Its extremely difficult to beat a really really good team twice in one year. Its one of the reasons that the Pats won their first SB and why they lost to NY. It also can be said its why NY beat Green Bay last week.
Its going to be very difficult odds wise for NY to beat NE twice this year given who good this Pats team is and also considering that Brady just laid an egg vs Baltimore. Expecting two bad games from Brady in a row in the playoffs is like expecting rain on a sunny day in the Sahara.
I'm expecting an excellent high scoring game. 38-34 Pats.
I'd love to buy into this way of thinking, but when I take account of each of the teams, noting their respective strengths and weaknesses, I'm hard pressed to find many areas where the Giants are not stronger than the Patriots.
Patriots have the edge at QB, but Eli is actually playing at least as well as Brady over the last month or so, all things considered. Plus, you know the Pats defense will make Eli look like his brother Peyton in his prime.
It's hard to say whether Hernandez / Gronk / Welker are superior to Cruz / Nicks / Manningham. I'd give the edge to the Patriots there, but Cruz is explosive and will likely rack up huge yards on the Pats.
The Giants defense is clearly better, and they have a stronger running game by a good margin. They also have a better return game. Punting and kicking probably goes to the Patriots, but it's not a substantial edge.
Coaching is hard to say. Bill is great, but he's been outcoached in the playoffs in recent years by some really good coaches. Coughlin knows what he's doing.
