day, it’s all going to come down to Tom Brady being able to do what comes naturally to him. Last week the Ravens came as close as anyone could, with a much better defense. They should have won – but they didn’t. The Giants aren’t as good as the Ravens on defense,so there is no way they can keep up with Tom Terrific.
Don’t agree? Leave a comment below or hit me up on Twitter @Gizzy_DJ. I’ll have another 10 Reasons Why for you next Thursday.
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