| Super Bowl Preview |
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| Jessica Avila | |
| Friday, 01 February 2008 | |
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Half the world was expecting to see Romo and the Cowboys fight the Patriots in the Bowl. The other half were waiting to see Favre lead his Packers to a Super Bowl win. Hardly anyone expected to see the late-blooming Eli Manning come this far. Eli remains calm and unfazed. After all, it was not luck that got the Giants this far this year. "Luck" would not have allowed Jeremy Shockey's season to come to an abrupt end in December. It was not a perfect roster that carried the Giants here. Their roster was short of a shining player after Tiki Barber, their leading rusher, retired last year. No, the Giants have defeated these teams and overcome difficult games because their determination and perseverance has risen and given them the momentum to finish each and every game, even though they may appear to barely be hanging on by a thread at times. Now the Giants must gather all that momentum and increase it dramatcially in order to slow down Randy Moss and Wes Welker, the two wide receivers that Brady always seems to find down in the field. They must bring that pressure to this game and see if defensive ends Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan can rough Brady up a bit and catch him off guard. The Giants need to pull out all the fancy tricks up their sleeves and rely on Burress to play like Burress: quick, flexible and powerful. Both teams are preparing. They are watching hours of previous games. They are extending their workout routines. They are running and mastering their plays. Two different teams with two very different leaders: One veteran and one Manning who has never been this far. But both teams have the same agenda and that is to win this Super Bowl. Weather won't play a factor in this game. It will just come down to which teams wants it more. Or at least plays like they want it more. |
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Venue Service Mon, Mar 15th, @7:00pm |