Super Bowl 2012: Big Names Set for Big Games in XLVI

There is no shortage of big names in Super Bowl XLVI.

Tom Brady and Eli Manning. Hakeem Nicks, Wes Welker, Victor Cruz and Rob Gronkowski. Justin Tuck, Vince Wilfork and Jason Pierre-Paul.

Oh, and Bill Belichick and Tom Coughlin.

As the old saying goes, "big players make big plays in big games." For what we expect in Indianapolis, Belichick and Coughlin might as well be considered players on the field.

But which of these big names is going to step up and play big on the biggest stage of all?

Eli Manning

No quarterback has been better this year with the game on the line than Eli. It is hard to believe, but the last two times he and Brady have taken the field together it has been the Giants signal-caller who has bested the three-time Super Bowl champion.

Brady has been phenomenal, but he's struggled against the Giants defensive line even looking rattled at times.

Eli doesn't get rattled—look at the beating he took in the NFC Championship Game—and this is just another game to him.

Rob Gronkowski

Injury or not, the Gronk is going to take the field on Sunday and he's going to be a major threat to the Giants secondary. Big Blue has no legit way to cover him without sacrificing an extra man and the Giants have to worry about Wes Welker as well.

The two players—Welker and Gronk—combined for 17 catches, 237 yards and one touchdown in the first meeting.

Big Blue has to take away Welker and may gamble a bit more on Gronk.

Victor Cruz

Bill Belichick has to decide which wide receiver—Nicks or Cruz—he'll gamble against.

Nicks has been the go-to man for most of the playoffs until the NFC title game. Both players can move the chains and both players can turn short routes into big plays, but it is Nicks that should concern Belichick the most.

On the other hand, it only takes one play for Cruz to make an impact and he has a knack for making it at just the right time.