The Patriots were 35 seconds away from a perfect record when Eli Manning tossed a 13-yard TD to Plaxico Burress to win the Super Bowl!  Tom Brady completed 29 of 48 passes for 266 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 interceptions.  But, the Giants got into Brady’s head by blitzing him often and drilling him.  Laurence Maroney had a sub par game as he carried the ball 14 times for 36 yards (2.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Kevin Faulk only carried the ball 1 time for 7 yards but he also caught 7 passes for 52 yards (7.4 avg).  Wes Welker was very busy as he led the Patriots with 11 catches for 103 yards (9.4 avg).  Randy Moss also had a semi-decent game as he finished with 5 catches for 62 yards (12.4 avg) with 1 TD grab.  The Patriots finished up with 45 yards rushing on 16 carries (2.8 ypc) and they also completed 29 of 48 passes for 229 yards.

The defense of the Patriots failed in the 4th quarter and it doomed them.  Rodney Harrison led the way for the Patriots with 12 tackles.  Tedy Bruschi (8 tackles) and Adalius Thomas (5 tackles, 2 sacks) both played well for the Patriots.  The Giants finished up with 91 yards rushing on 26 carries (3.5 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 34 passes for 247 yards.

This year’s Patriots team will go down as the best team ever not to win a Super Bowl.

These two teams are having a rematch of their classic battle of week #17 which was won by the Patriots 38-35.  Tom Brady had a field day in that game as he completed 32 of 42 passes for 356 yards with 2 TD passes.  Laurence Maroney didn’t find much running room that day against the Giants as he carried the ball 19 times for 46 yards (2.4 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Wes Welker had a solid game with 11 catches for 122 yards (11.1 avg).  Randy Moss had a sterling game as he caught 6 passes for 100 yards (16.7 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Kevin Faulk was solid catching 8 passes for 64 yards (8.0 avg). 

Eli Manning had a solid game against the Patriots in week #17 as he completed 22 of 32 passes for 251 yards with 4 TD passes and 1 interception.  Brandon Jacobs was busy as he carried the ball 15 times for 67 yards (4.5 ypc) and he also caught 5 passes for 44 yards (8.8 avg) with a TD grab.  Plaxico Burress had a great game as he caught 4 passes for 84 yards (21.0 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Rookie TE Kevin Boss was also effective underneath as he caught 4 passes for 45 yards (11.3 avg) with a TD grab.

Eli Manning has saved his best play for last as he has been impressive in the post season.  In three games, Manning has completed 53 of 85 passes (62.4%) for 599 yards with 4 TD passes and 0 interceptions (99.1 QB Rating).  Manning must protect the ball against the Patriots like he has this whole post season if the Giants are going to have a chance at an upset.  Brandon Jacobs has carried the ball 48 times for 155 yards (3.2 ypc) with 3 TD runs this post season and he has caught 4 passes for 29 yards (7.3 avg).  Rookie Ahmad Bradshaw has also played well this post season as he has carried the ball 39 times for 163 yards (4.2 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Bradshaw has also caught 3 passes for 24 yards (8.0 avg) in the playoffs.  The Giants will attempt to keep the ball on the ground against the Patriots to control the clock.  The Patriots are allowing 4.2 yards per carry in the post season so the Giants could be effective running the ball tomorrow.  It will be up to Junior Seau, Tedy Bruschi, Vince Wilfork and Rodney Harrison to stop Jacobs and Bradshaw on the ground.  Plaxico Burress has caught 16 passes for 194 yards (12.1 avg) in the post season and he has guaranteed a victory tomorrow for the Giants.  It will be interesting to see how he does against Asante Samuel who is the biggest thief the Patriots have in the secondary.  Amani Toomer has been the go-to man in the playoffs for Eli Manning as he has caught 15 passes for 196 yards (13.1 avg) with 3 TD grabs in the playoffs.  Steve Smith (9 rec, 102 yards, 11.3 avg) and tight end Kevin Boss (4 rec, 45 yards, 11.3 avg) do a lot of the tough work over the middle for the Giants.

