COMMENTARY: ON MATT’S MIND

The Giants aren’t the opponent the
Patriots should be facing Sunday.
The Pats, after winning their 18th game
two weeks ago, deserve much better than
what the G-Men can offer. But make no
mistake, the Giants deserve to be in this
game.

They’ve won 10 straight games on
the road – including the last three in
the playoffs – and have exposed the top
teams in the NFC on the way. No one
– not Dallas, Green Bay or whoever else
in the conference – would mount any
more of a threat than New York.

New England will use the big stage
in Glendale to underscore the growing
disparity between the AFC and NFC. We
don’t need to bother with questions like
“which Patriots team will show up?” It
will be the good one. The best game film
available for the Giants to study is actually their Week 17 matchup with
the Patriots in the Meadowlands.

Burress has already asked for double coverage all night through his
prediction of a 23-17 Giants win, putting a lot of pressure on Amani
Toomer and the offensive line.

Manning will have to wait longer in the pocket to find receivers open
down the field. He could try short dump-off passes like the Ravens did
against the Pats, but New England’s defense is flexible enough in coverage
to snuff that out and shut it down.

Fortunately for the Giants, they aren’t one-dimensional on offense.
That being said, count on the Patriots to cover the spread.