Super Bowl point/counterpoint

The Super Bowl is here and Sports Editor Brian Fees and Sports Writer Chris Manning debate which team will come out on top.

BRIAN: I've been a New York Giants fan nearly my entire life, and I'm not sure I've ever been more surprised by the Giants making a run than I have been this year.

After a blowout loss to New Orleans a few months ago the Giants didn't look like a team that could make the playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl.

Ironically it was a loss, at Green Bay, that seemed to start to right the ship for the Giants as they started to play some better football from that point on. It helped the Giants know they could play with Green Bay and they wound up beating them in this playoff run.

It's the same thing that happened in the 2007-08 season when they lost a close game to New England in the regular season and then made their run to a Super Bowl title.

This year does seem like déjà vu. It seems like that run four years ago that ended with a victory over Tom Brady and the Patriots.

This run will end the exact same way. Once again we will see that Tom Brady doesn't look invincible when facing the Giants' pass rush.

And, this Giants team is more talented than they were the last time the two teams met in the Super Bowl. Eli Manning has developed into one of the best quarterbacks in the league and his trio of receivers: Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham, are as good as any in the league.

Some faces have changed on the defense, but Jason Pierre-Paul is one of the best defensive players in the league and he makes sure the Giants pass rush is just as scary now as they were four years ago.

CHRIS: That Giants Kool-Aid must taste good.

I agree that this looks like déjà vu but I think this time things turn out differently.

There are two reasons the Patriots will win: Tom Brady and a grudge.

Brady may not have been as perfect this season but let's not forget that he was pretty darn good. He threw for over 5,000 yards with 39 touchdowns. His quarterback rating was 105.6.

But those numbers don't matter. The only number that matters is this: three. That's how many Super Bowls Brady has.

Yes, the last time he suited up in a Super Bowl it was that fateful day when the breaks were going the other way and the Giants ruined a perfect season. But I think Brady has one more Super Bowl win left in him and what better way than to beat the Giants.

Which brings me to my second point: a grudge.

Everybody knows that nobody holds a grudge like Bill Belichick. Don't forget Belichick's response to the whole spygate incident brought on by former assistant Eric Mangini. The Patriots went 16-0 during the regular season, running the score up all along the way, especially against Mangini's Jets.

Belichick's message to the every team and the NFL was clear: Don't mess with him.

Well, the Giants messed with him, taking away his icing on the cake that season by edging the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Now it's Belichick's turn to ruin the Giant's season.

BRIAN: Holding a grudge is your argument? It works great for a regular season game. You might need a little extra motivation for a mid-season game against a mediocre Mangini coached Jets team and maybe a grudge gives you that little extra boost. But, if you need motivation for the Super Bowl you should get out of the sport right now.

It's the Super Bowl. You don't need a little extra boost. The only motivation you need is winning the title.

The reality is this is a completely different Patriots team than the one four years ago. Just seven players from that Super Bowl team are still playing. The giants have 16 players from that team, so if anything the Giants have more memories of beating the Patriots than New England does of losing that game.

When it comes to Brady, no one argues that he is a great quarterback. It's never been argued and never will be argued. But, three Super Bowl titles means absolutely nothing. He had three Super Bowls four years ago as well, we all know how that turned out.

In the AFC title game Brady was not good, but I fully expect him to play well on Sunday. But, unless he knows how to play in the secondary, and since New England already uses receivers and everyone else back there maybe he does, it's not going to do much good. The problem for New England is their defense. A defense that was one of the worst in the NFL. A defense that allowed Joe Flacco to throw for over 300 yards last game. In the playoffs Manning has thrown for over 900 yards with eight touchdowns and one interception. His group receivers are as good as any in the NFL. It's not about stopping Tom Brady, it's about outscoring him. The Giants should score a lot of points against that New England defense. Everyone does. Because they are in the Super Bowl it's easy to forget about the struggles New England has had. Yes, they had one great effort in blowing out the Denver Broncos. They gave up 20 or more points in each of their last six regular season games. They trailed Buffalo 21-0 in the season finale. The week before they trailed Miami 17-0 at the half. They have a great enough offense that they rallied and one those games. But, if they dig holes like that against the Giants, they are not winning this game.

History says Brady will put up good numbers, he always has, but history also shows that the Giants pass rush gives him problems. They force him into mistakes. In the regular season game this year, Brady threw two interceptions against the Giants defense. He did the same thing four years ago in the Super Bowl.

This isn't about who is a better quarterback: Brady or Manning. I'm a Manning fan, but even I know that Brady wins that discussion. The discussion is which is a better matchup: Brady against the Giants defense or Manning against the Patriots defense? The Giants weren't a great defense all season long, but the past two months they have been as good as anyone. The Patriots, they had one good game. They stopped Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos. That's the only time in the past two months they have held a team to under 20 points. I'll take Manning in that matchup every time.

