The following is a guest contribution from Daniel Elsa. Feel free to follow him on Twitter at @dboy03.
The drama leading up to Super Bowl XLVI has never been greater. The game of the century includes two premier Quarterbacks playing at their highest level at the best possible time. Tom Brady of the New England Patriots will be making his fifth Super Bowl appearance, tying the great John Elway along the way. While the opposing Quarterback Eli Manning of the New York Giants will be making his second appearance with the hopes of winning his second title.
The pressure is on, the question is who will step up to the plate on the big stage in Indianapolis on February 5th, 2012 to stake their claim as the best football team in all of professional sports? Although Brady has been on this stage a record four times prior to this, a record of my era, the nerves are beginning to kick in. Brady, in speaking to Pats Pulpit via ESPN Boston “I think there is pressure for every player. It’s not necessarily me. There is certainly pressure on me, there is pressure on the coaches and the players. We’re expected to do our job at a very high level. You go into this game, where you’re playing your toughest opponent, there are only two teams that are playing in this that are still going.”
Including the preseason, regular season and now post season, this will be the third matchup overall between the two. The two sides are well acquainted with another. In week 4 of the preseason the Patriots fell to the Giants 18-17. Also, in week 9 the Patriots fell to the Giants 24-20 in which Manning lead the G-men on a 8 play 80 yard drive culminating with a 1 yard TD to TE Jake Ballard.
Did I mention each of these losses came with the Patriots at home? It’s safe to say the Giants have the Patriots number at Gillette stadium. This year’s Super Bowl will be taking place at Lucas Oil Stadium home of the Indianapolis Colts. An eerily similar stadium to the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona home of the Arizona Cardinals, in which the New York Giants lead by Eli Manning put on the most improbable display in sports to beat the then undefeated New England Patriots.
One of the leading online sports book, TopBet has the New England Patriots slotted as a 3 point favorite. After opening at -3.5 for New England, and +3.5 for New York we have seen a large amount of money being placed on the Giants side, essentially driving book makers to the slot at -3 for New England and +3 for New York.
