Although almost all the experts heavily favor the Patriots in Superbowl XLII, I believe the Giants have a huge opportunity to go down as the team who ruined the Patriots shot at perfection.

How can the Giant’s accomplish such a monumental task?

Defensively two things on defense need to be done if they are to stand a chance. The first thing they need to do is Blitz. I mean literally Blitz from everywhere. The Giants have a formidable pass rush and they must continually keep the pressure on Tom Brady. Sure its easier said than done against the Patriots tough O-line, but if Brady has too much time in the pocket, you can forget about any chances for a ring at all. For a chance at winning against this New England team, the first thing they have to do is disrupt the pass.

Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, and Michael Strahan are all above average pressure defenders and I expect nothing less but an all out assault on Brady and the football. If Strahan and Co. can land a couple nice sacks on Brady early and shake him up a bit, they will be in a good position for an upset.

The second key ingredient to success is keeping Randy Moss out of the game. The Chargers kept the game (AFC Championship) close by holding Moss to just one successful offensive play (I believe it was a reverse). A combination of solid double coverage and bump and run defense will keep him at bay. They need to check him at the line of scrimmage everytime, and protect against deep ball. The worst possible scenario would be for Moss to open up the game with a couple quick scores that will force Eli Manning and the offense to have to play catchup the entire game. I predict that if Moss scores more than once, the Patriots will blow the Giants out of Arizona.

Offensively, its a bit simpler. Eli Manning is the key to this entire game. He must put on the best game of his career and ask big brother Peyton Manning for some sound advice. As I watched the AFC Championship game, I noticed that the Chargers were most effective when they threw the ball up the middle. They seemed to charge forward until they hit a road block in the red zone. Other than their red zone woes, the Giants had their way with the secondary and marched into the Patriots territory with ease. Plaxico Burress and Armani Toomer will need to come up big, and Brandon Jacobs will have to solidify the run to force the Patriots to respect the running game which will open up opportunities in mid-field for Burress and Toomer to come up big.

Lastly, the Giants will have to come up with a solution to the Patriots Red Zone Defense. The Chargers settled for four field goals instead of capitalizing on four opportunities to score a touchdown. That was the difference in the game. If the Chargers were able to score at least on three of the four trips to the Red Zone, it may have been a totally different outcome.

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