When looking at the two teams scheduled to participate in Super Bowl XLII, it’s obvious they took completely different routes in getting to the NFL championship. The New England Patriots, of course, ran the table through the regular season before knocking off both the Jacksonville Jaguars and San Diego Chargers in the playoffs for a combined 18-0 record. Things weren’t quite as easy for the New York Giants, who suffered through some inconsistencies early in the year before righting the ship late in the season to secure a wild-card playoff berth. Viewed going in as perhaps the playoff team most unlikely to ruin New England’s perfect season, the Giants ripped off three consecutive road victories to advance to the big game.

Despite the Giants’ lowly status as the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoffs and the fact that they were pretty much an afterthought as far as legitimate contenders heading into the post-season are concerned, they do have the components to pull off the ultimate upset. But for the unlikely to happen, they are going to have to play flawlessly Sunday. Read more...