Super Bowl 2012 Predictions: 4 Ways This Super Bowl Will Be Different

It doesn't seem so long ago that the New England Patriots and New York Giants met in Super Bowl XLII. But in the NFL, four years is like an eternity.

The only things today's Super Bowl has in common with 2008's are the opponents. Much has been made of how Super Bowl XLVI will parallel the teams' first meeting in the big game, but things are going to be markedly different this time around.

In the following slides, I detail four ways why.

The Giants' Eli Manning Is a Top-Tier Quarterback

In the 2007-2008 season, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning was still getting his bearings in the league. In fact, for much of the year, he looked overwhelmed by the game.

Though he had visibly matured as a player by the time the Super Bowl came around, he was still not considered the Giants' biggest weapon to lead them to a championship over the then-undefeated New England Patriots.

In Super Bowl XLII, Manning threw the ball 34 times for 255 yards and two scores. Not a bad showing, to be sure.

But in today's meeting with the Patriots, Manning is the centerpiece of his team's offense and will be the single-greatest factor in whether the Giants can win yet another Super Bowl championship.

He's expected to put up well over 300 yards for a Giants team that has veered away from the run in favor of Manning's arm.

The Patriots' Offensive Philosophy Is Wholly Different

The 2011-2012 New England Patriots offense bears little resemblance to their 2007-2008 counterparts, despite quarterback Tom Brady and wide receiver Wes Welker remaining with the team.

In Super Bowl XLII, Brady relied heavily on both Welker and wideout Randy Moss to do most of the offense's heavy lifting. This time around, he will be targeting not just Welker, but a pair of tight ends rather than a traditional receiver in the vein of Moss.

This season, the Patriots have revolutionized the way a pass-heavy offense can look in the modern NFL. With tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez in concert with Welker, Brady and the Patriots have had one of their most successful seasons.

Though wide receivers Deion Branch and Chad Ochocinco will be on the field for the Patriots in today's Super Bowl matchup against the New York Giants, they'll be afterthoughts, late reads for Brady. Instead, he'll be looking to his heretofore-non traditional receiving targets to make the team's biggest plays.

The Patriots' Defense Isn't as Scary as They Were in 2008

In the 2007-2008 season, the New England Patriots fielded one of the best defenses in the NFL, ranking in the top 10 in total yards and points allowed, interceptions and forced turnovers, rushing yards and scores and notched 46 sacks.

This season, the Patriots' defense is in the top 10 in just turnovers forced and have had 40 sacks.

If there's one glaring weakness for the Patriots this year, it's their defense. While fairly competent against the run, the unit ranked 31st overall in passing yards allowed in the regular season and even gave up over 300 yards to Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco in the AFC championship game.

If the Patriots fall to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl yet again, look for their weak secondary to have given up a number of huge, key plays as one reason why.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning has averaged over 300 yards per game this year; considering a Patriots secondary that has been giving up nearly that many yards on a per-game basis, it could be quite a struggle for them to stop Manning and his cadre of talented receivers today.

The Giants Won't Be Running the Ball so Much

Though the core of the New York Giants' run game hasn't changed since the 2007-2008 season, with Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs the team's top running backs, they won't be getting as much action in today's Super Bowl meeting with the New England Patriots as they did when the teams met in 2008.

In Super Bowl XLII, the two backs rushed a total of 26 times for 91 yards. The team had a more run-oriented offensive game plan in that season with quarterback Eli Manning still not a confident leader.

Now that Manning has all but taken complete control of his team's offense, the Giants haven't needed to run the ball as much. In fact, the Giants ranked dead last in average rushing yards per game in 2011.

It's almost guaranteed that Bradshaw and Jacobs won't combine for 26 carries in today's game; more likely, they'll have a total of 15 or 16 rushes in the entire game, with both backs more involved in pass blocking and being Manning's short-yardage targets.