Patriots-Giants: On the Road to Glendale

Can you imagine the New York Giants with Philip Rivers at the helm, taking on the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau?

What about Eli Manning, trying to lead his San Diego Chargers past the New England Patriots?
   
That would have made for one strange looking Conference Championship weekend wouldn’t it?
   
Well we’re not here to play the “What If” game (although it might be fun to play at a later date), and we’re now looking at a rematch of Week 17: the New York Giants against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl Forty-Two (they don’t teach us roman numerals here in Canada, the main downfall of our education system).

For the Patriots, the fact they got here isn’t surprising. Although it was a little nerve-wracking to some (especially for myself and fellow Bleacher columnist Sean-MC, who reverted to talking about baseball two hours before kickoff to quell our worries), the Pats continued to prove on Sunday why they are the best team in the NFL.    

After all, not every team can win in the playoffs despite having their all-pro Quarterback throw for three interceptions, or their most prominent receiver held to one catch for the second consecutive game.

And it’s not just like every team can field an offensive line that can keep Shaun Phillips and Shawne Merriman to a combined six tackles, or keep a Chargers offense that averaged 25.8 points per game throughout the season to a measly four field goals.

That’s just what a veteran defense will do for you.

The story all throughout the regular season and heading into the playoffs was that the Patriots defense, namely its line backing core. Some said they were too old, and they were the “weak link in the chain.”

Well all that weakness did yesterday was accumulate 13 tackles, and 10 assists, while the other “greybeard” on this defense, Rodney Harrison, added 4 tackles and 3 assists of his own (and he was able to keep a cool head, and avoid penalties).

It was another greybeard on offense though, that was able to keep the team rolling to the end zone.

Despite everything this team has done offensively this year, Kevin Faulk is almost a forgotten man when Patriots fans think of great offensive performances throughout the season.

However, his football skills, combined with his veteran presence and leadership qualities, provide Tom Brady with a valuable check-down option who’s reliable hands and feet gave the Patriots 265 rushing yards and 383 receiving yards this season.

Combining with Laurence Maroney, the two were able to produce a dangerous duo of running backs yesterday with elusive moves and great hands.

While it was Maroney’s presence running the ball (resulting in a second consecutive 100 yard game) that was able to eat the clock and help move the Pats down the field, Kevin Faulk was able to lead the team with 82 receiving yards on eight receptions, and gain five first downs (to keep this in perspective, Faulk had the same amount of catches, and more yards, than Randy Moss and Wes Welker combined).

What’s more is that with both backs’ propensities to run and catch well, the Pats were able to keep the San Diego defense off balance the entire game, allowing them to open up the field.

Back over in Wisconsin, the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers took part in one of the coldest games in the history of the NFL.

However, to the chagrin of my father, the Woz, and Bill Simmons, the epic “North American will be destroyed by this football game” Super Bowl, won’t happen.

The big storyline heading into this game (aside from Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long’s awesome hats) was the fact that the television station in Green Bay was refusing to play Seinfeld as to avoid Eli Manning lighting them up.

Also, there was the issue of Peyton Manning showing up (because he had nothing to do this weekend, go figure) to jinx Eli again. Well, Jerry Seinfeld (yes THE Jerry Seinfeld) saw to it that Eli got to watch as much of the show as he wanted, and Archie made sure that Peyton didn’t show up this time (to ensure that Eli wouldn’t pull a Ryan Leaf again).

Ok, maybe the big story line was the cold, and it definitely showed. Not only through the windburn on Tom Coughlin’s face, but also in how the game was played.
   
The Giants stuck with what got them to the NFC Championship game, as they relied on combo of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw to run the ball for over 60 yards and a TD each.

But what of Eli?

Despite the fact that Eli Manning has been outstanding, the frigid temperatures of Lambeau Field helped him in some cases, and hindered the wonderkid in others.

Eli finished with his highest yardage total of the playoffs, as well completing 21 passes, which is the most completions he’s thrown in these playoffs. Meanwhile, despite throwing no interceptions, Eli also had zero TDs, a QB rating below 100.00 for the first time since week 16, and a yards per completion average of 6.4 (another playoff low).

Those stats seem to fall in line with a decline in Manning’s play. Surprisingly enough, Eli has actually cooled off since week 17, throwing for fewer touchdowns each week, a completion percentage that’s shrunk since week 1 of the playoffs, and a QB rating that fluctuates depending on the time of day.

Yes the kid is continuing to win games, which is what matters, but is Eli’s play curtailing at the wrong time for the Giants?

Unfortunately for Favre and the Packers, they weren’t as fortunate as the Giants.

The fear early in the year surrounding this Packers team, was what they would do if they found themselves in a home-playoff game and couldn’t run the ball. Well, despite having Ryan Grant, the Packers running game was sluggish the entire game, gaining 28 yards total.
   
Throw in the fact that Brett Favre had a less-than-legendary performance on the frozen tundra, and the fact that Lawrence Tynes just had to decide when he wanted to hit his field goals, and we’ve got a rematch of week 17 coming to Glendale, Arizona.

To the victor, go the spoils.