It still seems surreal but the Patriots will be playing in the Super Bowl tomorrow. Wow. I’ve tried to block out thoughts of what the story lines might be whether the Pats win or lose, but it will be nice to finally get on with it.
I love how the media coverage for this Super Bowl played out for the Patriots. Not many in the national media are picking them to win. Tom Brady’s shaky AFC Championship left the pundits two weeks to praise Eli Manning.
The constant Super Bowl 42 highlights were rough to watch, but for at least this week I was able to be at peace with that game. I’m sure it will be back in the vault of shame if we lose this one too.
But with all the questions and discussion of that game, and even Spygate, I have no doubt that the Patriots motivation has been nothing but fueled by this week’s media headlines.
The Patriots played it low key, and the general mood from Bill Belichick and the team was one of quiet confidence. And the Giants and New York media have just kept throwing gasoline on the flames.
I expect Gronk to play like he’s not even hurt. But if he’s a little limited I think the Pats can protect him and still have him be effective. If he’s severely limited it could really be a problem. Having Vollmer back really does help them out by taking some blocking slack from Gronk.
I think Jerod Mayo and Brandon Spikes are going to have big games for the Pats. The Giants have been vulnerable to blitzes up the middle and I think the Pats will attack them there.
The defensive line has to dominate this game, if they don’t get to Eli he will pick us apart. Mark Anderson needs to come up big. But so do Gerard Warren and Kyle Love. Of course I expect Wilfork to be his usual self, is that too presumptuous?
I am most curious to see how the Pats choose to cover Nicks, Manningham and Cruz. My guess is that they’ll spin the dial a lot and try to make it hard for Eli to know who’s covering who.
I expect the Patriots to play like they have something to prove, and it seems like the Giants are buying into their own hype a little too much. But who knows whose side the Football Gods will be on. No way to know who’s going to get the bounces and the calls and really, there’s a good chance those will determine the game.
I just hope it goes our way.
Sleep well my Patriots brethren. For tomorrow we play for a Super Bowl.
