Giants vs. Patriots: Building New York's Game Plan Around Regular Season Meeting

In the anxious build-up to a Super Bowl rematch for the ages, we're lucky enough to have a 2011 regular-season meeting between the New York Giants and New England Patriots to critique, examine and analyze. 

The G-Men emerged victorious in Foxboro, 24-20, stunning Tom Brady and his remarkable 31-game regular-season home winning streak. 

The Week 9 showdown was a quirky game between these two high-profile teams, with no points being scored until five minutes into the third quarter. 

After a 14-yard touchdown connection between Brady and Rob Gronkowski with 1:36 remaining, Eli Manning was the maestro in a game-winning drive that was reminiscent to the one he led to win Super Bowl 42. 

He found tight end Jake Ballard in the end zone from one yard with 15 seconds left to seal the victory. 

Manning may have outdueled Brady, but he didn't necessarily outplay the Patriots' legend. Brady threw for 342 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. 

Manning finished the day with 250 yards, two touchdowns and a pick of his own. 

Because they were successful against the Pats this year, the Giants can structure their Super Bowl game plan similarly, although there should be a few differences.

The most striking difference will be the presence of Ahmad Bradshaw and Hakeem Nicks, who didn't even make the trip to Boston for the Week 9 game due to injuries. You better believe Tom Coughlin is glad he can feature these two on February 5th and he most certainly will. 

The Giants head coach did a remarkable job balancing his offense against one of the more inferior defenses in the league on that day in early November.

His quarterback attempted 39 passes and as a team, they ran the football on 29 occasions.

The Patriots' defense has greatly improved since that contest, but finding balance once again will be of the utmost importance, regardless of how tremendous Manning and his receivers are playing.

On defense, the Giants simply employed their typical, four-defensive lineman set and dropped six or seven into coverage, stifling Brady to the point of boos in the third quarter.

Although he was only sacked two times, No. 12 was frequently pressured and rarely seemed comfortable delivering the ball in the pocket which lead to a handful of unusually inaccurate passes and incompletions.

He managed to regain his composure in the fourth quarter when he threw two touchdown passes, but the early struggles were instrumental in the Giants' triumph.

Gronkowski did have eight catches for 101 yards and the aforementioned touchdown catch in that game, but New York's defense could be benefited if the star tight end is hobbled after suffering an ankle injury in the AFC title game. 

Jason Pierre-Paul, Chris Canty, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora have been playing marvelous of late, constantly disrupting opponent's backfields, so expect defensive coordinator Perry Fewell to implement a similar game plan, which really is not too complex or unorthodox. 

With 58 passing attempts in victory against the stingy San Francisco 49ers defense, Manning once again proved he can lead his team to a win when he throws the ball frequently. 

It will be tempting to allow Eli to sling the ball often, but balance has been key during the Giants' current run and that will continue in Super Bowl 46, along with a relentless pass rush. 

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