Super Bowl 2012: 3 Keys to Victory for the New England Patriots

Let's get this out of the way first: The New England Patriots will defeat the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's go over the three reasons why that will happen.

Beat the Giants' Pass Rush

New York has made it their calling card this postseason to get pressure with their front four and drop seven in coverage.

But the Patriots are masters at creating mismatches with their personnel—namely with Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and Wes Welker—and getting rid of the ball quickly.

Tom Brady's going to be uncomfortable against the Giants all day long, there is no question about that. But if the game plan can identify kinks in the Giants armor and Brady can exploit them quickly, the Giants' pass rush won't be able to slow this Patriots offense.

Win the Turnover Battle

If you want an offense the Giants have faced this offseason that compares to what they'll face when they take on the Patriots, you need to look at their victory over the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round.

Strategically, the two offenses operate differently—Green Bay stretches teams down the field with their elite group of wide receivers, whereas the Patriots exploit the mismatches created by their tight ends—but they each move the ball most effectively through the air.

What killed the Packers? Well, they dropped way too many passes for one. But what really killed them were their four turnovers in the game, especially given the fact that the defense struggled to stop Eli Manning and the Giants offense all game long.

The Patriots lost the turnover battle to the Ravens but still managed to win. Against an offense like the Giants, that is far more unlikely to happen in the Super Bowl.

Limit the Big Plays for the Giants' Wide Receivers

Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz can absolutely carve up a secondary and, if we're being honest here, the Patriots secondary has been carved up its fair share of times this season.

But they shouldn't be expected to be heroes against the Giants. Rather, the unit that will have the greatest impact limiting the Giants' big plays in this game will be the defensive line and pass rush of the Patriots.

I've already written that I believe the Patriots' defensive front will be the surprising cause of the Patriots victory.

The Patriots have eight sacks in their two playoff games. They held Ray Rice to 67 yards on 21 carries and limited him to only one reception for 11 yards. And the Giants don't run the ball well, meaning the Patriots can focus their attack on Eli Manning and the Giants' wide receivers.

Bill Belichick will have some surprises coming for Eli Manning. But the biggest surprise will be that of the Patriots' defensive front—and not the Giants'—swinging the outcome of this game.

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