A Beginner's Guide to Super Bowl XLVI

About once a year Australia turns its collective attention to the drama, flare and pageantry that is the Super Bowl.

For one day only it is important to know why Tom Brady and Eli Manning are so important, why starting the second half with an onside kick in unusual and why ex-AFL punters really don’t make a difference.

On February 6, Super Bowl XLVI will be all over our TV screens so here is something to help you bluff your way through any office chat.

The Game:

The Super Bowl is the annual American football competition to see who is the best team in the NFL. Like the AFL or NRL Grand Finals, the winners of the playoff series contest the Super Bowl.

The NFL is broken into two conferences throughout the season, the NFC and the AFC. The 32 teams compete in divisions of 4 teams each. After the 16 regular season games, the playoff contenders are chosen by the winners of the 8 divisions, and 4 wildcard teams who qualify through their regular season record.

The Super Bowl is contested by the winners of the NFC and AFC conferences, and usually takes place on the first weekend in February.

The Teams:

This year’s Super Bowl sees the New York Giants (of the NFC) battle the New England Patriots (of the AFC) in a rematch of Super Bowl XLII, just four years ago.

In what was a tightly contested game, the 2008 game saw the Giants upset the previously undefeated Patriots to win the Lombardi Trophy.

This season New England qualified to the playoffs as the winner of the AFC East division, the ninth time in 11 seasons. Their regular season started well before two losses during mid-season threw doubt over their campaign. The Patriots then put together an impressive 8 game winning streak to end on a 13-3 record and qualify as the AFC’s number 1 seed.

After gaining the bye during the first round of the playoffs, the Pats stormed past the much hyped Denver Broncos, before winning the AFC Championship game with a closely contested 23-20 victory at home against the Baltimore Ravens.

The Giants qualified to the playoffs as the winner of the NFC East division. After starting with a 6-2 record, the G-Men slumped in mid-season with 4 losses in a row. After gaining key players back in the second half of the season, the Giants won key divisional games towards the end of the season, including a 31-14 win over the Dallas Cowboys on the last day, to secure their position as the 4th seed in the NFC.

With three impressive defensive performances, the Giants managed to beat the Atlanta Falcons 24-2, shut down the previously unstoppable Green Bay Packers 37-20 and winning the NFC title with a thrilling over time victory against the San Francisco 49ers, 20-17.

The Coaches:

Bill Belichick has been the head coach of the Patriots since 2000 and in that time has earned the reputation of one of the best coaches in the game. His reputation as the best situational coach in the game, and his ability get the most out of ordinary players means that his teams are always competitive.

However, don’t expect him to get too animated during the game, he’ll most likely be hiding under his favourite grey hooded sweater. Having guided the Patriots to four Super Bowls previously, he can enhance his claim for the title of best NFL coach of all time with a win.

Tom Coughlin, the head coach for New York, has had a love-hate relationship with the Giants fan base over the years, and this season has been no different. A slow start to the season saw many fans wanting his head, but he has steered them into his second Super Bowl.

As a coach with more than 15 years of experience, his success has come through attention to strict defensive play, and creating pressure on the opposing team to generate mistakes.

The Quarterbacks:

Tom Brady (Patriots) is the ultimate pinup boy for the NFL. He has the super model wife (Gisele Bundchen for those interested), million dollar sponsorships, and one of the best arms in football.

If Brady were to win XLVI he would join Terry Bradshaw, and his own boyhood idol Joe Montana as the only QBs with four Super Bowl titles and put him in the argument as the best player of all time. Not bad for someone who was drafted as #199.

Compared with earlier in his career, Brady is the key to the Patriots success, with many of their victories this year relying on his high-scoring offense. Already a two-time Super Bowl MVP, Brady knows how to perform when he needs it.

Eli Manning (Giants) is the boy who grew, and grew, and grew. Having come from a famous football family, Eli’s early career was punctuated with people wondering whether he was drafted because of his talent or his name.

Having stepped out his older brother Peyton’s shadow with his Super Bowl win in February 2008, Manning has developed into an elite quarterback of the NFL, able to play under pressure and to make the throws when they count. After drawing criticism from some after making comments in the preseason that he saw himself in the top tier of current QBs, Manning can prove to his doubters with a victory against the Patriots.

The Key Player:

While the emergence of Eli has been a positive for the Giants, their run to the Super Bowl has been built with their strong defensive front. In particular second year player Jason Pierre-Paul has been outstanding this season, with 16.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and a safety across 16 regular season games.

For the Giants to win, they need Pierre-Paul and the other members of the defensive front to break down Tom Brady’s protection and upset his rhythm. If they can successfully get to Brady, they should be able to keep the Patriots to a low score.

New England’s success this year has mainly come through their outstanding dual tight ends, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Between these two players they have speed, agility, strength and the ability to block, run tight routes and carry the ball when needed.

Combining for the most yards and touchdowns for a tight end duo ever, the ‘Boston TE Party’ will be the first options when New England finds themselves in the 20 yard red zones.

The Stadium:

Super Bowl XLVI will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts. Lucas Oil is an indoor stadium, and has a capacity of 70,000. As the home stadium of the Colts is commonly known as the house that Peyton Manning built.

It is fitting then that one QB is Peyton’s biggest rival and the other is Peyton’s little brother. With a long history of tough games against the Patriots, expect the home fans to be ‘rooting’ for the Giants.

Prediction:

I expect a high scoring game between these two teams and it could come down to the last 2 minutes for someone to make a game winning play. I think the Giants have a much more well rounded side and expect them to just get the win, 31-28.