Super Bowl 2012: New York Giants Just Match Up Well with New England Patriots

There is no magic formula for how and why Tom Coughlin's New York Giants again defeated Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots in a Super Bowl. The plain truth is the Giants simply match up well with the Patriots.

First, the Giants possess an offensive balance the Patriots simply aren't used to dealing with. In the AFC East division they own, the Patriots come across the Miami Dolphins who rely on a running game as their primary way of attacking a defense. The same characteristic is true of the New York Jets.

This kind of one-dimensional opponent plays perfectly into Bill Belichick's defensive system. Belichick's philosophy has always been to eliminate the single concept or player that an offense relies on the most. It's a smart philosophy but one that can encounter trouble when faced with an offense that does more than one thing very well.

This is why the lowly Buffalo Bills have ironically given the Patriots the most problems in their division recently. The Bills have a capable passing game built around Ryan Fitzpatrick and Steve Johnson and can also boast a ground attack led by Fred Jackson.

This kind of true balance can stymie Belichick's single-focus defensive gameplans. The Giants have a superb passing game featuring a trio of deadly wide receivers. When the Patriots decided to zero in on Victor Cruz in Super Bowl XLVI, they left themselves open to the equally dynamic talents of Hakeem Nicks.

The G-Men were also successful running the ball, thanks to the contrast in style offered by talented duo Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. New England's determination to take away the deep pass left their front exposed to the efforts of two skilled runners.

Without enough elite talents in multiple areas of the defense, there is only so much the Patriots can do. So when faced with a multi-faceted offense like the one the Giants possess, New England will always struggle to cope.

On defense the Giants had the athletic pass-rushers to consistently get after Tom Brady. They were able to undermine the Patriots' over-reliance on Brady as the single determining factor for the overall success of their entire offense.

Without a credible running game, the Patriots were unable to take the pressure off Brady and play with true variety. Having three starting-caliber safeties in Antrel Rolle, Kenny Phillips and Deon Grant also helped the Giants deal with a Patriots' passing game, which is still designed to make yards in the underneath and middle zones.

Safeties are more athletically equipped to cover the likes of Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Without a legitimate vertical threat to worry about, the Giants were able to use their safeties to pinch down on every underneath pass pattern from the Patriots.

Teams studying how the Giants upset the Patriots twice this season should be aware that the G-Men don't do anything particularly special or schematically unique against the Pats. The personnel matchups simply favored Big Blue.