Super Bowl 2012: Why Giants vs. Patriots Will Disappoint Fans

After their epic encounter in Super Bowl XLII four years ago, most football fans are expecting a repeat performance from the New York Giants and New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. Unfortunately, fans are just setting themselves up for disappointment.

There is no question that Super Bowl XLII was an absolute classic. It had everything a football fan could possibly ask for. The Patriots entered the game with an undefeated record and were heavy favorites. Everything was stacked against the Giants, so there was a true David vs. Goliath story.

New York led for much of the contest thanks to great defense, but quarterback Tom Brady and the Pats' prolific offense orchestrated a late drive to go up 14-10. Just when it looked like Big Blue's goose was cooked, quarterback Eli Manning and wide receiver David Tyree connected for the most miraculous play in Super Bowl history, before Manning found Plaxico Burress for the game-winning score.

Over the past several seasons, there have been some great Super Bowls, but Super Bowl XLII can stake a legitimate claim to the title of best ever. With all of that to live up to, Sunday's Super Bowl XLVI is simply destined to fall short of lofty expectations.

This Super Bowl obviously has potential, but fans are truly thinking that it will be the best ever. A quarterback matchup of Manning vs. Brady is classic and it will be interesting to see if the Giants' pass rush can get to Tom Terrific like it did four years ago, but that won't make it the best ever.

Super Bowl XLVI is already at a disadvantage when compared to Super Bowl XLII because the storylines aren't as good. The biggest storylines surrounding this year's game are the health of Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski's ankle and the fact that this is a rematch of perhaps the greatest Super Bowl ever.

Four years ago, one of the teams was undefeated entering the game, so the game was going to be huge regardless of what the score was. The fact that the G-Men managed to pull off the upset and did it in such dramatic fashion only made it that much better.

Ultimately, this year's Super Bowl has the potential for greatness, but Super Bowl XLII is a tough act to follow. Unless the game remains nip and tuck throughout, before one of the teams manages to put together an incredible, frantic, last-second drive, it just won't measure up.

I'm excited for the Super Bowl and believe it will be a good one, but I'm not naive enough to think it will be as good as the one of four years ago. Super Bowl XLII might have been a once-in-a-lifetime game, and because of that, people will almost assuredly be disappointed by Super Bowl XLVI.