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Giants stand between Pats and the top of the NFL beanstalk

Finally, we are here. All of the Patriots’ “one-game winning streaks” could finally culminate into 16 in a row, or 19 if you go back to last year’s regular season. The Pats’ company line armor of not acknowledging such feats has started to crack a little this past week, as QB Tom Brady and LB Tedy Bruschi have hinted that they know what accomplishment lies ahead.

“Like I’ve said before, ‘Put me in coach. I want to play. I want to win.’ And if what it means this week is being 16-0, yeah, I want it,” Bruschi said.

“We know we have an opportunity to get to 16. That would be a great accomplishment for this team,” Brady noted.

To think that Belichick won’t play his starters deep into the game is to not know this team or this coach. All of the players want to play, and Belichick wants to keep up the momentum for the playoffs. The Patriots have earned a first-round bye and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs, so the road to the Superbowl goes through Foxboro. Unless the game becomes a blowout either way, I expect the starters to stay in until the very end. Just a quick look at history will tell you what the Pats’ plans are. In 2004, New England was playing the 49ers in a “meaningless” game as the 49ers were not going to the postseason and New England’s place was set at the #2 seed. Brady and the starters played into the second half until the game was well in hand, and then little by little the second and third stringers filtered into the game. Expect that again Saturday.

Last week, I mentioned the various records that could fall, so I won’t spend too much time harping on that. The key records to keep an eye on are the 2 passing TDs Brady needs to pass Manning for the single season record, the 2 receiving TDs Randy Moss needs to pass Jerry Rice, the 1 catch Wes Welker needs to pass Troy Brown for the franchise record, and the 5 points the Pats’ offense needs to become the all-time highest scoring team in NFL history. Am I forgetting anything? Oh yeah, that whole, 16-0, perfect regular season thing. The players are focused on only one record: 16-0, as evidenced by the comments from supposed “me first” WR Randy Moss:

“Records are meant to be broken and if I break the record I’m cool, if I don’t I’m cool. As long as that zero stays in that [losses] column, I’m fine. Basically what I’m saying is I want to keep winning, the hell with the record.”

The historical significance of this game for the NFL is evidenced by the league’s decision earlier this week to simulcast the game on three seperate networks. If ever the Pats wanted to use the “us against them” line of motivation, this would be the week. According to poll I saw on a recent ESPN Sportscenter broadcast, 55% of those who voted don’t want to see the Pats go 16-0. The Giants themselves have mentioned that they have 30 other teams in the NFL rooting for them. Luckily for the Patriots, many of their fans have purchased tickets to the Giants game and will be in attendance to hopefully witness history.

As far as the G-Men themselves, they were wrestling with playing their starters or resting players for the playoffs. They are locked into the #5 seed and will travel to Tampa Bay next week to play the NFC South Champion Buccaneers. Many of their key players are banged up, including WR Plaxico Burress, who has been hurt all season with an ankle injury, RBs Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw (ankle and calf, respectively), and WR Sinorice Moss, who is doubtful with a back injury. There’s also the matter of resting DE Michael Strahan, who is no spring chicken. However, Head Coach Tom Coughlin hasn’t given any indication he plans to rest anybody:

“As I say, there is only way to play this game, I don’t think there is any other way. I’ve been asked a million times about these kind of questions. Quite frankly, they don’t sit well with me. I don’t think that way. I don’t have that … maybe that’s something missing in me.“

I believe the Giants’ approach will be similar to the Patriots’ approach: the starters will play until the game is out of reach. Plaxico and Brandon Jacobs are both listed as “Probable” on the injury report, so I expect them to play. Burress has burnt the Pats before when he was with Pittsburgh, so he is a player to keep an eye on if he plays.

The Giants are a challenging team for the Patriots to play as their defensive front four do not need any extra blitzers to pressure the quarterback. They lead the league in sacks with 52 (the Pats are second) and Strahan and Osi Umenyiora are a formidable tandem of defensive ends. Though they don’t need help, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo often brings creative blitzes, much like the Philadelphia Eagles’ blitzes. Spags is a former assistant from Jim Johnson’s Philly defense. Protecting Tom Brady will be the biggest priority of the New England offensive line, which boasts three Pro Bowlers. I anticipate that the Patriots will utilize the running game and short drops/passing routes to take the pressure off of Brady. Look for Laurence Maroney to be a factor in the game, much like he has the past 2 weeks. If the Patriots can give Brady time, he should be able to pick apart a suspect Giants secondary, which is led by an aging Sam Madison and young players Aaron Ross and Gibril Wilson. Wilson enters the game banged up and is second on the free safety depth chart.

The Patriot defense, which leads the league in scoring and is tied with Tamp Bay for points allowed, will have its hands full with the running tandem of Brandon Jacobs, who is a beast of a back, and Ahmad Bradshaw, who had a breakout game last week. Last week, the two combined for 291 yards, 151 of which are attributed to Bradshaw. The effective running game presents a two-headed monster for the Pats’ defense, as they have to not only be stout against the run but also not bite on the play action pass. QB Eli Manning usually has his best outings when the play action is working for him, and if the Pats are keying in on stopping the run, they could fall right into Manning’s trap. It wouldn’t surprise me if Eli’s big brother Peyton gave him some tips on being successful versus the Patriots’ defense also. If both backs play, look for the Pats to put Rodney Harrison in the box, but have the flexibility to pull out into coverage should it be a play action. This will be even more important if Plaxico Burress suits up.

I think this game will be closer than some may anticipate, but I do expect the Patriots to win and Brady, Moss, and Welker will set their individual marks. Pats win 27-13.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 28th, 2007 at 6:18 pm and is filed under Patriots Game Previews, Laurence Maroney, Tom Brady, Rodney Harrison, Eagles, Tedy Bruschi, Troy Brown, Bill Belichick, Wes Welker, Predictions, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, New York Giants, Offensive Line, Randy Moss, Tom Coughlin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.