Everything You Need to Know About New York Giants vs. New England Patriots

Super Bowl! Super Bowl! Super Bowl!

It's finally here!

Certainly there will be a ton of analysis, prediction, reviewing, guessing, crystal ball-reading, etc., over the next two weeks. But here's a first-blush look at the Patriots and Giants as they come off their thrilling, last-second conference championship triumphs Sunday.

Here's a look at the key players on both sides of the ball, each team's greatest strength, greatest weakness and the game's most important matchup heading into Indianapolis. 

Patriots' Greatest Strength: Receiving Corps

As good as Tom Brady is and as much as he has achieved, he's even better with this collection of pass-catchers. 

Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski open things up over the middle so effectively that it makes Wes Welker and Deion Branch virtually impossible to cover.

And the most incredible element of the Patriots passing game is the versatility. 

When Brady wants to throw deep, he seems to always float the ball into Gronk's big mitts.

When Brady wants to throw the intermediate stuff over the middle, there always seems to be a window.

And (most dangerously) when Brady wants to hit the short, quick stuff over the middle or in the flats, he has three very difficult receivers to tackle: Gronk and Hernandez can break tackles and pick up yards while Welker can slip through them.  

Giants' Greatest Strength: Pass Rush

In a vacuum, I think the Giants passing game and their pass rush are equally vital to their championship run.

But it's not a vacuum. They're playing the New England Patriots. Putting pressure on the opposition's passer has been absolutely critical this season, and we've already seen once—four years ago—what an awesome four-man defensive line can do to a prolific Tom Brady-led passing game. 

Certainly, there has been a lot of turnovers since that date in early 2008. Most notably, there's no Michael Strahan. Now, Jason Pierre-Paul is the stud on that group. And more to the point, the Patriots' passing game is much different that it was in 2007.

Randy Moss was a completely different threat than the Rob Gronkowski/Aaron Hernandez duo.

Still with a great pass rush—which the Giants definitely have—it doesn't really matter who Brady is targeting. He can't throw if he's on his back. 

Patriots' Greatest Weakness: Secondary

The play by Sterling Moore notwithstanding, the Pats secondary still has to be a concern for Bill Belichick and the defensive coaching staff. 

Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith made a handful of huge plays throughout their AFC Championship Game loss, and while you can chalk some of it up to Joe Flacco and a "coming of age," the creases he found in the second half were plentiful. 

And while New England has been fortunate to get big plays and turnovers from Devin McCourty, Kyle Arrington and Patrick Chung, the fact that Julian Edelman is out there in such key situations will really hurt them in the Super Bowl.

It will hurt especially down the stretch when Eli Manning is in the shotgun with three exceptional and targets in Nicks, Manningham and Cruz. 

Giants' Greatest Weakness: Running Game

Ahmad Bradshaw ran the ball very well Sunday night against San Francisco. The 74 yards he gained were even more impressive considering how great that 49ers run defense has been. 

But they're still lacking a consistent threat from either Bradshaw or Brandon Jacobs, who gave them just 13 yards on five carries. And since Bradshaw averaged well under four yards per run, there's plenty of room for improvement. 

Those stats have to be taken with a grain of salt, however, because the Giants are so heavily invested in the passing game. And that isn't likely to change in Super Bowl XLVI, considering the Pats secondary issues.

Still, the Pats' pass rush has showed significant improvement as of late, and Vince Wilfork is going to be terribly hard to block on both running and passing plays.

If the Giants keep the Pats defense honest and are able to average a little better than four yards per pop, that will really open things up for Eli Manning downfield. 

Patriots' Key Offensive Player: Tom Brady, QB

Against Baltimore, Tom Brady wasn't the Tom Brady we're all accustomed to seeing in championship games. He overthrew a few receivers, including Aaron Hernandez on that key drive in the second half and Matthew Slater on that ball that was picked off by Jimmy Smith. 

That's the reason the game was so close. If he isn't picked off in the first quarter, makes the throw to Gronkowski in the first half or throws to either Hernandez or Slater, the game probably doesn't come down to Billy Cundiff's missed field goal.

Yet, he was on fire in the win over Denver, and they blew out the Broncos. 

If he plays like that again in two weeks, he'll earn a fourth Super Bowl title and most likely a third Super Bowl MVP.

But, if he again is off target and turns the ball over multiple times, like he did in the Week 9 matchup with the Giants, New England is in for a long evening at Lucas Oil Stadium. 

Giants' Key Offensive Player: Eli Manning, QB

I really hate to pick both Tom Brady and Eli Manning as the "key offensive players" for both clubs. Not only do quarterbacks get enough attention and adoration, but both squads have exceptionally talented pass catchers—Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, Rob Gronkowski, Wes Welker to name a few.

But there's just no flinching in Eli Manning. Time and time again this year, the Giants' season has been on the line, and he's delivered. Did he play his best game against San Francisco? No. But the conditions were terrible, and still, he made a handful of throws that saved the Giants again.

And while his ability to throw on time, throw with accuracy, scan the field for the fourth, even fifth receiver in the pattern is well known and his greatest strength, people tend to forget, is just how slippery and improvisational he can be in the backfield.

The play that resulted in David Tyree's helmet catch in Super Bowl XLII is the most famous, but he did the same thing a few times in Candlestick, avoiding pressure and unloading the football a split second before disaster. 

Patriots' Key Defensive Player: Vince Wilfork, DT

The rushing stats don't really reflect this, but the Ravens ran the ball very effectively in the AFC Championship Game. 

They pushed the Pats' defensive line back at times and gained plenty of yardage in that second half. 

But don't lump Wilfork in with that group. He was a monster on Sunday against Baltimore, yanking ball carriers down behind the line three times and recording a sack. 

Virtually every time teams try to block him with one lineman, he makes a play, and if the Giants attempt to do that, he'll continue to penetrate. That Giants' offensive line is average at best. 

If they double-team him at the point of attack, it SHOULD open things up for Jerod Mayo and that linebacking corps. 

Giants' Key Defensive Player: Kenny Phillips, S

As stated earlier, the Giants pass rush is their team's greatest strength. And, as it did in Glendale in 2008, their success or failures will likely define who takes home the Lombardi Trophy.

But the player with the tallest task ahead might be safety Kenny Phillips. He'll be one of several players charged with defending the center of the field for that Giants defense and against that Patriots passing game with Gronkowski and Hernandez that's paramount to victory.

He probably won't find himself matched up man-to-man with any of the Pats' star pass catchers. But there are going to be times when Brady goes deep—he seems to take a shot deep downfield multiple times per game—and Phillips will need to make a play on the ball.

Breaking up the pass so Gronk or Hernandez don't make the catch will be big...picking one off will be much bigger. 

Super Bowl XLVI Key Matchup: Patriots' Pass Offense vs. Giants' Pass Defense

Excuse me for stating the obvious, but it's true.

This game will come down to the Pats' ability to score—and we all know how they prefer to score...through the air—against the Giants and that relentless, blitz-less pass rush.

That's how it played out back in 2008, and in some ways, that's how it played out back in Week 9 of this year's regular season.

You all know what Strahan, Tuck, Umenyiora and the rest did to that historic passing attack and the undefeated Pats in Super Bowl XLII. But the Giants 2.0 sacked Brady twice in Week 9 and forced two interceptions. 

And since Brady looked a bit off his game Sunday in Gillette Stadium, the Giants will have another blueprint to learn from when Tom Coughlin, Perry Fewell and the rest of the staff crack open the game film.