SuperBowl XLVI: Giants vs Patriots -- A Biased Preview

by RolloTamasi on Feb 4, 2026 9:55 AM CST in Texas Longhorns and Other Football

You never get much sympathy as a casual Patriots fan living in Texas, especially in Dallas where the Rovers have made our base camp. There may not be a more hated club in America than Foxboro's Finest. Other than the Eagles, the Patriots seem to be the most hated team in the nation's most popular sport.

From Belichik's sneer and suspicious strategies to Tom Brady's pretty boy looks and "league favoritism" in the rule book the Patriots cover several of Hollywood's token villain characteristics. After paying the hefty price of Spygate, the Patriots dished out an 18-1 beatdown against the rest of the league. Most fans would happily take that record.

Rivals such as the Manning Colts, McNabb Eagles, and "greatest show on turf" Rams were all TV friendly champions who went down before the sinister might of Brady-Belichik.

I don't really need to go on, most of you probably despise the Patriots and were delighted by the helmet-catch that descended Hoodie & co. into playoff football purgatory where they've languished until now. However, I've got a sales pitch that just might win you over. When I watch the New York Giants I'm reminded of an even more unlikable front-running team known for drawing favoritism.

The Oklahoma Sooners.

They run very similar schemes and operate them in very similar manners, they are both run by totally likable QB's, and they both had success down the stretch of their famous seasons that provide them with undue rewards such as championship opportunities over teams that defeated them in the regular season.

I don't care if you buy it or not but I'm going to break down this match up for you and will refer to the New York Giants as the Oklahoma Sooners until I've successfully brainwashed you into rooting for my Patriots.

When the Land Thieves have the ball:

See how I used a derisive nickname for the Sooners and applied it to the Giants? You hate them now. Accept it.

The Sooners operate best when they can run the ball and help Eli buy time to fling deep bombs to Hakeem Nicks. However, even with their inconsistent health at RB and subsequently inconsistent running game they were moving the ball well this season. Manning managed this with his eerie calm in rapidly collapsing pockets, upper-tier accuracy, and excellent cast of receivers.

The real key to the Sooner attack, besides the excellence of the QB, is Ryan Broyles Victor Cruz. Utilizing some classic run n' shoot passing concepts that get a lot of mileage out of having a waterbug in the middle of the field, The NFC champs have had an effective passing game all year. In the NFC Title game, San Fran gave up 100 receiving yards to Cruz in the first half, shut him down in the 2nd half and were then two unlucky punt-return fumbles away from victory.

How do you think Belichik will attempt to slow them down?

Can the Patriots take away Victor Cruz? Belichik uses a lot of the same fronts and run-defense tricks as Saban which I covered in my national championship preview. Indeed, he taught Saban half of what he knows. Heavy use of nickel and dime packages are another Belichik staple he passed on, as well as press coverage. The Patriots were the first to recognize the tremendous threat that a slot receiver can present to the structures of typical defensive coverages after the devastation they were able to wreck with Troy Brown, and so they adapted with the now commonplace solution of moving your best cover corner inside.

Of course with the Sooners, if you move your best inside to handle the slot receiver how do you handle Reynolds Nicks and Stills Manningham on the edge? The Patriots Cover-5 (2 deep safeties, man coverage on all receivers) presents them with their best means of making things difficult for the Crimson offense. When they blitz or mix things up with other coverages it's essential that they still blanket Cruz and hope that Eli's tight space footwork and Nicks' explosive downfield abilities don't burn them.

Even while playing a lot of 2-deep coverages, the Pats still have solid enough personnel to not be gashed in the running game. Wilfork, Spikes, and Mayo provide them with a strong interior while the renewed health of Patrick Chung at safety helps erase anything they don't cover up. Virtually every season you may notice Mel Kiper Jr. projecting the Patriots to select a DE/OLB who can aid their pass rush and then you'll watch them not do so in search of man coverage corners or other pieces.

In reality, the Patriots have lagged behind in replacing defensive stars all over the squad. They've abandoned attempting to find enough 2-gapping DE/DT's to play their base 3-4 and now employ more gap control paired with attacking schemes. This year they relied on Andre Carter and Mark Anderson for their pass rush, employing them as weakside ends, and they are now down to only Anderson which could be problematic in trying to exploit the Sooners' weaknesses in pass-protection.

