Giants vs. Patriots: Offenses Will Explode in Super Bowl 2012 Shootout

If you're a lover of defense, Super Bowl XLVI is not going to be for you as we will not be seeing a lot of it.

No, Sunday's big game is going to be an offensive explosion. The over/under of 54 (according to Bodava) might seem big, but by the time it's over, that number will seem minuscule. Both Eli Manning and Tom Brady will exceed 300 yards passing, and we'll see one of the more high-scoring Super Bowls to ever be played. 

Without further adieu, let's take a look at how we're going to get there. 

When the Giants have the ball

New York will be going against the 31st-ranked pass defense in the NFL. Despite their 13-3 record, the Patriots have struggled all to put teams away. This is largely because their pass defense is so poor that opposing offenses nearly match points against Tom Brady and the Patriots offense. 

Eli Manning nearly had 5,000 yards passing during the regular season. When the two teams played in Week 9, Manning also moved the ball down the field in just more than one minute to beat the Patriots. That game was in New England. Now that they're in a neutral site dome, he will have an even better performance. 

The receivers he has at his disposal are going to give Manning a huge day. Between the regular season and playoffs, look at what they have done. 

	Receptions	Yards	Touchdowns
Victor Cruz	99	1,789	9
Hakeem Nicks	94	1,527	11
Mario Manningham	47	639	7

The running game can be used secondarily. All they will need it for is to keep New England's defense guessing. When that happens, the deep ball receivers will have a huge day.  

When the Patriots have the ball

The best part of the New York defense is the pass rush. Unfortunately, that is going to be completely offset by the fact that the Patriots' best receiving weapons are all at their best on short routes. 

That means that the Giants' pass rush isn't going to have time to get in Tom Brady's face. That will leave the Giants' secondary to deal with Brady's arm. In the NFC Championship Game on a wet field, Alex Smith had nearly 200 yards passing, two touchdowns and no interceptions. 

With Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez at his disposal in a dome, Brady is going to have a huge day. Look at what those three have done in the regular season and playoffs.

	Receptions	Yards	Touchdowns
Wes Welker	134	1,677	10
Rob Gronkowski	105	1,559	20
Aaron Hernandez	90	1,031	8

The problem with having a great rush against receivers like that is that the linebackers and secondary aren't great, it is actually a bad thing. Teams like the Giants overpursue, leading to easy short passes and a side of the field being exposed. Brady and his targets will take advantage of that. 

The defenses aren't going to stack up against these potent offenses. This is going to be a shootout that will exceed the over/under by a touchdown.

Prediction: Patriots 34, Giants 27

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