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Super Bowl Bet: Stack
'Em Up
We break down the Patriots and Giants as Super Bowl XLII draws near
For the 2007 NFL season, Mike Halford
and Jason Brough broke down weekly trends,
picks and betting advice for games each
and every Sunday. Now, with just two teams
and one game left, they've changed focus
to Super Bowl XLII, with a comprehensive
breakdown of the key facets to the game:
running, passing, defense and coaching.
Let's get to it.
Running Game
New England: It appears as though limiting
Laurence Maroney's carries during the regular
season has paid off for the Patriots. In
back-to-back playoff games, Maroney has
rumbled for 122 yards and a score, impressive
numbers given that he only broke the 100-yard
plateau three times in 13 regular season
games.
But Maroney
isn't the only concern coming out of
the New England backfield. Kevin "Mr.
Consistency" Faulk continues to be
a versatile option for Tom Brady, especially
in the passing game. He caught eight balls
for 82 yards in the AFC Championship game,
eerily similar numbers to the ones he put
up against New York in Week 17 of the regular
season. That day, Faulk caught eight passes
for 64 yards. - MH
|
| Player,
Team |
Carries |
Yards |
TDs |
| Brandon
Jacobs, NY |
202 |
1,009 |
4 |
| Laurence
Maroney, NE |
185 |
835 |
6 |
|
|
New
York: The G-men have a very effective one-two
running punch going at the moment. First,
there's big Brandon Jacobs. The 6-foot-4-inch,
260-pounder from Southern Illinois has
rumbled for a touchdown in each of New
York’s three postseason
wins and finished third in rushing yards
per game (91.7) during the regular season
behind Adrian Peterson (95.8) and LaDainian
Tomlinson (92.1). Complementing the bruising
Jacobs is rookie Ahmad Bradshaw, all 5
feet 9 inches and 198 pounds of him.
Bradshaw
was injured for the Giants-Pats game
in Week 17, so the juker and jiver could
provide a new wrinkle for the offense. "Ahmad
is a great changeup to what I do and a
lot of teams aren't ready to see that," Jacobs
told the Daily News. "He's a little
guy and he's hard to bring down. He's a
little jittery in there and he gave us
the spark that we needed to have. I get
in there and wear them down and we alternate
in the fourth quarter and let 'em have
it." - JB
Advantage: New York
Passing Game
New England: Given the pile of accolades
Brady and the New England passing game
have received this season, it's hard to
find an original take on where its strengths
lie. But here's one: When Brady's favorite
targets, Randy Moss and Wes Welker, are
ineffective, other guys step up and the
unit doesn't miss a beat.
Against Jacksonville, Donte Stallworth
led the team with three catches for 68
yards. Against San Diego, Faulk led the
team with eight catches for 82 yards. In
those two games combined, Moss hauled in
two balls for 32 yards. Welker never broke
the 60 yard plateau. Brady has developed
a remarkable amount of faith in the likes
of Ben Watson, Jabar Gaffney and Kyle Brady,
and they've responded with sure-handed
moments in the clutch. - MH
| Regular Season Leaders - Passing |
|
| Player,
Team |
QB
Rating |
Yards |
TDs |
| Eli
Manning, NY |
73.9 |
3,336 |
23 |
| Tom
Brady, NE |
117.2 |
4,806 |
50 |
|
|
New
York: Here's a neat little stat about
Eli Manning: In his first seven games of
the season, he threw nine interceptions
and only once registered a passer rating
over 100. In his last four games, including
three playoff wins on the road, he's thrown
just one pick and hit the century mark
in passer rating thrice.
Whether Manning has finally turned the
corner or is just enjoying a hot streak,
the Giants are finally getting some consistency
at the quarterback position. Unlike at
frigid Lambeau Field during the NFC title
game, the conditions in University of Phoenix
Stadium will be ideal, so Manning won't
have any bad-weather worries prior to the
biggest game of his life. - JB
| Regular Season Leaders - Receiving |
|
| Player,
Team |
Receptions |
Yards |
TDs |
| Plaxico
Burress, NY |
70 |
1,025 |
12 |
| Randy
Moss, NE |
98 |
1,493 |
23 |
|
|
Advantage: New England
Defense
New
England: The lone knock on the Pats
is that an older, aged linebacking crew
can be exposed with a punishing running
game. With the thunder-and-lightning combo
of Jacobs and Bradshaw on the horizon,
the New England LBs will probably have
their stiffest test of the season on Super
Bowl Sunday.
Still, it's hard not to like the overall
unit. The defense compensates for the run
by bringing safety Rodney Harrison into
the box, providing another hard hitter
to work over Jacobs (who is prone to running
with a high pad level and is prone to taking
huge shots). In the secondary, Asante Samuel
will likely draw the task of covering Burress,
who absolutely ate Al Harris alive in the
NFC Championship. Samuel is a better cover
guy than Harris and seems to intercept
at least one pass per playoff game, so
this could be a dangerous matchup for Manning's
go-to receiver. - MH
| Regular Season Statistics
(NFL ranking in parentheses) |
|
| Team |
Points
Allowed Per Game |
Interceptions |
Sacks |
| New
York |
21.9
(17th) |
15
(t-20th) |
53
(1st) |
| New
England |
17.1
(4th) |
19
(t-6th) |
47
(2nd) |
|
|
New
York: The Giants' D is probably best
known for the pressure it puts on opposing
quarterbacks. New York led the league in
sacks during the regular season with 53.
(It was followed closely by, you guessed
it, the New England Patriots, who had 47.)
Of course, while Osi Umenyiora (13 sacks
in the regular season), Justin Tuck (10)
and Michael Strahan (9) are the famous
faces of the squad, don't forget it was
the secondary that came up big against
the Packers when Corey Webster picked off
Brett Favre in overtime to set up the winning
field goal. - JB
Advantage: New England
New
England: Bill Belichick heads to his
fourth Super Bowl having already proven
to be a master strategist when given two
weeks to game plan. In fact, the game tape
from Week 17 has probably been worn out
by now.
His goal is to find what Manning did right
during his four-touchdown, 251-yard passing
day and make it all wrong. Considering
that Belichick-coached defenses have recorded
five interceptions and 11 sacks in three
Super Bowl victories, things could get
very ugly for Eli in two weeks' time. -
MH
|
| Coach |
Regular
Season Record |
Playoff
Record |
Super
Bowls |
| Tom
Coughlin, NY |
103-89-0 |
7-6 |
None |
| Bill
Belichick, NE |
127-81-0 |
15-3 |
Three |
|
|
New
York: Tom Coughlin is a tough guy to play for.
Last year, he nearly lost his job when
the Giants lost six of their last eight
games and speculation grew that his authoritarian
style and questionable play calling was
a contributing factor to Tiki Barber's
retirement. But management gave him a
one-year contract extension – which
wasn't exactly a vote of confidence – though
that's all he needed, apparently.
Coughlin is the decided underdog in the
coaching matchup, seeing as this is his
first Super Bowl and the other guy's already
won three, but he's certainly proven his
doubters wrong so far. - JB
Advantage: New England
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