Super Bowl XLVI Predictions: Giants Vs. Patriots

Because you haven’t already read/watched/heard 571 Super Bowl predictions over the last two weeks–here’s ten more.

I’m not going to bore you with rehashed paragraphs of the same crap we’ve heard for weeks–plus, the general public is stupid, so instead of making you suffer through paragraphs, I’ll be making my predictions with bullet points.

1. The Patriots are going to score more than 24 points. Look, the Giants have a great pass rush that’s been in sync for more than a month now. But their back seven is below average, at best. Tom Brady, in a revenge game, with two weeks to prepare, against a team he’s already seen once this season–yeah, the guy is going to put points on the board.

2. The Patriots will be able to run the football. Brady might attempt 30+ passes. To not put the football in the hands of one of the best players of all time in this spot would be foolish. But they aren’t going come to the line and throw the ball 75 percent of the time. Look for a 60/40 split.

3. Eli Manning will throw an interception. Manning has been simply incredible. He’s elite. He’s this. He’s that. No doubt. But all we’ve heard for two weeks is that he’s going to simply slice through New England’s secondary. I expect the Patriots to fool manning at least once or twice–and some of those would be picks that Manning got away with in San Francisco (and everyone has seemingly forgotten about) aren’t going to fall harmlessly to the ground in this one.

4. With the mounting talk about Manning, Brady has somehow become the forgotten man in this game. That matters. I don’t think the build up to 6:29 EST Sunday night has sat well with the Patriots. And if you don’t think truly great players find ways to use things like this as motivation, then you don’t know sports.

5. The Patriots have more motivation than revenge–and it will help them. No owner was more responsible for making this season happen than Bob Kraft. He was the one who helped break the bitter stalemate of the NFL lockout last summer. And we all know about the loss of his wife, Myra. These subplots don’t fall on deaf ears.

6. Vegas is going to make a lot of money on Sunday. People are suggesting that Vegas is wrong for installing New England as the favorite. Hold on a second. The Patriots haven’t lost since their Week 9 meeting with the Giants. The Giants were a Cinderella 9-7 team that squeaked into the postseason. The Patriots, although flawed, are 15-3 this season.

Yeah, I know the Giants won in Foxboro this season, but so what? That doesn’t set a spread. What’s more, the public is banging the Giants in Vegas (65 percent of the money is on New York)–but that line isn’t moving. There’s a likely reason for that.

7. The Giants won’t be able to run the football. The Patriots defense sucks, right? Kinda. But they shut down a good Denver run game, and followed that performance by keeping Ray Rice in check. Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs have been inconsistent at best–and I see no reason they’ll be able to have a big day in this one.

8. The team that scores first will win. In the previous ten Super Bowls, the team that has scored first has only went on to win four times. I think that trend will inch back to the middle today.

9. Rob Gronkowski will pull a Terrell Owens. Elite players find a way. Terrell Owens found a way to have a monster game in Super Bowl 39 despite playing on one good ankle. Dwight Freeney had a similar injury in Super Bowl 44 and played well. I fully expect Gronkowski to be a major factor in this game.

10. The Giants/Over tease won’t work. Every shmuck in America can take a two-side/6-point tease that puts the total over 49 and the Giants at +9. It’s not going to work. I’ll go Patriots 31, Giants 21.