New England.
For the fist half of the season it was a breeze for the Patriots as they easily beat all their opponents by the point equivalent of at least two or more touchdowns. Game eight against the Redskins was a 52-7 rout. The second half of the unbeaten season wasn't quite as easy. It started with a less than four minutes to go - come from behind 24-20 win over Peyton Manning and his undefeated Indianapolis Colts. Games 11 and 12 against Philadelphia and Baltimore had the Pats winning each by just 3 points. The score was close again when they played the Giants in game 16, and came away with a 38-35 win and an undefeated regular season. Then they easily beat Jacksonville 31-20 for the division title and went on to beat San Diego 21-12 for the Conference win in a tough defensive battle.

The last time.
The Giants and New England faced off for the final game of the regular season just a few weeks ago. Both teams had secured playoff berths and not much was at stake here as far as their runs at the Super Bowl were concerned. However, the Patriots wanted to nail down an unbeaten regular season record, and the Giants wanted to show that they could play nose to nose with any level of competition. It was a tough fought 38-35 win for the Patriots, but some would say that both teams came away with what they were looking for.

The Asterisk.
From the beginning of the season, the NY Post has attached an asterisk to the New England Patriots record. Their filming indiscretion cost coach Bill Belichick a $500,000 fine, and the team was hit with $250,000 plus the loss of a first-round draft choice in this year's draft. I don't know how many sensible fans believe that the Jets would have beaten the Patriots with or without the additional camera work. As a Giants fan, there is only one asterisk you want to see listed along with the Pats unbeaten 16-0 regular season record. It would say - *Did not remain unbeaten in playoffs. Lost to the NY Giants in Super Bowl XLII.

Plaxico's Prediction.
Earlier in the week Plaxico Burress predicted a 23-17 win. "It was the first thing that came into my mind" he stated later on when pressed. Tom Brady objected in a good naturedly fashion. "We're only going to score 17 points? I wish he had said 45-42 and gave us a little credit for scoring more points." Brady can fall back on the fact that his team has been very high scoring this year to the tune of an NFL record 589 points. Brady had 50 touchdown passes which were the most ever for one season, and Randy Moss broke Jerry Rice's record with 23 touchdown catches. Plaxico can claim that he wore No. 23 in high school and now wears 17 with the Giants, but maybe he was thinking of the game film of where he saw that the Patriots were held to just 21 points by the Chargers in their very last outing.

Tom Brady.
He's had a truly amazing year, but he didn't have an amazing game in the AFC Championship match against San Diego. Brady threw three interceptions against the Chargers but the defense bailed him out allowing just field goals to be scored against them. When asked if his leg was injured in the game, he responded "I'm not worried about that. There will be treatment this week. In games like this, you get a little nicked up. It's nothing serious." The Giants hit Brady eight times and got one sack in their last meeting, but he was playing without his starting right guard and tackle. Brady finished with 32 completions on his 42 passes for 356 yards and two touchdowns in that game.

Eli Manning.
Eli has been playing some of the best football of his career, including three playoff games without an interception. Eli was 53 of 85 for 602 yards, four touchdowns and overall, he has a streak of 101 straight postseason passes without an interception. Will he engineer a big passing game? The way Eli sees it, "It will be our job on offense to hold the ball as long as we can, have long drives." If he quarterbacks it like Phil Simms did back in Super Bowl XXV, where the Giants had a record possession total time of 40:33 and Ottis Anderson became the MVP, maybe that honor will go to Brandon Jacobs or Ahmad Bradshaw this time around.

Brandon Jacobs - Ahmad Bradshaw.
Last game against the Patriots, Jacobs had 67 yards rushing, 44 yards on pass receptions, and he scored a touchdown. Bradshaw did not play because he had a bruised calf. Tedy Bruschi and Junior Seau do the run stopping for the Patriots, but they will be taking on two young effective running backs, one with speed and one with power. Bruschi is 34 years old and Seau is 38 in his 18th NFL season. They are effective, but will they be as effective in the second half if the Giants make the running game a big part of their overall offense?

Amazing.
Isn't it amazing that a team could go undefeated the entire regular season, and beyond, and they will still feel like a failure if they lose this one game in the Super Bowl?
Isn't it amazing that a team could lose it's first two games of the season, four more during the season including one to the team they'll be facing next, and still be in a position to win it all with a Super Bowl trophy?
Isn't it amazing that it was put upon the Giants to try and halt the Patriots undefeated regular season record, and having failed that by three points, it's now up to them to stop the Patriots again in postseason?

Super Bowl Info.
Which NFL team has the best record? - The San Francisco 49ers top the Super Bowl standings at 5-0. Who sang the Anthem last year? - Billy Joel. Did Britney Spears ever perform at a Super Bowl halftime? - Yes, as well as Tony Bennett, Chubby Checker, Janet Jackson, and Paul McCartney. Michael Jackson and 3,500 local children did one halftime show, and that was the same year that O.J. Simpson did the coin toss. (Super Bowl XXVII Jan. 31, 1993). Where do you find great information like this and wouldn't be nice to have it all available for everyone to see at your Super Bowl party? Of course. Just go here - TG Free Fun Stuff

Cashing in.
Fans of either team will feel badly if their favorites don't win. In that case it might be helpful to pinch yourself and remember that the Super Bowl winner's share is $78,000, but the loser's share is still $40,000. The way things stand now, it's been reported that each of the Giants has already earned $18,000 for the wild card victory, $20,000 for the victory in the divisional round and $37,000 for winning the NFC Championship.
The friendly wager between the mayors of New York and Boston is - Manhattan clam chowder against New England clam chowder. Charities will benefit. If the Patriots win, Boston gets Manhattan clam chowder, pastrami sandwiches, New York pizzas, black and white cookies, New York steaks and a few gallons of lemon ice. If the Giants win, New York gets New England clam chowder, Dunkin' Donuts coffee, Boston cream pies, chicken sausages and Brigham's ice cream.

Those Official NFC Champion Giants shirts.
The shirts made for distribution to the public were not made up before the game. The ones seen worn by team members were manufactured prior with the losing team's shirts being donated to World Vision, which will distribute them to people in Romania and Nicaragua. After the game was played, at four locations, Reebok had printing presses ready to go for either team.

Notes.
Giants have won ten straight road games.
They are the first team to win ten straight away from home in a single season.

Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, at 61 years old, has been among the oldest coaches in the league since taking the job in 2004.
Coughlin is now officially the oldest with Joe Gibbs' recent retirement.

Giants Jeff Feagles will play in his first Super Bowl Game after 321 games in 20 seasons.

Giants TE coach Mike Pope has appeared in three Super Bowls with the Giants (XXI, XXV, XXXV) and one with New England (XXXIII).

New England's Tom Brady has started in 124 consecutive games, the third longest streak by a quarterback in NFL history.

New England was a 14-point underdog when they beat St. Louis, 20-17, in Super Bowl XXXVI.
New England is favored by 12 points over the Giants.

Teams that average more than 27 points in the regular season are 22-2-1 in the Super Bowl.
Giants averaged 23.2 points, and the Patriots averaged 35.6.

Mayor Bloomberg will host a parade in lower Manhattan on Feb. 5 if the Giants win.
When the Giants won in 1987, Ed Koch wouldn't go for it and the team held a parade in the Meadowlands.

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