Giants, Patriots to renew their super rivalry
When the Giants upset the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI, Rueben Randle was still an LSU Tiger.
He re-signed with New England for one year, caught 105 passes in 2013 and is now signed through 2017 as an integral part of their offense. He comes into the game leading the league in touchdown passes (22), interceptions (2) and quarterback rating (113.5).
The NY Giants defense looked good on Sunday. Obviously there is extra motivation when he plays Eli, a guy who has beaten Tom three times in his career.
Coughlin and Belichick will be on opposite sidelines. At 38, he’s playing football arguably as well as he’s ever played.
On the season, the New England Patriots average 329.3 yards in passing and 85.3 yards in rushing.
It would appear to be a mismatch but so did Super Bowl XLII when the Giants defeated the undefeated Patriots by the score of 17-14, and when the Patriots were favored by 12 points going into that game. “We just haven’t won as many of them as I would’ve liked to have won”.
Above all else, Coughlin has beaten Belichick with an opportunistic quarterback, Manning, who plays at Brady’s level when the stakes are high, and with a pass rush that makes Brady most uncomfortable. What this tells us is that in order to win games, Big Blue absolutely, positively must force the other team to turn the ball over and that is very unlikely to happen against the Patriots with Brady only throwing 2 interceptions in the team’s first eight games. His offensive line is ragtag due to injuries, but he hasn’t been overly bothered by it. He was sacked five times in Dallas but won 30-6, and sacked three times in the first half by the Jets, then never touched again.
For most fans, this week-long run-up to the Giants’ game against the Patriots will be flooded with memories.
Naturally, Pierre-Paul wants to improve next week.
“Certainly I have great, great respect for Bill”, Coughlin said.
“I’m sure he’ll be faster, and quicker, and more explosive at home [than last week in Tampa on grass]”.
New England continued its dominance in its last two outings, manhandling the Miami Dolphins in a 36-7 rout two weeks ago before easily covering as a 14-point favorite in a 27-10 win over the Washington Redskins.
New England is converting a league-best 48.5 percent on third downs, and Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski are tied for second in the NFL with seven touchdown catches. He has not played since October 11….Tight end Larry Donnell (neck) hopes to play Sunday after missing last week.
The series dates back to the first year of the AFL/NFL merger in 1970, when the Giants defeated the Boston Patriots 16-0 on October 18 at Harvard Stadium. Which four have the best opportunity and knocked off the patriots implement an undefeated season.
Therefore, we have to ask the question: Which of this year’s 8-0 teams will eventually lose… and to what opponent will they fall? They will have a hard time stopping Pierre-Paul and company on every play, but it won’t be the bloodbath that a trio of injured linemen would normally signify. “I certainly regret the fact that he’s not in this uniform but that’s the way it goes”.
The New England Patriots put their flawless record on the line this Sunday when they visit the NY Giants as big betting favorites.