Super Bowl XLVI: New England Patriots' Revamped Secondary will be Tested Against New York Giants

Friday, February 3, 2012

By Patrick Ouellette
NFL Writer

Aside from the state of Rob Gronkowski’s left ankle, one of the more prominent topics at Super Bowl XLVI has been how the New England defense plans on stopping the Giants’ trio of wide receivers.

If Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham run wild, it could be a long and painful day for the Patriots. The secondary struggled mightily for the duration of the 2011 season with 4,703 yards allowed, which is second only to the 2011 Packers’ 4,796, in league history. There are two huge considerations for New England heading into the game.

Its recently improved defense hasn’t faced an offense playing at New York’s level during its 10-game winning streak and Nicks was inactive for New York’s 24-20 win back on Nov. 6 in Foxboro.

Eli Manning had his best year as a pro this season (29 touchdowns, 4,933 yards passing) and has three receivers in Cruz, Nicks and Manningham that pose big problems for New England. Manning was able to connect with Cruz six times for 91 yards and throw the game-winning touchdown to Jake Ballard against the Patriots back in November. The fact that Nicks didn’t play in that game has to concern New England—because of his vertical speed, he may be the most dangerous of three receivers.

Adding Nicks, who has 18 catches for 335 yards and four touchdowns this postseason, to the mix surely makes life tougher for the Patriots because they lack cornerback depth. The Patriots cornerbacks are guaranteed to do plenty of subbing in and out based on how much pressure is placed on the Giants and how Kyle Arrington fares against his assignment.

They will most likely put Arrington opposite Nicks, and how he performs will have a trickle-down effect for New England. If Arrington can prevent Nicks from the type of gains he has burned teams so far with during the playoffs (72 and 66-yard catches during the first two rounds), the Patriots have more options in helping out with Cruz in the slot.

The Patriots will be relying heavily on safety Patrick Chung and a combination of cornerback and safety Devin McCourty and James Ihedigbo at the other safety slot for some of this help. Late in the season, Bill Belichick moved the struggling McCourty to safety and he’s helped out during his time there, but what it means most for this game is flexibility for the Patriots. Having him spend time over the top at safety with either Moore or Antwaun Molden at cornerback isn’t ideal, but it can help him take advantage of his ball skills while reducing the chances of a big passing play.

McCourty will also likely spend sometime back at cornerback at various points, likely on first downs or situations where there’s help over the top for him.

Despite cornerback Sterling Moore’s game-saving play to slap away a potential Lee Evans' touchdown two weeks ago, both he and Molden have generally been weak links on the defense. Though much has been made about the potential of receiver and sub-cornerback Julian Edleman lining up against Manningham or Cruz, New England won’t leave him on an island against a receiver and will show the Giants a variety of different looks. New York will try to exploit that type of match-up however, whenever it arises and it will be up to the Patriots to find a way to stop it.

Because of the strong play of the defensive line against the run, New England has also shown no fear in dropping linebackers into coverage. As evidenced by Brandon Spikes’ huge interception (intended for Ed Dickson) of Joe Flacco in the AFC title game, Belichick will send his linebackers to sit in zone and try to force a Manning mistake. Jerod Mayo is proving that he can be a sideline-to-sideline linebacker and could be a big key to the Patriots clogging the middle of the field against the Giants.

The Giants came out on top back in November, in part, because of safety Sergio Brown's late pass interference penalty (the only snap Chung missed). Both that play and Ballard's winning touchdown likely had a strong presence in the Patriots' and Giants' film study. How each team changes its strategy since that game will be key come Sunday.


Follow National Football Authority: @NFAuthority & @PatOuellette
For more NFL coverage, follow @NFA_NFL
Don't forget to Like NFA on Facebook here.

Related stories on NFA:

Super Bowl XLVI: New England Patriots By the Numbers: Bill Belichick Once Again Looks to Put Stamp on History

Indianapolis Colts Rumors: Peyton Manning's Time In Indy is at an End, Even if Owner Irsay Won't Admit It