Tom Brady has been solid this post season as he has completed 48 of 61 passes (78.7%) for 471 yards with 5 TD passes and 3 interceptions (105.7 QB Rating).  But something doesn’t appear right with Brady right now as he is not throwing the ball deep much so look for the Giants CBs to bump and run to throw off the Patriots timing on the short stuff.  Laurence Maroney has been outstanding in the post season as he has carried the ball 47 times for 244 yards (5.2 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also has caught 3 passes for 49 yards (16.3 avg).  The Giants are only allowing 83.7 yards rushing per game (3.6 ypc) in the post season so Maroney will have his work cut out for him Sunday.  Kevin Faulk is the silent assassin of the Patriots as he always plays well when the games get big and Sunday definately qualifies for that.  Faulk has carried the ball 5 times for 17 yards (3.4 ypc) in the post season and he has caught 13 passes for 118 yards (9.1 avg).  Faulk will put big time pressure on the Giants outside linebackers who must contain him or he will hurt them.  Wes Welker has been the leading receiver for the Patriots in the post season as he has caught 16 passes for 110 yards (6.9 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  With the Giants bringing a furious pass rush look for Welker to heavily involved in the short passing attack for the Pats on Sunday.  It will be interesting to see how the Patriots use Randy Moss as he might be too expensive to retain next season.  He has been a decoy so far this post season as he has only caught 2 passes for 32 yards (16.0 avg) in the first two games.  Look for him to show up tomorrow on the big stage for the first time.

PREDICTION:  NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 34, NEW YORK GIANTS 27

The Patriots have advanced to the Super Bowl by winning their 18th straight game of the season, but it wasn’t without a fight as the Chargers came to play.  Tom Brady had one of his worst games of the season but he made big plays when he had to.  Brady completed 22 of 33 passes for 209 yards with 2 TD passes and 3 interceptions.  Laurence Maroney picked up the slack for the offense with 122 yards rushing on 25 carries (4.9 ypc) with a TD run.  Kevin Faulk only carried the ball 1 time for 8 yards but he led the Patriots with 8 catches for 82 yards (10.3 avg).  Wes Welker also had a solid game as he caught 7 passes for 56 yards (8.0 avg) with a TD grab.  Randy Moss was a decoy once again as he only caught one pass for 18 yards.  He also carried the ball 1 time for 14 yards.  The Patriots finished up with 149 yards on 31 carries (4.8 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 33 passes for 198 yards.

The Patriots Defense bent but it didn’t break yesterday as they kept the Chargers out of the end zone.  Ellis Hobbs (8 tackles, interception) and Tedy Bruschi (8 tackles) led the way for the defense.  The Chargers finished up with 104 yards rushing on 22 carries (4.7 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 37 passes for 207 yards.

The Patriots continue their march to an unbeaten record, but the Chargers will be a formidable foe.  After all they did knock out the defending World Champs on their own field last weekend. 

The Chargers come into this game banged up on offense.  It looks as if Philip Rivers, LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates will all attempt to give it a go.  Rivers has been outstanding in the post season and he always plays with a chip on his shoulder.  Rivers though will be playing with a partially torn ACL so the front line better block well.  Look for the Patriots to blitz more than usual to try to rattle Rivers or knock him out of the game.  But, the Chargers could just decide to feed the ball to LaDainian Tomlinson and Michael Turner to try to control the clock and keep the ball away from the Patriots offense.

Chargers defensive end Igor Olshansky could wind up being the new Anthony Smith (Steelers safety) as he was talking trash earlier in the week.  Look for the Patriots to run a few plays his way to try to make him look bad.  It will be fun to watch the Antonio Cromartie vs. Randy Moss matchup as Tom Brady will have to be careful there.  Still, the Patriots could use Moss as a decoy again this week and spread the football around.  The Patriots will also likely run the ball more than usual if they get a lead in this game.

PREDICTION:  NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 31, SAN DIEGO CHARGERS 21

The Jaguars gave the Patriots a fight before they got knocked out.  Tom Brady completed his first 16 passes (post-season NFL record) of this game.  Brady finished up completing 26 of 28 passes for 262 yards with 3 TD passes.  Laurence Maroney gave the offense balance as he rushed for 122 yards on 22 carries (5.5 ypc) with a TD run.  He also caught 2 passes for 40 yards.  Kevin Faulk only rushed for 9 yards on 4 carries (2.3 ypc) but he also caught 5 passes for 36 yards (7.2 avg).  Donte’ Stallworth (3 rec, 68 yards) and Wes Welker (9 rec, 54 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Patriots in this game.  TE Ben Watson only caught 2 passes for 12 yards….but they were both TDs.  Randy Moss only caught 1 pass for 14 yards in this game.  The Patriots rushed for 145 yards on 29 carries (5.0 ypc) and they also completed 26 of 28 passes for 258 yards.

Junior Seau (10 tackles), James Sanders (9 tackles) and Rodney Harrison (7 tackles, interception) led the way for the Patriots on defense.  The Jaguars finished up with 80 yards rushing on 22 carries (3.6 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 33 passes for 270 yards.