New England Patriots: 5 New York Giants Players They Need to Prepare for

Now more than ever, the New England Patriots can't afford to lose two games in a row. They don't lose two in a row very often, but many of their "very oftens" have become a "not this time"—from eight straight wins off a bye., to 13 straight games with 30 or more points, to 15 straight wins over the Bills.

The New York Giants look as good as they normally do for the first seven games of the season, but "very often" it's around this time that they start to show their true colors (blue, gray and red—or those of inconsistency and mediocrity).

The Patriots aren't likely to take the Giants lightly, especially in a week in which they've been under media siege at every turn. They are going out there not just to defend the name on the back of their jerseys, but the head coach they work with every day and the logo they put on every day.

The Giants don't figure to hand this one over easily, though. As is usually the case, they are loaded with defensive talent. It hasn't manifested into outstanding numbers this season—the Giants currently boast just the 21st-ranked scoring defense in the NFL—but what it does is keeps them in games and gets them back into ones they've seemingly fallen out of (see Miami Dolphins, Week 8).

Who are the five guys the Patriots must prepare most heavily for? 

Sack Masters

The Patriots have struggled with edge rushers, but what they've struggled even more with is when those edge rushers come up the middle. The Patriots have been exposed for this flaw in recent games against the Jets, Cowboys and Steelers. 

In that span, Brady has been brought down a whopping 11 times, and the offense has progressively looked more and more out of sync. The Giants will get opportunities to send their rotation of Jason Pierre-Paul, Osi Umenyiora, Mathias Kiwanuka and Justin Tuck from the outside or up the middle.

Sebastian Vollmer had a rough outing against the Steelers, giving up a lot of pressure and the game-ending strip, sack, safety circus play. Who knows whether he's still suffering the effects of his injury to any extent, but either way, the Giants smell blood and will likely attack like a shark in the water.

Also, Matt Light has also been struggling, having let up seven pressures in the past three games combined. He currently leads the team in pressures allowed, according to Pro Football Focus. 

The Patriots would probably be better off starting the much bigger, longer and quicker Nate Solder at right tackle, but Vollmer will likely get the start. If things don't start well with Vollmer at tackle, they may have to switch to Solder fairly quickly. Although Rob Gronkowski is a solid blocking tight end, hopefully we don't have to see too much of him blocking as he is also a weapon in the passing game.

Corey Webster

Although there are many new faces for the Patriots since Super Bowl XLII, the Giants have stuck with several key players from their run to the big game. Two of those players reside in the secondary in Aaron Ross and Corey Webster. 

Some of you may remember Webster as the guy who picked off Brett Favre for his last pass as a Green Bay Packer. Giants fans, however, know him as one of their best cornerbacks in recent years. According to Pro Football Focus, quarterbacks registered a 49.5 passer rating on throws in his direction in 2008. His numbers took a hit in that regard the next season at 98.6 (yep, that's the temperature of your mouth), but everyone's numbers took a hit that season. The Giants allowed the third-most points of any defense in the NFL that year.

He's back on track now, with a 68.6 passer rating on throws in his direction through seven games. He's been hugely important and has played in all but seven snaps this season.

Overall, he has contributed heavily to the Giants' defensive passer rating of 79.46. Needless to say, Patriots fans would kill for a cornerback like Webster.

Wes Welker is going to have his hands full, as the Giants will likely use Webster in much the same way as the Steelers used Ike Taylor on Sunday. Whether Welker can adjust to that style of play remains to be seen, but if he can't, Brady will be forced to look elsewhere.

Dynamic Duo of Wide Receivers

Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz have made Eli Manning's day a dream while simultaneously being the source of sleepless nights and nightmare-filled sleep for defensive coordinators.

The two lead the team in the big three stats: receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns. It's more than just the volume numbers, though. These two are dynamic pass-catchers that would make a great addition to any offense. Cruz ranks first in yards per reception at 17.8, while Nicks comes in at third on the team with 15.1. 

What allows them both to be so explosive is their combination of speed and strength, which allows them to get off jams at the line of scrimmage and quickly get separation from defensive backs. The fact that these two are open all the time is a huge reason why Manning has been so much more efficient this year than in years past.

Ahmad Bradshaw

Although a lot has changed for both the Patriots and the Giants since Ahmad Bradshaw gashed them for nine carries for 45 yards in Super Bowl XLII, New England's problems against Bradshaw may be much the same. He is just the type of back to give them fits, as he's just the right combination of elusive and powerful.

We pile on the Patriots pass defense, but the run defense has been average at best, giving up 4.3 yards per carry on the ground.

Oh, and his weakness of fumbling the ball hasn't been much of a weakness this year. He's carrying the ball higher and tighter than he has in years past and is covering up as he gets hit to prevent it being punched out.

Bradshaw's yards per rush attempt have gone down in each of his five NFL seasons, but he's on pace for a career-high in touchdowns and the second-highest total yardage output of his career.

One major area he excels and the Patriots don't is receiving out of the backfield. The Patriots have had a very hard time defending running backs as receivers at times, and Bradshaw could find some holes to exploit against the likes of Gary Guyton and Brandon Spikes if Jerod Mayo still isn't fully healthy and ready to go. 

New England's linebackers will need to find a way to do what they haven't for long stretches this season, and that's stop a running back from scorching them out of the backfield. 

Eli Manning

In the end, this NFL contest will come down to the war of the skies, as it usually does. Ben Roethlisberger laid out a perfect game plan for beating New England last week. He was incredibly efficient, especially for throwing the ball 50 times. 

It was Roethlisberger's discipline over the middle, his ability to take advantage of the short to intermediate zones and exploiting New England's soft zone defense and bad tackling that allowed Pittsburgh's offense to get rolling early and stay rolling throughout.

As much as we love to knock on Eli Manning for his comment about being in the same class as Tom Brady, and as much as we all know quarterbacks have had good seasons all around, Manning is putting himself right in the mix. His passer rating this year is a full nine points better than it was in his best season (2008).

In fact, Scott Kacsmar of Cold Hard Football Facts points out that if he keeps up this pace, he could end up in that class by season's end.

How do you beat him? This season, the Giants only lose when he throws an interception, and even that's not a sure thing (2-1 when throwing a pick). Even stopping the run is no longer an easy way to slow down Manning and the Giants. He's been getting it done all year long with a running game that's averaging 3.2 yards per carry, second worst in the league.

The only other common thread between the two losses is that they were his two lowest completion percentages of the season, but as the Patriots have proven with 66.7 percent completions allowed on defense, that's not exactly their strong point.

Without the ability to create pressure and even for the most part incompletions, the Patriots defense looks doomed before it even steps on the field.

Erik Frenz is the co-host of the PatsPropaganda and Frenz podcast. Follow Erik on Twitter  @ErikFrenz.