Overall the Pats have to keep things in front of them and keep Manning from finding Victor Cruz on 3rd down. If they eliminate Cruz from the game then Manning's tendency to force plays under pressure while looking for the kill shot could help them end drives with some timely sacks.

Flacco had a great day against the Pats defense between the 20's but when things tightened up around the goal line and the Pats still overplayed Ray Rice, he couldn't get it done. Expect a similar approach against Manning.

When OU is on defense:

Coughlin's crew run a base Cover-2 defense that is very similar to what we see in Norman every year. They often play 3 safeties so that their underneath coverage is fast enough to cover slot receivers in the middle of the field and they prefer to play soft-zone and then jump routes and tendencies that they spot from film study. They'll play their corners and linebackers off the line of scrimmage operating under the same philosophy as Stoops, that defenders play faster coming downhill than they do backpedaling.

Coverage of this sort, despite it's conservative positioning and alignment, can be very susceptible to QB's who pump fake, look off safeties, or buy time. Such as we saw from RGIII in his glorious dismantling of the Sooner D this year.

Towards the latter part of this season, Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, and Jason Pierre-Paul all became healthy in time for the playoffs. Now no one has time to pump fake or look off safeties, even against the 4-man rush. The fact that these guys are all 6-5, 265 means that the potential for zone-blitzes is a serious threat as well. In 3rd and long they add Kiwanuka to get 4 pass-rushers on their line. It's deadly.

In the back 7, their linebackers are fast and their corners are pretty big, making for an imposing underneath 5 in their Cover 2. Amongst those is our own Thorpe Award winning Aaron Ross. I'm going to need you to ignore his presence in blue though for my analogy to work.

Vernon Davis gave them a lot of trouble and he did it against safeties and corners who regularly seemed shocked by his speed. Gronkowski isn't as fast as Davis but he and Hernandez both present similar match up problems for teams who are already trying to account for Welker and Branch.

Since the Patriots have added Hernandez, Gronk, and Welker to the fold it's not really feasible to attempt to take away a single receiver and expect to control the Patriot attack.

The Ravens and Steelers were able to control the Pats by flooding the field with DB's and 2-deep safety coverages, and made the Pats earn their way down the field. This is all fine and well until they get in the red zone, where Gronkowski becomes an unstoppable menace. Another factor that enabled the Ravens and Steelers to avoid getting lit up was their pass rush, which of course the Sooners have in spades.

It's possible that Gronkowski's high ankle sprain may keep him at far less than 100%, if he can even play at all. When fully healthy, he's an easy fix to beating a "bend don't break" scheme with his red zone proficiency, but also a great way to punish such a team for using smaller personnel. The Pats 2 tight end sets with Hernandez and Gronchise bring down the double whammy by necessitating nickel personnel and then plowing over it in the running game.

If there was ever a game in which the Patriots could have finally used a feature back, this would be it.

They'll need to protect Brady from the Land Thieves just pinning their ears back every play and coming after him with a steady diet of runs, draws, and screens. But ultimately, New England needs have their patented pass protection in full gear to buy time for Brady to orchestrate his patented clock-draining drives.

In conclusion, we essentially have a game in which the Oklahoma Sooners have every matchup advantage in their favor.

Their greatest weakness? Pass protection. The New England defense's biggest deficiency? Pass rush. The Sooner defense is perfectly designed to handle spread offenses, while the Patriots have feasted on teams' who lack the personnel to handle their receiving threats.

In the one regard in which the Patriots' hold advantages over virtually all opponents -- the inability of anyone to account for Gronkowski -- they have had calamity strike them with a high ankle sprain.

Do you want to root for an underdog and against the Sooners at the same time? I present the 2012 New England Patriots. If they win, it'll be because they earned it.

