Giants vs. Patriots: Tom Brady's Desperation Will Destroy New England's Chances

Tom Brady has been described as this generation's Joe Montana, because of his cool demeanor under pressure.

But it has been a long time since we have seen that side of him in the postseason and he is desperate to turn things around against the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI.

Ignoring the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Denver Broncos because they were not a good defensive team, Brady has been average in the playoffs since the loss to the Giants in the Super Bowl four years ago. 

To be fair, that is a small sample size of just four games to judge. But it does raise some red flags. During that time, Brady has completed 103 of 181 passes for 958 yards, five touchdowns and six touchdowns. 

This game is Brady's chance to prove any doubters wrong. As Art Stapleton wrote in the Boston Herald, Brady has a big target on his chest for so many reasons in this Super Bowl.

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This has the makings of being a legacy-defining game for Brady and Bill Belichick and could enhance that of Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin in similar fashion, especially if the latter quarterback-coach combination is able to prevail for the second time in a Super Bowl in four years.

That being said, nothing is more difficult than finding a way to deny Brady at his best.

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That last part is the key to this whole game. We don't know if Brady is going to be at his best.

It has been a long time since we have seen it against a quality postseason team, so why should this game be any different?

Whether Brady admits it or not, and he kind of did after the AFC Championship Game by saying that he "sucked," this is the most important game of his career.

He can tie Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw with four Super Bowl victories, erase the memories of that Super Bowl loss four years ago and cement his legacy as one of the best playoff quarterbacks.

But until he proves he can be the calm, cool and collected player he was before, those doubts are going to creep up. 

And when he tries to do too much in this game, forcing passes he shouldn't, he is going to make a lot of mistakes that cost the Patriots their fourth championship.

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