Record Vs. Spread: 7-3
Patriots vs. Giants (Pats favored by 3)
Complaining about the emotional pounding a fan of a Super Bowl team takes when he/she has to suffer through two excruciating weeks of over-analysis is kind of like complaining about how you just CAN'T GAIN WEIGHT no matter WHAT YOU DO, but the two weeks have been rough for me. I feel like I've gone through every scenario in my head, the ones involving the Pats exacting revenge, the Giants' offensive line being exposed, a total repeat of 2007 except for the whole miracle ending part, Terrell Owens-like heroics from Rob Gronkowski, a Giants' blowout, a Pats' blowout, and probably 1,541 different combinations of all those scenarios.
But I keep coming back to one thing: The Giants are better than the Patriots. The talk about how the Giants can't win if their pass rush isn't dominant is wrong. The amount of pressure they're getting on quarterbacks hasn't substantially changed these past five games, they're actually just covering better. Add to that the fact that you KNOW they'll get SOME heat on Tom Brady and then multiply it by the fact that Gronkowski isn't 100%, and all of a sudden stopping the Pats becomes a much easier proposition.
"Easier" doesn't mean "easy," though. This is Bill Belichick with two weeks of preparation and Tom Brady trying to wash out the 2007 taste from his mouth with soap. But the Giants have Eli Manning, who you may've heard isn't so bad at handling adversity. He has everything you want in a Super Bowl quarterback: the experience, the arm, the brain, the ability to feel the rush. These games are always tight, but when it gets to the end, it's in Eli that I trust.
Giants 27, Pats 20