Patriots vs. Giants: Why the Super Bowl Will Be Different from Week 9

The New York Giants and New England Patriots will meet for the second time this season, only this week it will be in the Super Bowl.

Ignoring for a moment that the Super Bowl is a very different game for both teams involved, just by the very nature of the spectacle and the pressure that goes along with it, there are many reasons to believe that this game won't be similar to their regular season meeting in Week 9.

One is simply who will be on the field. In Week 9, the Giants were without both wide receiver Hakeem Nicks and running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who were sidelined with injuries.

The presence of the two men on the field this Sunday will drastically shift the Giants' offensive game plan from what they had to craft in November, when receivers Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham had to fill Nicks' void and Brandon Jacobs was the centerpiece of the team's running game.

It's not as though the absence of the two players harmed the Giants' chances much: New York won that game, 24-20, in the final seconds and Cruz put up 91 yards on six catches.

However, it was tight end Jake Ballard who ended up being the game's hero, with four receptions for 67 yards and the game-winning touchdown.

Jacobs also had a solid showing with 18 carries for 72 yards and a score. In the Super Bowl, it's doubtful that either Jacobs or Bradshaw will have 18 carries on their own, with the two more likely to combine for 20 to 22 carries and the team relying more on its passing game against the Patriots' weak secondary.

But the Patriots won't look the same either, even if their starters were by and large healthy and on the field in Week 9.

In the Week 9 loss, quarterback Tom Brady relied most heavily on receiver Wes Welker and tight end Rob Gronkowski, the two combining for 25 targets in Brady's 49 pass attempts. Welker had 136 receiving yards and no scores, while Gronkowski had 101 yards and one touchdown.

Gronkowski has a high ankle sprain that has kept him in a walking boot until Tuesday. While there's zero chance he's inactive on Sunday, his ankle won't likely be at 100 percent and that limitation will likely make fellow tight end Aaron Hernandez more involved in the passing game than he was in Week 9.

In that game, Hernandez was targeted five times and had four receptions for 35 yards and a score. Since the start of postseason, Hernandez has been getting more carries as a running back and should net that many yards on the ground alone.

In the air, Hernandez should find himself targeted eight or nine times and could have as many as 70 or 75 receiving yards and a touchdown.

But the major difference between Week 9 and the Super Bowl will be in the two teams' defense. The Giants performed well defensively in their first meeting, echoing what the Pittsburgh Steelers did in their win over the Patriots in the prior week, keeping Brady under pressure and forcing turnovers—four in the entire game.

The Patriots aren't known for turning the ball over that often, but it's not likely they will leave Indianapolis without at least one interception and perhaps another lost fumble.

Pressure is going to be key for both defensive lines. The Patriots didn't sack Eli Manning once in Week 9 and the Giants got to Brady just twice. Look for far more sacks—and tackles for loss—in the Super Bowl, with both teams' defenses with a lot to prove on the game's biggest stage.

These are the same teams to be sure, but they are going to look very different from the squads they were in the regular season. We've already been made aware of this when it comes to the Giants in the postseason, where 9-7 New York has looked more like a 13-3 team than New England has.

But with different personnel on the field, wholly revamped offensive and defensive strategies and a chance to take on an opponent they are already fairly familiar with, the Super Bowl may end with the same outcome as the Week 9 contest, but it will take a different route to get there.