Patriots-Giants prediction roundup: Forget about Belichick-Coughlin, this is about Brady-Mara
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COMMENTARY
Despite popular assumption, Indianapolis was not the last stop on The Middle Finger Tour.
Whatever magical mystery potion everybody assumes Tom Coughlin and the New York Giants have over Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots (OK, those two Super Bowls are sort of a big deal), it won’t matter an iota when the two teams meet Sunday afternoon in the Meadowlands.
Belichick vs. Coughlin is getting all the headlines. But this is Tom Brady vs. John Mara.
You’ll, of course, remember, that the Giants owner became part of the Deflategate settlement talks last August with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Mara, who chairs the league’s NFL’s executive committee that oversees labor matters, had some very pointed words for Ye Deflator of Footballs, comments that even a few months later, sound more ridiculous than ever. (Call that the Greg Hardy factor, if you will.)
“I’m saddened it’s come to this,’’ Mara said in July, via The New York Post. “I support the commissioner in this. I’ve been around him enough to know his intention is always to try to do the right thing. I don’t always agree with the decisions he makes, but I know he tries to do the right thing and I know this was a very unpleasant situation for him here. We’re dealing with the best player in the league and you’re dealing with an owner who’s been as good as any owner in the league and somebody he has a close personal relationship with. So he had to make a tough decision.’
“We went the two weeks going into the Super Bowl that’s all we talked about, Deflategate and now coming into training camp that’s all we’re talking about. Listen, the commissioner had a very difficult job to do here. But at the end of the day I think he made a decision based on the evidence and the facts that were before him and without regard to the profile of the player or his personal relationship with the owner.
“You know what? That’s what he’s paid to do and he did his job here. You can argue with whether it was fair or unfair but he had to make a very tough decision in very difficult circumstances and that’s what he’s paid to do.’’
Brady might as well be tossing balls at Goodell’s head this weekend instead of Rob Gronkowski and Co.
Who they’re picking
Our roundup of picks for Sunday’s Patriots-Giants game:
ESPN.com: Eleven out of 12 pick the Patriots. Seth Wickersham (remember him?) is the lone dissenter.
Greg Cote, Miami Herald: Patriots 31, Giants 27. “Week 10 found rancorous debate among the Game of the Week committee, with much argument for Cardinals-Seahawks, but an unbeaten team in danger of not staying that way tipped it for Patriots-Giants. NYG comes closest to having the Pats’ number, with Tom Coughlin 5-1 all-time vs. Bill Belichick — including 2-0 in Super Bowls, of course. New England obviously is the better team this year, though, and I doubt a Biggies D with a league-low nine sacks can bother Tom Brady much. Having said that, combining these teams’ recent history with the home field, I like Bigs with the points. Don’t see an upset, but do see a game worthy of our marquee.’’
Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: Patriots 35, Giants 24. “The undefeated Patriots have not fared well against the Giants in recent years, but those Giants teams could rush the passer. This one isn’t great at it. That means Tom Brady will carve up the secondary. The Giants and Eli Manning won’t be able to keep up.’’
CBS Sports staff: Seven out of eight pick the Patriots (New York, plus-7.5). Seven out of eight also pick the Pats straight-up.
Peter Schrager, Foxsports.com: Patriots 34, Giants 23. “I was so impressed by the Jason Pierre-Paul comeback last week that I failed to notice Nikita Whitlock — the undersized fullback-turned special teams demon-turned part-time-defensive tackle — making a ton of plays for the Giants D. Watching the tape, it appears that Whitlock may be at his best working the middle for the Giants. New York’s had Tom Brady’s number — both in the Super Bowl twice and in a 24-20 Giants’ win in 2011 at Foxboro — but I’ve got New England getting the best of Big Blue on Sunday.’’
Foxsports.com staff: Six out of eight pick New England.
FiveThirtyEight: Patriots have a 72 percent chance of winning.
Elliot Harrison, NFL.com: Patriots 34, Giants 17. “You’ll hear a lot of banter this week about how the Giants have been the Patriots’ kryptonite over the years. OK, cool. New England wins. This Tom Coughlin team is nothing like those 2007 and 2011 clubs, each of which could pressure the passer. Eli Manning was lights out in 2011, especially in Super Bowl XLVI, when he launched one of the best and most important vertical throws ever. The issue now is Manning’s lack of big plays. Overall, he hasn’t fared terribly by any means, but he’s completed just 14 passes of 25 yards or more thus far, tied for 21st in the league, despite having played more games than almost every other QB. On the other side, Tom Brady will have all day to pat the ball 500 times before finding some ex-XFL running back — or whoever replaces Dion Lewis — in space for 36 yards. The Giants have nine sacks in nine games. The Patriots’ Chandler Jones has a league-high 9.5 by himself.’’
NFL.com staff: All Pats.
SB Nation staff: All Pats.
USA Today staff: All Pats.
Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk: Patriots 27, Giants 20. “The last two times these teams met in the regular season, they had a rematch in the Super Bowl. While that’s unlikely this year, New England coach Bill Belichick has extra motivation to show his former colleague, Giants coach Tom Coughlin, that the Giants aren’t in the Patriots heads the same way the Patriots are in so many other teams’ heads.’’
Michael David Smith, Pro Football Talk: Patriots 30, Giants 17. “The Giants have a knack for beating the Patriots when no one thinks they will, but this Patriots offense just has too many weapons for Tom Brady to play with, and this Giants defense just doesn’t have the secondary to stop them.’’
MassLive staff: All Pats.
Jimmy Kempski, PhillyVoice staff: Patriots. “Yeah, yeah, the Giants always beat the Patri*ts when they’re not supposed to. Of course, they typically have a pass rush when they do. This year, not so much. The Patri*ts’ scheduled beatings of NFC East teams will continue this weekend, when they get a small measure of revenge on the Giants in New Jersey. The Patri*ts buried the Cowboys and Redskins in Weeks 5 and 9, respectively. The Giants and Eagles will get their turns Weeks 10 and 13.’’
Michael Hurley, CBS Boston: Patriots. “I just feel like Tom Brady has proven he can excel behind a makeshift offensive line, and the Giants just don’t provide enough resistance to make this a game.’’
Globe staff: Three out of five pick the Patriots (New England minus-7).
Neil Greenberg, Washington Post: Patriots, 71.8 percent. “After adjusting the Patriots margin of victory for strength of schedule, they are 15.3 points per game better than the average NFL team. The Giants, on the other hand, are simply average (0.02).’’
It says here: Patriots 17, Giants 14.
[fragment number=0]
[fragment number=1]Fine. Patriots 37, Giants 28.
Contact Eric Wilbur at: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @GlobeEricWilbur
Photos from the Patriots’ win over the Redskins
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