CHRIS: Before I get into my other arguments for the Patriots I will revisit the grudge theory quickly.

It's not about the grudge, per se, but the man holding the grudge.

Belichik is the type of man who thrives on being doubted. He's a lot like Michael Jordan in this sense.

Just to show you the power of the grudge, look at Jordan's career. He was the best basketball player in history arguably because he felt slighted by everybody, from his high school basketball coach all the way through the NBA. His mind even manifested slights that weren't there to propel him.

Holding grudges is what made Jordan so fierce and it does the same for Belichik.

A grudge, a chip on the shoulder, a thorn in the side may be the ultimate motivation in sports for the ultra-competitive.

And when you're in a championship type atmosphere you need all the motivation you can summon.

As for New England having fewer returnees since then, that's how they roll. New England goes through players like we go through copy paper. If somebody is fading, cut him. If he asks for too much money, cut him. The organization has an eye for cheap talent and uses it, keeping the core around and leadership in place.

Much like an army will cycle in new troops when hit hard by casualties; New England brings in new replacements while keeping the steady, competent hand of Belichik and Brady at the helm.

I also expect Manning to play extremely well. He's going to have to.

The Giants have no running game. Once upon a time Brandon Jacobs was unstoppable but backs age in dog years and Jacobs is past his prime.

The Giants barely managed 85 yards on the ground against San Francisco and had 97 in the big win over the Packers.

They have no balance and it showed some in the NFC title game. The 49ers teed off on Manning, getting to him 12 times and sacking him for six.

That's what happens when a quarterback is forced to throw 58 times in a game. While passing has certainly overtaken running in the game, some balance is needed to keep defenses off balance.

As for the Patriots defense, yes, statistically they leave a lot to be desired. But even though Baltimore racked up yards they only scored 20 points.

As long as they don't fall asleep, which, I don't think they will, they should keep the Patriots in the game. I mean, come on, it's the Super Bowl, not some meaningless end of season divisional game.

I will also concede that the Giant's pass rush is terrific, maybe the best in the NFL.

But it, too, has to be.

During the regular season they ranked down there with the Patriots in all defensive ratings.

They better hope that they can get to Brady before he gets the ball off because the Giants were 29th in passing defense. Brady has thrown bad picks against the Giants but that was due to New York's pass rush, not their secondary.

With two weeks to plan I believe that the New England coaching staff will have found a way to protect Brady.

The Giants are susceptible to the run, too. The 49ers had 150 yards against them in the NFC title game and the not-so-fleet footed Aaron Rogers had 66 yards against in the Divisional game.

The Giants played very well against Rodgers but Aaron Smith had 196 passing yards against them in the NFC title game, with two touchdowns and no picks. He also found Vernon Davis for one of the big play touchdowns. Smith is a solid QB but not anybody that's going to strike fear into the hearts of defenses.

New York looked nearly unbeatable against a Green Bay team that, by the time the playoffs came, had glaring flaws that top notch coaching staffs could pick apart.

However, the Giants needed a few breaks, including a muffed punt in overtime, to beat another talented but flawed San Francisco team.

The question the Giants really need to ask is: Was the performance two weeks ago a mere hiccup or did they peak against the Packers?

BRIAN: You are 100 percent right about the Giants defense. They did give up some yards to Aaron Smith, but it wasn't just one big play to their tight end Vernon Davis. It was two passes for a total of 101 yards to Davis.

The Giants have to prevent giving up the big plays. Take those two plays away and the Niners threw for less than 90 yards in the day.

Really, it should be a scary thought. The Giants sometimes have letdowns defensively, especially against star tight ends. But, the worry for the Patriots is the health of Rob Gronkowski. That injury looked bad last week. He's not practicing and has been walking around in a boot for most of the past two weeks. No question, he will play, but will he be healthy? Will he have that speed to take advantage of the Giants defense?

Your point on the Giants run game is very accurate. The Giants can't win the Super Bowl throwing the ball 70 percent of the time. They have to run the ball and Tom Coughlin is the type of coach that likes to run the ball.

For the first time all season Ahmad Bradhshaw has been healthy enough to practice two days in a row. He's getting healthy and he, not Jacobs, is the key to their run game.

They did not run the ball very well against the 49ers, but remember in their first playoff game against Atlanta they ran for 172 yards. They don't need to go out and get 150 or 200 yards on the ground. They just need to run the ball to have a balance so that the defense can't put all the pressure on Manning.

When it comes to the Giants defense, of course their pass rush makes their secondary better. That's the case with every team in the NFL. You are a Steelers fan, you don't think guys like James Harrison have helped out the secondary over the years? There is no secondary in the world that can hold up if you don't get any pressure on the quarterback. But, if the Giants do their job and put pressure on Brady, he will never have time to find the holes in that secondary.

When it comes to the Patriots defense, they've never showed any signs they can stop anyone. You argue that they only gave up 20 points to Baltimore last week. Sure, that's true. But, that's the Baltimore Ravens. They didn't score more than 24 points in any of their last eight games.

