Super Bowl 2012: Breaking Down Each Team's Greatest Weakness

When the Patriots and the Giants meet up in Indy for Super Bowl XLVI on Feb. 5, it will be like staring straight into a mirror.

The Super Bowl isn’t so much about a team playing to its strengths as much as it is about a team minimizing the damage done to its weaknesses, and these two teams will be looking to plug up the same kinds of holes. Let’s take a look at each team’s biggest weakness and what they each must do to stop the bleeding. 

New England Patriots—Pass Defense 

Those who have watched New England this season, or even in the postseason, should know that the Pats are prone to letting teams put up big numbers in the air. There is a reason why they are ranked 31st in pass defense, only better than the Green Bay Packers. All things considered, it’s remarkable that they made it this far, though they were blessed to have faced two quarterbacks in the postseason that struggle with exploiting these weaknesses. 

Eli Manning, on the other hand, won’t be so inept. He’s also got the most talented group of receivers the Patriots will face in weeks. If the Pats have any hope of stopping Eli, they must apply pressure from their front four. If they are forced to blitz, or cannot get good penetration, the New England secondary isn’t equipped to minimize the damage. 

New York Giants—Pass Defense 

The Giants' secondary, while giving up fewer yards per game, isn’t much better than the Patriots'. Giving up almost 255 yards a game in the regular season was bad enough, but as we saw against the 49ers, they are also prone to getting beat in man coverage.

What might be more disconcerting for the Giants, and hopeful for the Patriots, is they seemed to struggle quite a bit with tight end Vernon Davis. If New England can get its two tight ends out into space then you can rest assured the stats will begin to pile up for Brady. 

For the Giants to minimize the damage, they must apply pressure to Brady. The G-Men were successful in flushing Alex Smith out of the pocket, and with the less mobile Tom Brady, getting him on the move could be a recipe for victory. However, Smith also failed to capitalize on time to throw. Tom Brady will not make those mistakes. If the Giants give him time, they’ll be in huge trouble.