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Read More: 2012 super bowl, aaron hernandez, andre carter, bill belichek, cover 2 defense, jason pierre paul, jerod mayo, oklahoma sooners, rob gronkowski, super bowl xliv, superbowl 46, tom coughlin, Aaron Ross (CB - JAC), Eli Manning (QB - NYG), Justin Tuck (DE - NYG), Mark Anderson (DE - NEP), Osi Umenyiora (DE - NYG), Patrick Chung (ROV - Oregon), Tom Brady (QB - NEP), Vince Wilfork (NT - NEP), New England Patriots, New York Giants

Comments

I quit reading what could have been an interesting article when you brought up the Sooners.

by My name is nobody on Feb 4, 2026 10:43 AM CST reply actions

Your loss.

it was a good article.

by Hippie Killer on Feb 9, 2026 11:04 AM CST up reply actions

As a Cowboys fan who lived in NYC for 10 years, you don’t have to ask me twice to hate the new jersey giants.

btw, in NYC metro terms, new jersey=oklahoma.

by motolove on Feb 4, 2026 11:17 AM CST reply actions

I’ll join you in rooting against Aaron Ross.

by cuppycup on Feb 4, 2026 11:22 AM CST reply actions

" There may not be a more hated club in America than Foxboro’s Finest."

Errrr.

Ahhhh.

Cowboys take that prize.

Not so much the players, but their fans. This is pretty universal all over the country.

Dont hate the mirror yo.

by Godot on Feb 4, 2026 11:42 AM CST reply actions

Cowboy hatred still runs strong, but they don’t draw it out very often with their unintimidating play.
The Patriots are at least approaching the same level. People hate the fans, the staff, the specific players.

by Nickel Rover on Feb 4, 2026 11:46 AM CST reply actions

I grew up a Gaints fan, mostly because they won the first Super Bowl that I was really interested in and because on Techmo Bowl The Giant’s LT could block just about any kick.

I took a lot of grief in the Early 90’s from my grade school buddies, and I won’t give up the enjoyment of watching my Giants win these days.

by redfoot on Feb 4, 2026 11:48 AM CST reply actions

How on earth is Landry Jones “Likeable”?? He is qb for the sooners, and has a tramp stamp for pete’s sake

by Rusty Shackleford on Feb 4, 2026 12:00 PM CST reply actions

Does he actually have a stamp or is that speculation based on a blurry shot in a game where his shirt came up?

by Nickel Rover on Feb 4, 2026 12:37 PM CST reply actions

I was going to root for mass food poisoning of both teams and a forfeit, but damn the clueless arrogance of trying to put Aaron Ross on the Sooners.

Fuck Belicheat, Massholes, and pissy Brady thinking he’s too special to bother combing his damn hair.

by F the Celtics & Red Sox, too on Feb 4, 2026 12:39 PM CST reply actions

I have never despised anyone or anything as much as I do the Patriots, their fans, and most importantly Tom Brady. The guy is the epitome of a douche.

by Secret Squirrel on Feb 4, 2026 2:40 PM CST reply actions

What about the sooners?

by Nickel Rover on Feb 4, 2026 2:46 PM CST reply actions

New England is actually more like the Sooners in their cheating ways.
I never enjoyed a non-Cowboy Super Bowl as much as I did when the Ginats (spelled kinda on porpoise that way) took down the 18-0 Patriots.
If I gave a shit this time, I would pull for the Giants. I don’t know, but there is something appealing about a pro league champion who got outscored overall by their opponents in the regular season. It says something. (If any of you know what, let me know.)

by lurkerinthedark on Feb 4, 2026 2:53 PM CST reply actions

“New England is actually more like the Sooners in their cheating ways.”

Who asked you?

by Nickel Rover on Feb 4, 2026 3:00 PM CST reply actions

The cowboys are and will be an afterthought until they you know win a playoff game in this century.

