Giants O vs. Patriots D The Giants had an effective gameplan for what they knew would be a quintessential bend-but-don’t-break defense. Eli Manning did a superb job identifying defensive concepts presnap. The Patriots made it easy on him by not moving around much, but they also made it challenging by mixing coverages. They played with two high safeties throughout the game, often with soft man coverage on one side of the field (usually the lone receiver side) and a zone concept on the other. The key to New [...] Continue reading → | Eli Manning, Mario Maningham, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Super Bowl 46, Tom Brady, Wes Welker

Sorry, Patriots fans.  But for the third consecutive season, the 1SKILLZ Gameplan predicted the end of the New England Patriots' season.  The New York Giants defeated the Patriots 21-17, and Giants QB Eli Manning (30/40, 296 yards, 1 TD, no INTs) won the Super Bowl MVP award, outplaying Patriots QB Tom Brady (27/41, 276 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT). This was a game that the Patriots defense stepped up and played well enough to win, save for three things: *Awful 12-men penalty that negated a fumble recovery, leading to Giants' first TD. *Patriots failed to recover two other fumbles, including Giants RB Ahmad Bradshaw's 4th quarter fumble that Patriots SS James [...] Continue reading → | Aaron Hernandez, Bill Belichick, Deion Branch, Eli Manning, Justin Tuck, Mario Manningham, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Rob Gronkowski, Super Bowl 46, Super Bowl XLVI, Tom Brady, Tom Coughlin, Wes Welker

Finally, the heat is over!  Super Bowl XLVI is this Sunday, February 5, 2012 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN.  The NFC champion New York Giants (12-7, #4 seed) will face the New England Patriots, champions of the AFC (15-3, #1 seed), in a rematch of Super Bowl XLII and (more importantly) Week 9 of the 2011 NFL season.  No comment on the Giants/Patriots preseason finale, except that the Giants are probably who the Patriots think they are.  Will they once again let them off the hook? The Giants won the NFC championship on the home turf of [...] Continue reading → | 1SKILLZ Gameplan, Aaron Hernandez, Aaron Ross, Ahmad Bradshaw, Antrel Rolle, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Bernard Pollard, Bill Belichick, Bill O'Brien, Bill Parcells, Billy Cundiff, Brandon Deaderick, Brandon Jacobs, Brandon Spikes, Brian Waters, Chad Ochocinco, Chase Blackburn, Chris Canty, Chris Snee, Corey Webster, Dan Connolly, Danny Woodhead, David Baas, David Diehl, David Tyree, Deion Branch, Deon Grant, Devin McCourty, devin thomas, Eli Manning, Gerard Warren, Hakeem Nicks, Jacquian Williams, Jake Ballard, James Ihedigbo, JASON PIERRE-PAUL, Jerod Mayo, Josh McDaniels, Julian Edelman, Justin Tuck, Kareem McKenzie, Kenny Phillips, Kevin Boothe, Kevin Gilbride, Kyle Arrington, Kyle Love, Kyle Williams, Lawrence Tynes, Lee Evans, Linval Joseph, Logan Mankins, Marcus Cannon, Mario Manningham, Mark Anderson, Mark Herzlich, Mathius Kiwanuka, Matt Light, Matthew Slater, Michael Boley, Myra Kraft, Nate Solder, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Osi Umenyiora, Patrick Chung, Perry Fewell, Plaxico Burress, Prince Amukamara, Rob Gronkowski, Rob Ninkovich, Sebastian Vollmer, Shaun Ellis, Stephen Gostkowski, Sterling Moore, Stevan Ridley, Steve Weatherford, Super Bowl 46, Super Bowl XLII, Super Bowl XLVI, Tom Brady, Tom Coughlin, Victor Cruz, Vince Wilfork, Wes Welker, Zoltan Mesko

I don't know why it took the NFL so long to put the Pro Bowl the week before the Super Bowl instead of the week after.  Instead of a 1 out of 10 on the interest scale, it gets a 2 now!  Not that the AFC champ New England Patriots or NFC champ New York Giants care.  Their Pro Bowl players will stay fresh by not playing in the all-star contest in Honolulu. For the Patriots, that means QB Tom Brady, WR Wes Welker, TE Rob Gronkowski, LG Logan Mankins, RG Brian Waters, DE Andre Carter (who was already injured), DT Vince Wilfork, and WR/ST Matthew Slater.  They will be replaced by Cincinnati Bengals rookie QB Andy Dalton, San Diego Chargers WR Vincent Jackson, Bengals TE Jermaine Gresham, Baltimore Ravens LG Ben Grubbs, New York Jets RG Brandon Moore, Houston Texans DE Antonio Smith, [...] Continue reading → | 1986 Patriots, 1996 Patriots, 2001 Patriots, 2003 Patriots, 2004 Patriots, AFC-NFC Pro Bowl, Andre Carter, Brian Waters, Chris Snee, devin thomas, Eli Manning, Jacquian Williams, Jake Ballard, JASON PIERRE-PAUL, Kevin Boothe, Linval Joseph, Logan Mankins, Matthew Slater, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Rob Gronkowski, Sterling Moore, Super Bowl XLVI, Tom Brady, Victor Cruz, Vince Wilfork, Wes Welker

