Super Bowl 2012: Improving Each Side of the Ball for the Giants and Patriots

Although the stage is set for the Super Bowl, there's always room for improvement.

Just in the conference championship games, we saw Tom Brady throw to picks and Eli Manning get sacked and hit numerous times, among other miscues.

So with that being said, take a look at how the Giants and Patriots can improve on each side of the ball before Super Sunday.

Patriots Offense

With Tom Brady under center, any offense would be flawless.

That said, giveaways are what's hurt New England the most this postseason. Sure, the Pats beat Denver, 45-10; however, they still turned the ball over twice.

And thanks to some stout defense, New England was able to hold off the Ravens. In the AFC Championship, the Pats turned the rock over three times, with two picks coming from Brady.

In addition, New England lost the time of possession battle, 33:33 to 26:27. Simply put, the Patriots were taken out of their game plan enough to continually give Baltimore opportunities.

The Patriots are not by an means an explosive offense; however, they are arguably the most efficient. So, they eat up clock time with every possession but move quickly. And when turnovers happen, that rhythm and timing really gets messed up.

Against the Giants, New England must continue to effectively run the ball to stay balanced. Doing so takes pressure off Brady and will limit the Giants pass rush.

In the long run of the game, it will prevent turnovers, which even one will determine this game.

Patriots Defense

Although significantly improved, New England still needs keep getting better against the pass.

Baltimore's Joe Flacco threw for over 300 yards and two touchdowns against them while finishing with a 95.1 rating.

And for as solid and improved as Flacco is, Eli Manning of the Giants is on another level.

For starters, Eli has the ability to make any group of receivers better. In Super Bowl XLII, he had Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer, Steve Smith and David Tyree.

Four years later, he has a completely new cast of targets in Victor Cruz, Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks. All three are great, but would not be playing on their current levels without Eli under center.

So, to help negate big plays, expect a lot of blitzing and inside-leverage press coverage. This allows a defensive back to use the sidelines as an extra defender and takes away the slant and crossing routes.

New England gave up big plays to Baltimore, but also stepped up in crunch time. The question is whether Bill Belichick's defense can do it again, because Eli Manning bested them in the regular season.

Giants Offense

If there's anything that's slowed down the Giants offense this postseason, it's uncharacteristically been Eli Manning's pass protection.

Throughout the course of the regular season, Eli was sacked only 28 times despite going against some of the league's best pass rushing units, especially the NFC East.

Unfortunately, defenses have simply just bruised Eli these playoffs, and you can bet because of that exploitation, Bill Belichick will plan on following suit with New England.

In the Wild Card Round, Eli was only sacked twice but hit an additional five times versus Atlanta. The Packers then one-upped the Falcons by sacking Eli only once, but hitting him seven times. Then, San Francisco outdid both Green Bay and Atlanta with six sacks and 12 hits.

As for New England, its pass rush is much better than given credit for, as the Pats recorded 40 sacks in the regular season and have added eight in just two playoff games.

So, expect Manning to see a barrage of blitzes from all over, and the protection must adjust. Whether it's leaving one or two backs in to help or have tight end Jake Ballard chip-block first then release, Eli must get time to read.

If not, we will see "an eye for an eye" so to speak from New England to New York as courtesy of how the Giants grilled Tom Brady in Super Bowl XLII.

Giants Defense

Straight up defending the pass when the pass rush doesn't assist.

That's where the Giants are most vulnerable.

It's easy for any secondary and coverage linebackers to dominate an opposing passing game with a sick pass rush. The quarterback doesn't have time to read and is more worried about the pressure than dissecting the defense.

Well, although the Giants are usually a blitzing team because the front four is so dominant, expect the Patriots to isolate that with extra blockers.

In turn, that will buy Brady extra time, and for as solid as the Giants are in coverage, they won't be able to blanket Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and Deion Branch for more than 2.5 seconds. And that's if Brady still has the rock, because he can pinpoint a ball between three or four defenders.

So to fix this, the Giants need to obviously disguise coverages, but at the very least, double team Gronkowski.

Branch can be blanketed one-on-one, and so can Hernandez. The key is limiting Welker's production while giving the pass-rush time to get pressure on Brady. If not, New England is going to shred New York's defense all game long.

John Rozum on Twitter.