New York Giants (2-3)
at
New England Patriots (5-0)
So, can the Giants make a game of this one? After all, it was the New York Giants who were the one team that managed to beat the 2007 New England Patriots, who were less than one minute away from completing the perfect season. And the Giants beat the Pats again four years later in the Super Bowl rematch. They also beat the Pats in the 2011 regular season showdown, and seriously challenged New England during that undefeated regular season in 2007, before finally doing it in the biggest game. And remember, the Giants also almost beat the Pats in 2015, although they ultimately fell just short.
Yes indeed, the Giants have some solid history against the New England Patriots, and maybe they can take heart.
But will that translate to them managing to pull off what would admittedly be a big upset up in Foxboro on Thursday Night?
Well, no. Not likely, anyway.
These Giants have a lot more weaknesses than those Giants teams did. They do not have the kind of defense that was able to shut the Pats down back in those old days. This Giants defense will have their hands full against the Patriots steady attack, which has scored at least 30 points in all but one of their games thus far.
As for the defense, New England appears to have an elite defense to this point. Granted, they have not taken on the most explosive offenses yet, but nobody has yet scored more than 14 points on them to date. In fact, the Patriots have allowed a total of 34 points in their five games to this point in the season. Now, most teams have probably allowed at least 34 points in a game this season already, and the Patriots have allowed that in total to this point in the season, and they are about to play in their sixth game!
In short, this New England team looks very, very good to this point. I must sound like a broken record every time that I write about them, but keep in mind just how impressive this team is. They have probably the greatest coach in NFL history, one who has led more teams to the Super Bowl, and won more Super Bowls as a head coach, than anyone else in history. He had this team incredibly well-prepared, and he is widely regarded as a football genius. Then, you have Tom Brady, the most decorated quarterback in NFL history, who capably leads a talented offense that ranks as one of the highest scoring units so far this season. And I already mentioned just how impressive the defense has been.
Is it impossible that the Giants will win?
No, of course not. Stranger things have happened, of course. After all, the Patriots went 18-0 and looked like the most dominant team in history, only to get shocked by this Giants franchise in the biggest game possibly, denying them the Super Bowl title in a season that they had dominated so completely.
That said, heading into this game, it would appear a bit of madness to predict anything but a New England victory. After all, they look simply incredible, and traditionally, they have been especially tough to beat at home in Foxboro, where this game is set to be played. Plus, this is not the Super Bowl. This is a regular season game. Maybe the Patriots will reach the Super Bowl again this year, but the Giants have not qualified for the postseason in a few years, and have not won a playoff game since that last Super Bowl win against New England, eight years ago! New York is a team in rebuilding mode, and they just are not quite ready yet to beat a team as complete as the Patriots appear to be, let alone do so on the road up in Foxboro. The Giants might show glimpses here and there, I think, but it is hard to imagine them putting it all together enough to beat the Patriots in this one.
My pick: New England
No comments:
Post a Comment