Giants and Patriots rejoin battle for Super Bowl XLVI

On Sunday 5 February New York Giants and New England Patriots will contest Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, in a repeat match-up of 2008’s Super Bowl XLII.

In that game the Giants overcame what had appeared to be insurmountable odds (Patriots were 18-0 that season) to take a stunning 17-14 win. This time around the picture is little changed, with Patriots on a ten-game winning streak and Giants having had to come from the wildcard round with a regular-season record of only 9-7.

Many were clamouring to see ‘Manning versus Brady’ and they will now get their wish. Though Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is going to his fifth Super Bowl and has looked as supreme as ever this season, he needed his defence to bail him out in Patriots’ 23-20 AFC Championship victory over Baltimore Ravens. He threw no touchdown passes and only a shanked Billy Cundiff kick 11 seconds from the end prevented overtime.

Ravens’ reasonable success in limiting an expansive Patriots offence will give hope to the Giants ahead of the Super Bowl, especially after the resolve their own defence showed in the 20-17 overtime victory against San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. Niners’ passing game was effectively shut down and such success will be need to be repeated come February 5.

Earlier in the season Eli Manning declared himself the same class of quarterback as Tom Brady. In seeing off Aaron Rodgers’ defending champions Green Bay Packers and now former number one draft-pick Alex Smith’s 49ers, Manning has more than earned the right to test that claim on the field at the Super Bowl. His sheer resilience will also lend strength to a Giants team he has had to carry for large parts of this season – currently on a streak of 119 consecutive starts and standing up to no fewer than six sacks against the 49ers two weeks ago.

If it appears that Brady and the Patriots may be just running out of steam, though, it is worth remembering that neither are newcomers to the pressure of such an occasion; they know all about winning, and indeed losing, at this stage.

But Eli Manning and the Giants will carry faith from 2008; nobody knows better how to outmanoeuvre an all conquering Patriots side. Maintaining the form of Brady and a largely untested defence should be enough for New England to win. But with Eli Manning as their King Leonidas, New York will feel that they could beat just about anyone right now.