Eli Manning’s excellent run of form will come to a crashing end on Sunday…
StockFICTION ! He has played well down the stretch by making smart decisions and executing Kevin Gilbride’s conservative gameplans perfectly. He isn’t forcing throws, he isn’t taking risks he is finding the open guy and hitting dumpoffs and taking sacks when necessary. I don’t see this changing and I don’t see the Patriots being able to take away everything that this Giants team can bring. Whilst the Giants don’t have the variety of weapons the Patriots have, they certainly have enough to outmatch what is an overrated Patriots defence and should give Eli enough options to find open receivers to keep this game close. Eli Manning should go down as the most improved player down the stretch run of this season.
DocFACT ! Not that he won’t play well. Because he’ll do ok. But he’ll just continue to be Eli; it’s just that everyone will recognise it. This supposed great run of form has been propped up by others on both sides of the ball. Without Burress and Toomer this post-season, where would Eli be? Where would he be without Bradshaw and Jacobs? What about Tynes, and what about that defence? He’d be nowhere. The Pats defence will keep him where they can manage him, and wait for the mistake. Because it will come. He’s been well managed by Gilbride who’s only asking him to do what he can, and it’s been effective. But it won’t last forever, and that mistake will come. It won’t matter anyway as elsewhere, the Giants won’t be as successful and this myth that he’s been outstanding, rather than simply decent, will be exposed.
Plaxico Burress will have a bigger impact on the Super Bowl than Randy Moss…
StockFICTION ! Where do you get these questions Doc? Corey Webster has been running one on one with the opponent’s #1 receivers this playoff run and whilst he did an admirable job against Mr Owens in Dallas (limited him to four catches on ten passes to him), this #81 is another step up. The Cowboys were reluctant to go for throws that weren’t there on deep passes, Tom Brady won’t be the same. Brady will put up the throw whether Webster has good coverage or not, he will test him and Moss will beat him in the air. Webster has been the most improved defensive player in the playoffs, but his great run will come to a grinding halt Sunday in Glendale.
DocFACT ! I get them from engaging my brain! Until I read your reply, I thought you had one too! Moss’s impact in the post-season has been minimal. Burress is not just Manning’s favourite target; he’s his only really credible target. Even if the Pats know this, and despite the injury, they won’t stop him as their secondary is weak and open to be exposed. Plax, who doesn’t have the natural talent Moss does, has shown this year he has twice the heart that Randy will ever have. Moss is too busy now thinking about his impending ring and how much money he can try extract from the Pats, which he needs to pay off his outside ‘activities’, to give a damn about this game. And besides it’s not like he usually bothers to show up in the big games anyway, is it?
Laurence Maroney will prove to be the decisive factor in the Super Bowl…
StockFICTION ! The decisive factor will be his running back partner Kevin Faulk. The Giants pass rush will be ferocious and the Patriots offensive line won’t be able to fully contain this. As a result the short passes to Kevin Faulk and Wes Welker will be the key to taking the edge of this pass rush and keeping Steve Spagnuolo’s defence honest to the short pass will be important in setting up the deep throws to the likes of Stallworth and Moss. Faulk will have more of an impact than Mr Maroney for my money, though both will be vitally important as they seek to do what Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai did for the Colts in Miami last January.
DocFACT ! For all his cheating ways, Belichick isn’t dumb as some of your answers! Before Jason Garrett began choking, Marion Barber was all over this Giants D, and the Patriots line is able to push the small, nimble Giants D line around as Dallas’ did in that first half three weeks ago. Maroney has come more and more into the running game in the post-season as Randy Moss has began thinking too much about the zero’s he wants on his contract, and Lo-Mo has proved they can rely on him. Plus, it’s too obvious to say that they’ll pass, pass, pass. They always do what you least expect. The running game through Maroney proves critical for the Pats, as it opens up a few dink and dunks for Brady to do enough to see off the Giants.
