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The Underdog Story

By Rob Longley

Bark, bark, bark.
I know, everybody fashions themselves a wise guy this time of year and falls in love with the underdog.
And in fairness, there’s lots to love about the upstart New York Giants as they prepare to face the New England Patriots in this year’s battle of the Roman Numerals.
Suddenly Eli Manning is ready to change his name to Peyton. The defence attacks, often with success. The three-pronged running game can’t be stopped and coach Tom Coughlin, ready to be run out of town six weeks ago, is the second coming of Bill Parcells.
Let’s take a deep breath, people.
The Giants are full measure for their upset wins in the NFC tournament. They are not, however, in the same league as the Patriots, a team who some seem eager to forget are one step away from laying down the greatest season in NFL history.
The Patriots are prohibitive favourites, deservedly so in my opinion. And here’s why.
The Super Bowl is being played in the desert at the sparkling new stadium in Glendale, Ariz. And it may as well be home for the soon to be champs.
Yes the Patriots have appeared near mortal in their past two playoff wins, hard-fought victories over the San Diego Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars at their home stadium no less. To end the perfect 16-0 regular season, it was another near nail biter, that dramatic comeback against the team they will face in SB XLII.
The common thread from those three: They were games played in cold, windy, weather where Tom Brady couldn’t be Tom Brady and Randy Moss was rendered invisible.
That won’t happen in suburban Phoenix on Super Sunday, the big reason the Pats will be tough to stop.
So often this season, especially in the early going, these Patriots won by shoot out. Remember the show put up by Brady and Moss and the multiple weeks where they topped 50 points? Remember the way those two smashed single-season records for touchdown passes and touchdown catches?
The past month or so, a team that so regularly won by shoot out had to revert to the style that earned them their three previous titles this decade - run-oriented, ball control efforts with some bend but don’t break defence added to the mix.
Think of the other two close scares New England had  against Philadelphia and Baltimore. Both of those games were played in conditions in which it was difficult for Brady to be at his best.
Much is being made of Moss’s limitation these playoffs - two catches in two games. But it’s impossible to run crisp routes in those conditions, especially for a fine-tuned receiving machine like Moss. Though Brady barfed up three interceptions against the Chargers - only one was a truly bad throw. The other two were due at least in part to the conditions - wind which made the ball difficult to control and cold which makes it tough to grip.
Still, the Patriots found a way to win when they revealed the slightest of vulnerability.
“We can play any king of game you want to play, we can do it all,” Patriots safety Rodney Harrison said following Sunday’s AFC Championship win over the Chargers. “We have the talent and the smarts to play any kind of game you want  to play.”
Eighteen wins is testament to that, of course.  And in Arizona it will be time for Patriot Games once again. The offensive toys will come out of the closet and the Patriots once again will dictate the pace of play. A team that prefers to throw first and run later will have that chance once again.