The biggest worry for the Patriots should be what Joe Flacco did against them last week. Flacco threw for 306 yards last week. This is the same quarterback who didn't throw for over 226 in any of the previous seven games. He threw two touchdowns against New England, he hadn't thrown for more in a game since week three.

If that's what Flacco does against the Patriots, what will Eli do?

Remember, other than that Denver game they gave up 20 plus in each of their other last six games. The last two regular season games they got behind 17-0 and 21-0 before they rallied back. Those games mattered. They needed wins to lock up home field and the bye in the playoffs and yet they couldn't stop those offensive powers like the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills.

You talk about the Giants needing a few breaks against San Francisco. They absolutely did need those breaks. It was on the road, against perhaps the best defense in the NFL and a team that was 13-3 this year and the Giants needed a few breaks. I'm pretty sure the Patriots needed some breaks in their last game as well. Unless they went in the game expecting Billy Cundiff to miss chip shot field goals.

And, using Michael Jordan when talking about Belichick? Please, stop with that comparison. Jordan never lost in championship games. He always won. Belichick had an 18-0 team. He went into the Super Bowl four years ago and got beat. You don't think Plaxico Burress guaranteeing a win four years ago was a slight to Belichick? I'm sure he used that as a slight. It probably gave him a chip on his shoulder. But, in the end it didn't do him any good at all when the game started. Because, there is one huge difference between Belichick and Jordan. Jordan could feel slighted and do something about it on the court. Belichick isn't on the field. He can feel as slighted as he wants to, but he has to count on others to go out and do something about it.

This is the Super Bowl. If you need extra motivation in the Super Bowl you should retire now and just go home. Everybody is motivated for this game. Everyone has a chip on their shoulder. You don't think Eli Manning hearing people put him down over the years; people treating him like the kid brother and criticizing everything he does is motivation? You don't think people saying two months ago that Tom Coughlin would be fired is motivation?

Everyone has motivation for this game. Belichick doesn't want this game anymore than Coughlin. Brady doesn't want it anymore than Eli.

You might have a grudge. You might have some motivation, but everyone does at this time of the year. Once the game starts it comes down to the better team winning, and that's the Giants.

Just like four years ago the Giants pass rush will put pressure on Brady and Manning will make a late drive to win the Super Bowl. Just for a little sense of déjà vu, let's call it 17-14 Giants, exactly as it was the last time the two teams met in the Super Bowl.

CHRIS: It's funny at the end you said it comes down to the better team.

In a seven game series that's almost always the case. Not so much with the Super Bowl.

Were the Giants the better team four years ago?

The magic of the one game playoff is that inferior teams can win.

Right now, on paper, the Patriots are the 'weaker' team. Their defense doesn't have that one stand out skill that the Giants have and offensively they played poorly last week.

But, as the Giants proved four years ago, you don't have to be the better team to play better in a 60 minute game.

And yes, pass rushes do help the secondary. But as a Steelers fan I remember their 15-1 season not too long ago where, despite a strong pass rush, teams threw all over them. Pittsburgh's secondary was too exposed then and no pass rush could save it against the New England Patriots in the AFC title game.

Pass rushes help, but they don't make secondaries better. If your corner backs and safeties can't guard receives, your defensive ends won't do it for them.

As for those divisional games, they helped give the Patriots the top seed. But New England was already in the playoffs.

As recent history has shown seedings matter little in the playoffs. How many top seeds have won the Super Bowl recently?

As for the comparison of personalities, I'm sure Jordan did a great job guarding all five spots on the floor? He drew up the triangle offense that maximized his offensive abilities?

Jordan propelled his team more through his strong personality, much like Belichik does with his.

Jordan had to count on others to do their jobs just as much as Belichik does. Jordan has more direct, immediate control of a game's outcome, true, but Belichik is the one that is responsible for the culture of his team. Nothing is more important than a culture of winning.

As for the chip on shoulders, nothing matches the Patriots slight. How many teams have gone undefeated in the 16-game era? The season that would have put them on top of football history is now a running joke.

The Giants don't have that hanging over there heads. Belichik and Brady do.

When two teams have an equal motivation for an objective (winning the Super Bowl) any edge you can get outside of that is a plus. It's foolish to think that other factors outside of the Super Bowl don't count in a team's psyche.

It's the Super Bowl, of course both teams are motivated. But the Patriots have extra motivation in the form of revenge. They can't reclaim that one loss four years ago but they can get back some of that luster.

As for the Giant's extra motivation, I don't see it. Eli Manning is already being talked about as being the same as his brother by many respectable pundits. They are giving him kudos for a game he hasn't won yet.

He had a chip four years ago but not this year.

My brain says Giants but that's what it said about the Patriots four years ago.

I say the Patriots exorcise the demons and win 28-27.