Giants must follow Plax to beat Pats

At media day this week, New York wide receiver Plaxico Burress seemed to know how Sunday’s… At media day this week, New York wide receiver Plaxico Burress seemed to know how Sunday’s game will conclude when the Giants meet the New England Patriots in Glendale, Az., for Super Bowl XLII.

Burress predicted the final score of the game would be 23-17 Giants. While Burress might already know the outcome, the rest of us will have to wait until after the game is played to ascertain the result.

Though the game has yet to kick off, fans can discern one thing to be absolute. We will bear witness to something staggering.

Whether or not the Patriots put the finishing touches on the first ever 19-0 undefeated NFL season, augmenting their already gargantuan legend, the outcome of Super Bowl XLII will be historical. Even if the Giants win.

Although with less luster, a Giants victory would be as astonishing as a Patriots triumph. New England has everything to lose, while the Giants have everything to gain.

A New York success would, too, spawn an eminence of its own. People are far more likely to remember the 2007-08 Giants as the team that ruined the Patriots undefeated season and not as the team who won Super Bowl XLII.

A decisive victory would almost certainly distinguish the 2007-08 New England Patriots as the best team of all-time. On the contrary, a loss would discredit all of the team’s accomplishments this year.

The question of the hour when Super Bowl XLII kicks off at approximately 6:30 p.m. Sunday will be: Can the Giants stand in front of the NFL’s heavyweight and hold their ground?

They’ve already proven they can, but in order to be on the winning side this time, the Giants are going to have to change their philosophy.

For Burress’ prediction to hold true, the final score of the game will have to hover around the number he projected.

In week 17 the Giants were able to match the Patriots almost score for score. As good as the Giants’ offense can be, nobody – not even the 1st Infantry – wants to get in a shootout with Brady and the Patriots, who averaged a league-best 411 yards of total offense this season.

If the Giants want to gain NFL nobility and do something that seemed inconceivable after they lost their first two games to teams they would later defeat in the playoffs (Dallas and Green Bay), they’re going to have to find a way to shorten the game on both sides of the ball.

On offense, New York will have to establish the ground game with running back Brandon Jacobs. Jacobs is a downhill runner, and at 6-foot-4, 264 pounds, he can sure get downhill in a hurry.

Defensively the Giants’ philosophy should be the same.

New York runs a base 4-3, but defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo could feature more nickel-and-dime sets that would force the Patriots to throw the ball. The Giants’ best game plan on defense might be to allow Laurence Maroney to run and hope they can come up with enough stops on third-and-short to stay in the game.

If the game turns into an aerial attack, New York’s banged-up secondary will have a tough time hanging with New England’s dynamic receiving corps.

The Giants’ best hope to limiting the Patriots’ passing game is at the line of scrimmage. If the Giants’ corners can delay the Patriots’ pass catchers from releasing on the line, they give their dynamic pass-rushing duo, Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora, a chance to get up field and break the offensive line force field that normally surrounds Brady. The only possible way to neutralize Brady is to make him uncomfortable in the pocket. Brady is lethal if he’s given enough time and space to step up in the pocket to get a clean release of the ball, as he showed against the Giants in week 17 when Brady torched New York, going 32 for 42 for 356 yards and two touchdowns. If the Giants allow Brady to repeat his last performance against them, they can forget about a lofty reputation. They’ll just be another Super Bowl loser.

Can the Giants defy the dynasty and rewrite the record books? We won’t know until Sunday. But it doesn’t matter. Either way, we’re already guaranteed greatness.