Guess What? The Giants are Going to Beat the Patriots Tonight
Nobody in the entire world is looking at this game the right way. They just do not understand. They just do not understand Tom Coughlin, and they do NOT understand the magnitude of this game tonight on the future of the New York Giants. They do NOT understand the amount of PRESSURE that the Patriots are under for this game. A 15-0 team, trying to go 16-0? Are you kidding me? Does anyone out there get the picture? The Pats are going to be TIGHT.

In the last two seasons, Coughlin led Giants teams into the playoffs that were injured, struggling and without any sort of momentum. This year, although the Giants and Eli Manning have been sloppy in the second half after a 6-2 start, they actually have a chance to say, "Hey, we went 5-3 in the second half of the season, won our last two games and went 11-5 for the season. We were 7-1 on the road, and we actually have a better record than our first-round opponent, and we're playing well. We're coming off ending the 15-game winning streak of the greatest NFL team since 1985." And Coughlin's an old-school coach. He thinks - and perhaps correctly - that the Giants have a fighting chance in the playoffs if its players believe in themselves. And if their comebacks at Chicago and at Washington earlier this year tell you ANYTHING, it's that this team's players DO BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES.

Coughlin might very well rest Brandon Jacobs (he should), and perhaps pull a few starters out early. But here's what's going to happen: The Giants are going to build a stunning halftime lead, something like 23-7, and yes, they are going to start sitting some players in the second half, but THEY ARE GOING TO HOLD ON. This HAS to happen. It's the only thing that would make any sense. The Giants, perhaps incorrectly, believe the gap has closed between themselves and the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys, so they actually think that beating the Patriots is going to give them momentum into the playoffs, and that they're going to shock the world all the way to the Super Bowl.

They might be wrong. The momentum might not carry over the way they think. But they are going to beat the Patriots tonight. It's just so obvious. All the Giants have to do is protect Manning a little better than they have lately (for some reason, the offensive line has given up 18 sacks of Manning in the last seven games after allowing just eight through the first eight games), and Eli himself has to make some plays. Say what you want about Eli Manning, but he's better than A.J. Feeley of the Eagles, who almost beat the Patriots IN FOXBORO earlier this year. There's no question that the Giants can run the ball on the Patriots, no matter WHO the running back is. They're bigger and tougher than the Patriots, and that's going to show.

It all comes down to one thing: Will the Giants be able to create front-seven pressure on Tom Brady? I say yes. You could argue with me all you'd like, and you might be right. But when this game is over, and the Patriots are 15-1 and the Giants are 11-5, don't come crying to me.

Giants 30, Patriots 27