Super Bowl 2012: How Will the New England Pass Defense Slow Down Eli Manning?

It's not an easy task by any means, and for the New England Patriots, arguably their most difficult of the 2011-12 season—slowing down New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning and his receivers.

To that end, what's the best approach for the Pats secondary against the Giants receiving corps?

Well, here are three things that Bill Belichick's defensive backs must use to their advantage.

Get Physical

This goes for the entire defense, not just the secondary, but it is required to limit an opponent's production.

Out-hitting the other team is something everyone has the chance to do. Especially on defense, when it comes to making tackles, jamming receivers and playing through the whistle.

As for the Pats secondary, they must always get a good jam on the receivers to prevent a free release off the line of scrimmage. Anytime a receiver gets a free release, it gives the offense a big advantage, not to mention when playing a vulnerable pass defense like New England's.

Therefore, the more vulnerable team in defending the pass needs to wear down the opposition. Simply put, bucking the chin-strap and seeing who's the tougher competitor. If New England can't restrict Eli's receivers at the line, he is going to shred them all game long.

And anytime a receiver makes a catch, a strong, tough hit must be made. Whether it's one guy or a gang tackle, the Pats must make New York realize that it will have to earn every yard and that nothing will be given.

Inside Leverage

Here, the Patriots can use geometry to their advantage. With the Giants receivers so dominant at making plays down the seams and across the middle, negating those opportunities will happen with inside leverage.

Preventing them from quickly getting open behind the linebackers the defensive backs can jam them toward the sideline. Using out of bounds as an extra defender, the narrow width of the field is to every cornerback's advantage.

Obviously, that's not going to happen on every snap, but rerouting the receivers is the next-best alternative.

As mentioned before, no free releases translates into the pass patterns taking longer to develop.

The best example is if a receiver is supposed to run a drag route across the middle behind the blitzing linebacker, the defender must force that receiver to go around him and not through or underneath him.

Not only will the route take longer to develop, but those pass-rushing have that little extra time to get pressure on Eli Manning. 

Zone Awareness

In order to mix up coverages and pre-snap reads for Eli Manning, the Patriots must be alert when in zone coverage.

Obviously, getting physical with any receiver who enters their zone, as previously mentioned, will help reroute a receiver and assist the pass-rushers.

Here, New England can disguise zone coverage with man coverage and bait Manning into throwing interceptions. He has been prone to do so before, so creating those chances will be necessary.

If the Pats are not aware in zone coverage, Manning's receivers will simply do what they did to the Green Bay Packers—find the soft spot as defenders look like sitting ducks.

Not rotating the coverage together and/or knowing when a safety is rolling down over the slot receiver will allow the Giants to exploit the Pats on out-routes and double-moves downfield. Hence, big plays which helped the Giants win the NFC East in Week 17 and press through the postseason.

Failure to maintain awareness against a great passing team will kill New England's confidence as the game progresses.

John Rozum on Twitter.