Super Bowl 46: Why Extended Halftime Favors Patriots over Giants

The Super Bowl isn't just another football game. Players love to use that phrase, but the Super Bowl is a spectacle of epic proportions and includes countless things other than just football.

Because of this, the typical NFL halftime is extended to allow for added media exposure and what is almost always a disappointing halftime show.

When the teams leave the field after two quarters, one of them has a superior edge over the other.

No coach or team adjusts better at halftime than Bill Belichick and the Patriots.

No team can simply alter everything they're doing better than a Belichick coached team.

When it comes to the Giants versus the Patriots, there is actually a huge difference in the way the teams adapt at halftime.

Big Blue is going to come out and do exactly what everyone expects them to do: attack Tom Brady. Regardless of how the first half goes, the Giants are going to come back out of halftime and do the exact same thing.

Offensively, they'll decide whether or not to continue trying to run the ball, but their overall game plan will be the same.

The same cannot be said for the Patriots. This game, ultimately, will be decided by how the Patriots adjust offensively.

If the Giants aren't having success hitting Brady, we can expect Belichick and his staff to find out exactly why. They won't only keep doing it, but they'll also find out what the Giants are doing and what they're going to change.

If the Giants are hitting Brady, the Pats are going to find out a way to at least give themselves a chance to get back in the game.

This game won't be determined by halftime—Eli and Tom are too good and the last QB with the ball has the best chance to win—but when these two teams go into halftime it gives the Patriots a distinct advantage at the start of the second half.