The Patriots will win the Super Bowl and go down as the best team of all time…
StockFACT ! If they win, they will rightly or wrongly go down as the greatest team of all time. I don’t think they are the best team of all-time personally, but if they win I think that’s exactly how they’ll be remembered. This offense has the wow factor and the memorable records for people to consistently point to and say look how good they are, look how they overpowered parity in the NFL. The previous great teams are in the pre-free agency era when teams to could hold on to their best players far more easily than is possible now. The Patriots have had some help along the way getting some excellent veterans at below market value, but at the end of the day they have steam-rolled the NFL (besides nearly losing to a 5-11 team in Baltimore) in the age of parity when no-one is supposed to be this much better than everyone else. That will be their lasting legacy as the greatest of all time.
DocFICTION ! They’ll win the Super Bowl. Of that I have no doubt, but the best team of all time? Never. Statistically, they are, but here’s a news flash for all you Patriot geeks football is played on the field, not paper. And on the field this year they’ve benefited from a weak NFL and had a dominant year statistically, but they’re not on the level of the all-time greats. A dreadful AFC East who they pummelled repeatedly to boost those stats, an injury-hit Chargers team that they still should have lost to, and now they’re playing a bang average Giants team who beat the supposed ‘cream’ of the NFC does this sound like the best team ever?! Wake up people! The 1985 Chicago Bears were on a level this team could never get on, particularly on defence, as some Patriots fans might remember (although not that many I bet, as it was before 2002). And that’s just one such example. The age of parity you refer to is simply the age of mediocrity. The difference is their coach. They’re a good team, but with him, they get more out of these players collectively than you would think from looking at them individually. They’ve had an exceptional year, and I’m sure Pats fans are proud but they’ll never be the greatest.
Four Downs with Stock & Doc
Eli Manning’s excellent run of form will come to a crashing end on Sunday…
Doc FACT ! Not that he won’t play well. Because he’ll do ok. But he’ll just continue to be Eli; it’s just that everyone will recognise it. This supposed great run of form has been propped up by others on both sides of the ball. Without Burress and Toomer this post-season, where would Eli be? Where would he be without Bradshaw and Jacobs? What about Tynes, and what about that defence? He’d be nowhere. The Pats defence will keep him where they can manage him, and wait for the mistake. Because it will come. He’s been well managed by Gilbride who’s only asking him to do what he can, and it’s been effective. But it won’t last forever, and that mistake will come. It won’t matter anyway as elsewhere, the Giants won’t be as successful and this myth that he’s been outstanding, rather than simply decent, will be exposed. 
Plaxico Burress will have a bigger impact on the Super Bowl than Randy Moss…
Stock FICTION ! Where do you get these questions Doc? Corey Webster has been running one on one with the opponent’s #1 receivers this playoff run and whilst he did an admirable job against Mr Owens in Dallas (limited him to four catches on ten passes to him), this #81 is another step up. The Cowboys were reluctant to go for throws that weren’t there on deep passes, Tom Brady won’t be the same. Brady will put up the throw whether Webster has good coverage or not, he will test him and Moss will beat him in the air. Webster has been the most improved defensive player in the playoffs, but his great run will come to a grinding halt Sunday in Glendale.
Doc FACT ! I get them from engaging my brain! Until I read your reply, I thought you had one too! Moss’s impact in the post-season has been minimal. Burress is not just Manning’s favourite target; he’s his only really credible target. Even if the Pats know this, and despite the injury, they won’t stop him as their secondary is weak and open to be exposed. Plax, who doesn’t have the natural talent Moss does, has shown this year he has twice the heart that Randy will ever have. Moss is too busy now thinking about his impending ring and how much money he can try extract from the Pats, which he needs to pay off his outside ‘activities’, to give a damn about this game. And besides it’s not like he usually bothers to show up in the big games anyway, is it? 
Laurence Maroney will prove to be the decisive factor in the Super Bowl…
Doc FACT ! For all his cheating ways, Belichick isn’t dumb as some of your answers! Before Jason Garrett began choking, Marion Barber was all over this Giants D, and the Patriots line is able to push the small, nimble Giants D line around as Dallas’ did in that first half three weeks ago. Maroney has come more and more into the running game in the post-season as Randy Moss has began thinking too much about the zero’s he wants on his contract, and Lo-Mo has proved they can rely on him. Plus, it’s too obvious to say that they’ll pass, pass, pass. They always do what you least expect. The running game through Maroney proves critical for the Pats, as it opens up a few dink and dunks for Brady to do enough to see off the Giants.
The Patriots will win the Super Bowl and go down as the best team of all time…
