New England Keys To Beating The New York Giants

Keys For New England To Beat The New York Giants

     This game obviously is huge for our beloved New England Pats. And there's a lot that goes on in a game that make a difference, so right now I'll name a few things New England NEEDS to do in order to beat the NYG.

     1) Rush Effectively

     The New York pass D may not be the best, but that pass rush is killer. So why not make sure that they don't know what's coming? Rushing well forces the Giants defensive lineman to look more at what's coming instead of just rushing head on. If they know NE is going to pass, that makes their job easier? Where's the fun in that? I expect the Patriots to rush early and often with the diverse rushing weapons they have to keep the Giants pass-rushers at bay. New England is 23-1 all time when Green-Ellis scores a touchdown, and 8-0 so far this year when he does. Rushing would also help New England manage the clock and keep our defense off the field, so they can play their aggressive style all day without being as tired. Which leads me to my next key:

     2) Play Aggressive On Defense

     All postseason, New England's Defense has played a very aggressive style, always attacking and never letting off the gas. The last time the New England Patriots played the Giants, the defense did a relatively good job of not letting the Giants go anywhere (until the fourth quarter hit). I distinctly remember early in the game, on a third and long. Obviously, the Giants are gonna pass. And Manning throws it deep over the middle to Jake Ballard, and right as Ballard goes to make the catch, he had a nice meeting with Brandon Spikes, which cause an incomplete pass. If New England can go out there and just hit somebody and play hard, they'll be alright in my mind. They also need to be aggressive at the line of scrimmage. Wilfork and his fellow D-Linemen, as well as any blitzing linebackers, have done a good job of making Offensive Linemen look like turnstiles as someones entering an amusement park, as the D-Linemen enter the park to have some fun. I think the D can do that early on and force some negative runs for the Giants, that will force Eli to pass. That might seem like a bad thing, but every incompletion is a clock stoppage, instead of a moving clock that rushing would cause. That would be great for the Pats, so the conservative offense can eat the clock up.

     3) Win The Turnover Battle

     The Patriots are normally really good at winning the turnover battle, but sometimes, and in playoff games of recent years, they don't. The Patriots need to maintain possession and not fumble or throw interceptions in this one. That's one reason I expect BenJarvus Green-Ellis to have a good game with a lot of plays. He doesn't fumble often. In fact, never in his professional career. So he should be utilized as New England's main rusher. And on defense, we know the Giants will try to pass because the New England pass D was 31st in the regular season. So the defense needs to make plays on the ball and get interceptions, as well as hitting people hard to seperate the ballcarrier from the ball. That is going to be big for the Patriots in this game.

     4) Use Our Receivers (yes, that includes Ochocinco)

     I was looking at the film from the Giants-Patriots Week 9 matchup, and the Giants did a lot of playing press coverage on the receivers and they doubled both tight ends, while also bringing their safeties in closer to the line of scrimmage, completely disrespecting the deep pass, because, well, New England wasn't throwing deep. So in this game, if Brady sees them try to do that, (and I suspect they will, because it worked last time) I expect that he'll audible a receiver like Ochocinco to a fly route, and let him beat the tight coverage like we know he can, and throw a deep bomb. I'm sure the Giants wouldn't play as tight of coverage anymore, so Brady could go right back to Welker or Branch or Gronkowski or Hernandez or whichever receiver is the best option. Keep their pass D on their heels. Make them pick their poison. New England has too many options to cover. Between two TEs that both demand double coverage and arguably the best route runner in the league. They can't cover everyone.

     If New England can accomplish these four simple things, I believe they can completely obliterate these New York Giants.