Yay Sports, Yay Report (Part III)

After spending one of the more boring weekends of my life in Greensboro, North Carolina, I come back to find that I only hit .500 on my predictions for last weekend. No matter, now we come to...

Super Bowl XLII
Let's look at what everybody knows. The New England Patriots have yet to lose a game this season. Tom Brady and Randy Moss have both set touchdown records at their respective positions, and as a whole, the Patriots have scored more points by far this season than any team in history. They can win on defense, they can win by running the ball, and they have the most fearsome passing offense ever brought to play outside of the University of Hawaii. The Giants were a wild-card team that started the season slow, and almost fell victim to the late-season collapse that has doomed several of their past runs at a playoff spot. Seems like an easy pick, right?

Hold on. Don't forget that it was the Giants, in the last regular-season game, that gave the Patriots the biggest scare they've had all year. Eli Manning has yet to turn the ball over in three playoff games, and has shown the kind of efficiency that one would expect from his brother, and former Steeler Plaxico Burress beat Al Harris, one of the better corners in the league, like a red-headed stepchild. However, better offensive teams than the Giants have fallen to the Patriots this season.

Ah, but the defense. As fearsome as Tom Brady is behind that All-World offensive line, it has come to light that when teams bring the rush against him, he's mediocre. San Diego proved that in the AFC Championship; they blitzed him throughout most of the game and forced him to throw three interceptions. I can think of three or four quarterbacks off the top of my head that are actually better than Tom Brady against the pass rush. And there are few teams better at bringing heat on a quarterback than the New York Giants. They lead the league in sacks. On the other side of the ball, the Patriots' aging defense has shown signs of vulnerability.

Everything here points to a New England victory: the hype, the history, the track records, the Vegas line, the statistics. Something about this game just says 'trap' to me. I'm going to call the biggest upset since Broadway Joe and the Jets took down the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. Let it be known here and now that I'm picking the Giants.

New York Giants over New England Patriots