Super Bowl XLII: Advice for the Giants

In a rematch of their Week 17 game, the unbeaten Patriots will play the red-hot Giants in Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Ariz.  Learning from history may help the Giants make history.

What the Giants need to work on is focusing on the dont's rather than the do's.

Don't say anything stupid.

The Steelers' safety Anthony Smith is a prime example of what not to do before kickoff.  We know that it’s tempting to speak your mind. But against the Pats, you need to keep your mouth shut, especially when the cameras are around. Try memorizing these:

"We are facing the best coach, quarterback, and team in NFL history; we just hope it's close," or, "I don't blame the odds-makers; I would have made the spread 17."   

See, Giants, this is what the Broncos did when they faced the Packers in Super Bowl XXXII. They didn't give Mike Holmgren any ammo for the game. The same went for the Patriots in '01.

Don't expect the Pats to break.

This is as close a team as the NFL has ever seen. After each practice, Tom Brady brings the team together and has them do a Super Bowl chant. This kind of thing is usually done on a high school or college team. Most NFL teams don’t end practice with a chant, but the Patriots do. If you think that they will turn on each other when things get bad, you’re sadly mistaken.

Don't take the "safe" way out.

You are not going to beat the Patriots with field goals. Just ask the Chargers after the Conference Championship game. All they kicked were field goals, and look how they turned out. 

Just remember: "Field position is overrated, going for it on fourth-down isn't."