Giants vs. Patriots: Can Tight Ends Win Super Bowl 2012?

The old cliche is that defense wins championships, but it seemed that old adage had been turned on its ear in 2011, with a number of teams fielding offenses that were putting up an unprecedented number of yards and points.

A lot of this was accomplished the old-fashioned way: a quarterback throwing pass after pass to his wide receivers. But something has been shifting in the NFL in the past two seasons, and it came to a head this year.

Tight ends are more crucial than ever in the passing game, and having one or more who are talented enough to make big plays as well as assist in blocking for receivers and running backs can give a team a very real edge over its competition.

Both the New York Giants and New England Patriots have more than one tight end who will be sure to make a huge impact when they meet in Super Bowl XLVI, but clearly the advantage at the position goes to New England.

The Patriots' two second-year tight ends, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, both made names for themselves in their rookie 2010 seasons, but it was 2011 that saw them fulfill the potential that the Patriots saw when they drafted them.

Gronkowski ended the 2011 regular season with the single-season tight end yardage record, with 1327 on 90 receptions, and his 18 total touchdowns are the most of any receiver or tight end this year. He's big and strong, hard to tackle and extremely reliable, with no lost fumbles this season.

In the playoffs, Gronkowski has continued his dominance. He had 10 catches for a whopping 145 yards and three scores in his team's 45-10 blowout win over the Denver Broncos. In the AFC title game, he had five receptions for 87 yards against the Baltimore Ravens.

Hernandez is more versatile than Gronkowski, with the tight end not just catching passes but also running the ball, especially in the postseason.

Against the Broncos, Hernandez was targeted six times, catching four passes for 55 yards and a touchdown, but he also had five carries for 61 yards and was the team's leading rusher in the game.

Against the Ravens, Hernandez had three carries for only nine yards, but led the team in targets, with 11, and receptions, with seven for 66 yards.

Though Patriots quarterback Tom Brady still favors elusive slot receiver Wes Welker, the addition of Gronkowski and Hernandez has drastically changed New England's offense.

If New England defeats the Giants in the Super Bowl, it's going to have a lot to do with the contributions of its two tight ends, without question.

When the Giants lost tight end Kevin Boss to free agency in the 2011 offseason, it seemed impossible for the team to find a replacement for the considerable role he played on their offense.

Instead, they found success in a tight-end-by-committee approach that saw Jake Ballard, Travis Beckum and Bear Pascoe each make contributions to the team this season.

Ballard is clearly the team's top tight end, with 38 catches for 604 yards and four scores in the regular season, but all three men had catches in the postseason, with Pascoe's lone playoff catch resulting in a touchdown in the NFC Championship Game.

If the Giants want to further confound a weak Patriots secondary in the Super Bowl, they might need to take a page out of New England's playbook and have two tight ends on the field in a number of passing and running situations.

Though that Patriots secondary was 31st in the league in the regular season, they're going to be well-prepared for the Giants and their three-headed tight end corps. Should Eli Manning not find his primary target open, he would be well-served to look to his tight ends to bail him out.

A single touchdown by one of his three tight ends could make all the difference in the outcome of this game; indeed, the contributions of all of the tight ends fielded by both teams are going to be the most important in this year's Super Bowl.

Clearly, there's more to a top offense than just having an elite quarterback, a big-play wide receiver or a league-leading running back.

A talented, versatile tight end is quickly becoming a must-have for any team with championship hopes, and it's going to come down to what the tight ends do, and do not do, in Super Bowl XLVI that will ultimately determine whether the Patriots or the Giants win it all.