Giants 31 Patriots 27. That's what I am calling in this weekend's Super Bowl. It should be a good one, a fun one and also a close one. But should also be an easy one for the Giants to score the requisite points at the end to take care of the Patriots. The Patriots, Brady and Belichick are never easy to deal with as adversaries, but I do not respect their defense this year. Giants are a more complete team and that defensive front can slow down Tom Brady on at least 2 or 3 drives this Sunday. But I can't say the same about the Patriots defense. Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin are no joke. Manning and those receivers should be able to move the ball and score enough to win. Gronk's ankle is not helping the Patriots either. He is one guy on the Patriots nobody seems to have an answer for. But a hobbled Gronk only helps the Giants defense, which doesn't need a whole lot of help in the first place. All this should add up to a second Super Bowl for Manning and the Giants. Considering that the Giants beat the Pats the last time they were in this dance, I am sure Brady is itching to beat them and extract some revenge.
This is a major Super Bowl as it will help establish some legacies either way. If the Patriots win, that puts Tom Brady in the QB stratosphere along with Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw with 4 rings each. He is already guaranteed a tie with Elway for the most SB appearances. This will also let hoody join Chuck Noll as a 4 time champion. Both Brady and the hoody are first-ballot hall of famers anyways, but a win this Sunday will put them in a special balcony in that hall of fame. It's also a big game for Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin. They are both borderline hall of famers right now - more Coughlin than Manning, but Eli will be there soon. But a second Super Bowl fast-tracks both of them. If he wins Sunday, they can start fitting that hideous yellow jacket for Eli instead of waiting to see if he is worthy of it in a few years. Coughlin never seems to get enough credit and this ring will change that forever. He already has 2 Super Bowl rings - one as an assistant, and his most impressive achievement might be taking the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars to 2 AFC championship games. This Super Bowl is big for both sides.
May be that's why this week has been all about Peyton Manning! Some of it is just coincidence since his little brother and his biggest rival are putting on a show in the house he built in Indianapolis. But he has already given one interview - may be that was just a promotional gig for Gatorade, but the news that he has been "medically cleared" also came out this week. That could have definitely waited till after the Super Bowl. He says this week is not about him, but the more he says it, the more it is becoming about him. Makes you wonder if he is jealous of his little brother and his biggest rival. It is a little surreal to think Eli might have more Super Bowls than Peyton in a couple of days. Peyton is still going to be better QB than Eli. That argument won't start until Eli wins his third SB. But for now, it looks like Peyton will be back at least trying to play in the NFL next year. He will have to do it somewhere else and not in Indy. It seems very unlikely Peyton will get to play and win another Super Bowl at a new place. Hope Jim Irsay put an end to this drama in Indy soon. The low-point of this saga was when Irsay said recently that he and Manning are, on a competitive scale of 1-to-10, "both 11s." Yes, you and one of the best QBs ever are of course on the same level of competitiveness. Lets list that under "things you get to say if you have 100's of millions of dollars in the bank."
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