Super Bowl XLVI New England Patriots (15-3) vs. New York Giants (12-7) Patriots O vs. Giants D The Giant rattled the Patriots offense with quality press coverage and a fiery pass-rush in their Week 9 meeting, but that was at a time when tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski were just stars, not superstars. In the three months since, the two second-year pros [...] Continue reading → | Eli Manning, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Super Bowl preview, Super Bowl XLVI, Tom Brady

Patriots 23, Ravens 20 In what turned out to be just the first of two special teams blunders that were sucker punches to the Harbaugh Family, Billy Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal that would have sent the AFC Championship into overtime. Too bad – this was an extremely well-fought contest that pitted the league’s most fascinating offense against its most fascinating defense. That fascinating offense spent the bulk of the game in an up-tempo no huddle, which forced the fascinating defense to play a static, [...] Continue reading → | Alex Smith, Baltimore Ravens, Billy Cundiff, Eli Manning, Joe Flacco, Kyle Williams, New England Patriots, New York Giants, NFC championship, San Francisco 49ers, Tom Brady, Vince Wilfork

Are you a fan of old-school smash mouth football?  Well, feast your eyes on the NFC Championship Game on Sunday at 6:30pm EST on FOX, featuring the New York Giants (11-7) at the San Francisco 49ers (14-3). GridironGrit.com’s Michael [...] Continue reading → | 2012 NFC Championship Game, 2012 NFL Playoff Predictions, 2012 NFL Playoffs, Ahmad Bradshaw, Ahmad Brooks, Aldon Smith, Alex Smith, Alex Smith Re-Born, Chris Burke, Eli Manning, Frank Gore, Giants vs. 49ers, Jim Harbaugh, Justin Smith, Michael Gartman, New York Giants vs. San Francisco 49ers, Oren Shiri, Peter King, SI.com, Tom Coughlin

Baltimore Ravens (13-4) @ New England Patriots (14-3) Ravens O vs. Patriots D We learned in the Divisional Round what we already knew: the Ravens struggle to find their passing rhythm (and thus, their general offensive rhythm) whenever deep threat Torrey Smith is taken out of the equation. Smith can be neutralized by a quality cover corner. Fortunately for Baltimore, New England does not have one of those. Devin McCourty was elite as a rookie, but [...] Continue reading → | AFC championship, Alex Smith, Baltimore Ravens, Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks, New England Patriots, New York Giants, NFC championship, San Francisco 49ers, Terrell Suggs, Tom Brady

Giants 37, Packers 20 All week America focused on the Giants pass-rush. In the end, it wound up being the Giants secondary that felled the 15-1 Packers. Corey Webster and Aaron Ross were tremendous outside, Antrel Rolle tightened down the slot and safeties Deon Grant and Kenny Phillips astutely identified route combinations over the top. Even perpetually bullied rookie Prince Amukamara prevented any passes from coming his way on a handful of second half cameos. The best statistical illustration of the Giants’ sensational coverage wasn’t that no Packer receiver had more than four catches or 45 yards, or that Aaron Rodgers registered a season-worst 5.7 yards per attempt. It’s that Rodgers ran the ball seven times. Granted, he gained 66 yards and picked up five [...] Continue reading → | Aaron Rodgers, Alex Smith, Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, Drew Brees, Ed Reed, Eli Manning, Houston Texans, New England Patriots, New Olreans Saints, New York Giants, T.J. Yates, Tebow Patriots, Tim Tebow, Tom Brady

Home sweet home.  The Houston Texans (11-6) and New Orleans Saints (14-3) were both at home on Saturday and won with conviction in the Wildcard round over Cincinnati and Detroit by a combined score of 76-38. Sunday's NFC showdown kicks off at 1:00pm EST on FOX with the Atlanta Falcons (10-6) at the New York Giants (9-7) at MetLife Stadium, followed by the Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4) at the  [...] Continue reading → | 2011 NFL Playoffs, 2011 NFL Playoffs Predictions, Atlanta Falcons, Eli Manning, Falcons vs. Giants, Michael Gartman, michael turner, Mike Smith, New York Giants