Super Bowl XLVI: New York Giants vs. New England Patriots By The Numbers

Featured NFL Writer

If familiarity breeds contempt, we’re starting to talk disdain when it comes to the New York Giants and New England Patriots.

While summertime football means little or nothing in terms of the win-loss record, Super Bowl XLVI will mark the ninth time Tom Coughlin’s and Bill Belichick’s teams will have met in the last five seasons, if you include the preseason, regular season and postseason. And Sunday will mark the second time in five years that the clubs will “meet” three times in one season.

It’s safe to say that Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady has gotten familiar with the Giants’ pass rush the last two times these teams have met. It’s not going out on a limb to suggest that keeping the New England signal-caller “clean” on Super Sunday is paramount to success for Belichick’s team. 

Including their playoff run, New York has piled up 20 sacks during their five-game winning streak (after totaling 11 sacks in their previous seven contests). In Super Bowl XLII, the Giants dumped Brady five times, forcing a crucial fumble at the end of the first half when New England was driving. 

In Week 9 at Foxborough, Coughlin’s club got to Brady twice, but more importantly forced him into three more turnovers (two interceptions and 1 lost fumble) in the Giants’ 24-20 victory.

Suddenly hanging onto the football has become a bit of an issue for the Patriots, who have coughed up the ball five times despite the victories over the Broncos (2) and Ravens (3). In the AFC title game, Brady threw a pair of interceptions and did not throw a touchdown pass in a playoff game for the first time since he was injured in the second quarter of the 2001 AFC Championship Game at Pittsburgh and was replaced by Drew Bledsoe. 

Consider that New England only turned over the ball 17 times in the regular season, third-fewest in the league behind the 49ers (10) and Packers (14), and Belichick and company know they have to do a better job of avoiding mistakes.

Now flip the switch to quarterback Eli Manning, who has been as hot as they come and has made a habit of fourth-quarter heroics all season. More importantly, the Giants trigger man has elevated his game during the current five-game winning streak, throwing 12 touchdown passes and just a pair of interceptions. This after a stunning Week 15 home loss to the Redskins in which he failed to throw for a score and was picked off three times.

The emergence of Manning, not only this season (4,933 yards, 29 touchdowns and just 16 interceptions) but in these playoffs, has been somewhat ironic after much discussion (when questioned) this offseason on whether he was an “elite” quarterback. 

Considering he’s thrown for 923 yards and eight touchdowns and has committed the team’s only turnover in three postseason wins over the Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers, it’s safe to say that he’s certainly in the discussion. And one statistic that has seemingly gone under the radar as of late is that Manning, who led the league with 25 interceptions and a total of 30 turnovers in 16 regular-season games last season, has given up the ball a combined 21 times in 19 contests in 2011.

In the 45 previous Super Bowls, the game’s Most Valuable Player was the quarterback in more than half (24) of those contests. Unless someone other than Brady or Manning has an eye-popping performance, you can make it 25 out of 46.


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Posted at 5:30 AM. Labeled under Bill Belichick, By the Numbers, Eli Manning, NFL, Russell S. Baxter, Super Bowl XLVI, Tom Brady, Tom Coughlin .