US Sports

Their meeting in Super Bowl XLII is remembered for ‘The Catch’. Amazing as that was, Sunday’s clash of the Patriots and the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI should be a much more memorable experience.

As soon as you say sequels are never better than the originals everyone mentions The Godfather Part II. It might be annoying but it’s true. But what if the original was a bit ‘meh’? Usually those films don’t get sequels. The nearest we can think of is that The Terminator was very good but Terminator II was amazing.

That’s what is likely to happen this weekend. Super Bowl XLII between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants, for all the drama of Eli Manning’s desperate fling and David Tyree’s incredible catch, was a pretty average game. If it was a movie, Part II wouldn’t have gotten the green light.

Both Manning and Tom Brady just scraped over 50 per cent in completions and with 11 minutes to go it was still 7-3 to New England. What made it memorable was the first championship for Peyton Manning’s little brother, the end of the Pats unbeaten season and that catch.

The Tyree catch, a vital third down play that kept New York alive, is below if you don’t remember it. If you watch the full build-up to Sunday’s game we estimate that catch will be repeated at least 20 times. Trust us, you will get bored of seeing it.

The Catch

If it helps, Tyree, a born-again Christian, announced last year that he would trade ‘The Catch’ if it meant it would stop same-sex marriage in America so every time it is shown it helps forward civil rights a little. Sort of.

Anyway, Sunday’s game should be a much better clash even if the similarities to the 2007 season showdown are all around. New York were not expected to make that run four years ago and as recently as December 18 the Giants were sitting at 7-7 and their players were staring at a long holiday. They have won five from five since, powering into the play-offs and claiming the NFC title.

What has driven them is a defence that is ferocious, with their front four of Justin Tuck, Jason Pierre-Paul, Linval Joseph and Osi Umenyiora all now fit and mauling QBs for fun. Brady suffered five sacks in Super Bowl XLII and the Giants plan will be to do more of the same on Sunday night in the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

As for the Pats they are not quite as hot as they were four years ago but the fundamentals of their game are still the same; Tom Brady is so good it doesn’t matter how bad our defence is. That’s it. New England ranked 31^st in passing yards allowed and second in passing yards gained in the regular season. It’s the old adage of you score 30, we’ll get 35.

Defensively they have looked slightly better during the playoffs but they will have to stop probably the hottest receiver in the NFL, Victor Cruz on Sunday. It will be a very big ask for the Pats’ shaky secondary.

Even more worrying for Bill Belichick’s side is the injury to Rob Gronkowski, their amazing tight end. He has yet to train with the team due to an ankle injury and without that outlet – ‘Gronk’ has 17TDs this year, almost as many as Fianna Fail – the Pats will be really up against it.

‘Gronk’ has 17TDs this year, almost as many as Fianna Fail

But Super Bowls usually come down to which team has the best QB. Before this year Brady would get the benefit of the doubt every time. He has won three of these already. But this year Eli has been immense, throwing for almost 5,000 yards and being calm, collected and decisive under pressure.

Just look at when these two sides met back in Week 9 in New England. Trailing 17-20 with just over 90 seconds on the clock Eli led the Giants on an eight-play, 80-yard drive that resulted in the winning TD. Questions about his potential flakiness are long gone and he has simply out Brady-ied Brady this year.

Despite all this the Giants are underdogs with the bookies. That’s just how coach Tom Coughlin likes it. It propelled them to success in Super Bowl XLII and it should do the same for them in Sunday’s sequel.