This match up, by far, has the most eyes on it as we head into the Super Bowl on Sunday. All-World Tom Brady vs. Peyton’s little brother. I wish it was that easy.

While Tom Brady is nearly faultless as a quarterback, I think that Eli has rallied his team and taken a leadership role in this run to the Super Bowl. Teams have forced Eli to beat them… and he has. His last 3 games have been, arguably, the best 3 games in his career. With the week 17 loss to the Patriots, the Wild Card win in Dallas, and the Divisional win in Green Bay Eli has quieted his doubters. They haven’t gone away. I haven’t gone away. I’m one of those doubters. I’ve had Eli Manning on my fantasy team the last 2 years. Trust me, he’s disappointing. If Eli plays the way he has played in the last 3 games, the Giants will have a chance to win.

It’s not all on Eli when it comes the Giants offense though. In those 3 games, I’ve seen a lot of dropped balls by Giants receivers. You can’t blame Eli for that… but maybe we should… It’s just easier that way.

I’m not sure what I can add to Tom Brady’s legacy this year (or his career for that matter). He’s done it all. He’s surgical in the way he approaches a game. He rarely makes mistakes and he can make all the throws. He has all the weapons a quarterback could want. That doesn’t always work out for teams. But this year, Brady took full advantage of his supporting cast to light up the record books.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t “like” Tom Brady. But he’s a hell of a quarterback. Brady has got to get the nod. Even if Eli plays out of his mind, he’s still not breathing the same air Tom Brady does.

The Patriots offensive line has 3 Pro Bowlers, the Giants have zero. However, the Giants did feature the 4th best rushing offense in the NFL, while the Patriots were 13th on that list. Obviously the Patriots were able to figure out how to score other ways (more on that later). The Giants offensive line, specifically Shaun O’Hara has been accused by pretty much everyone in the NFL for being a dirty player. We’ll see if that comes up in the Super Bowl. It probably won’t but I would look for there to be some intense battles on the interior of the offensive line.
In the passing game, the offensive lines have performed similarly. The Giants allowed 34 sacks (1.78 per game) over 19 games this season and the Patriots allowed 24 sacks (1.33 per game) in their 18 games.  I’ll do the math… the Giants allow about a half a sack more each game. I’d say that could prove significant come Sunday.

Both teams need to keep their quarterbacks on their feet. If either offensive line allows pressure on the quarterback, their team will lose. I have to go with the proven, deep Patriots offensive line.