Or until jerry sells the team.
Im hoping the smugpatriots get runout of the stadium.

by roach on Feb 4, 2026 3:11 PM CST reply actions

It worked. I fucking hate the Giants now.

by Fried Rice on Feb 4, 2026 4:30 PM CST reply actions

This is a who cares superbowl.
Cowboys suck as long as they have the stupid Romo
Trade Romo for picks. Get a game manager and they may win a playoff game. Romo just sucks. Been in Dallas for what almost 10 years. His prime is gone and only one playoff win. Cowboys have changed everything but the QB. When they did because of injury they actually one games and Garrett got his head coaching job.
TRADE ROMO. He is stupid and has ears flapping like an elephant.

by striker on Feb 4, 2026 5:52 PM CST reply actions

Seems like some people are just sour because the Giants beat the crap out of Dallas. AGAIN.

by striker on Feb 4, 2026 5:55 PM CST reply actions

One other similarity I’ve noted:
Both Eli and Landry are sneakily hard to sack despite not being very fast. Eli manuevers well in the pocket and trades the occasional sack for the downfield daggers. Landry just feels pressure and gets the ball out quickly.

by Nickel Rover on Feb 4, 2026 6:14 PM CST reply actions

This is whole article is an insult to Texas fans. Giants are one of the classiest organizations in the NFL. Maras and Ronneys are the classiest families in the NFL. How dare you imply there could be Mara like people in Norman. Clearly Pats are the Sooners. Both have been caught cheating. Both have a defensive genious that has 1 title where their defense was actually good. All the other games he has relied on the offense to bail out his defense (look at carolina and philly super bowls), luckily Sir Chin-less has not had a Brady.

by codaxx on Feb 4, 2026 6:44 PM CST reply actions

codaxx: Obviously you are wrong and every Texas fan should struggle between rooting for the Patriots or a home state team.

Also, I think your assault on the quality of both the OU and NE defenses over the last decade is a bit heavy handed. They haven’t both had dominant defenses every year but they have had good ones.
But it doesn’t matter because the Pats and Sooners are nothing alike.

by Nickel Rover on Feb 4, 2026 8:56 PM CST reply actions

It was a cheap shot, but NE have been mediocre for much of Bill’s time. I wish OU was the same. More I watch the NFL, the more I realize difference between good coach and bad coach is a good QB.

by codaxx on Feb 4, 2026 9:23 PM CST reply actions

Codaxx:
I think that tends to be true in the NFL because most of the teams are running almost the same schemes and strategies and the nature of the game means that having an elite QB probably separates you from the rest of the pack.

I think mediocre is still strong. The 2003-2005 NE defenses were good and they fell off from their when all their veterans started declining and they couldn’t replace them because they had some draft misses on defense and they were heavily penalized after spygate.

by Nickel Rover on Feb 4, 2026 10:07 PM CST reply actions

Maybe the least worthwhile thing ever published on this website…

by WTF? on Feb 5, 2026 12:50 PM CST reply actions

Rover.. Holding on to defenses from 2003-2005 kind of proves my pt. 4 top 10 finishes in defense since 2002. 1 top 5 defense. They are far more defenses rated in the 20s and lower. 2005 was in the 20s. For a coach that is supposed to be a defensive guru that is hardly an impressive track record

by Codaxx on Feb 5, 2026 1:33 PM CST reply actions

Codaxx: Well that was part of my point. The Pats had really good defenses at that time, they lost draft picks, had some missed evals, and focused more on helping Brady. Now Belichek’s genius has to be employed in keeping the opponent from lighting up the scoreboard rather than dominating offenses.
Look at what he’s been doing with this defensive cast. Not a lot of stars on that side for NE.

by Nickel Rover on Feb 5, 2026 1:54 PM CST reply actions

WTF isn’t a Patriots fan.

by Nickel Rover on Feb 5, 2026 2:21 PM CST reply actions

Dang - I missed something somewhere along the line. I thought NE was NEbarska, figgered ol’ Tom ‘Crybaby’ Osborini musta been in high cotton.

New England, huh? Go fukken figger… But I tell you what, I bet it’s gonna be another century before OLDE England gets to that show..

by Tex Long on Feb 5, 2026 3:12 PM CST reply actions

My head hurts from all the back and forth with the Dirt Burglar analogies.

by KilgoreTrout on Feb 5, 2026 3:17 PM CST reply actions

Yes. Belicheat’s defenses are no longer comparable to OU, but much more comparable to OSU. I do disagree with the claim NE has bolstered the offense. Take look at them. Whitest group of people you will see outside of a coutry club.

by codaxx on Feb 5, 2026 3:18 PM CST reply actions

New England is the best white offense I’ve seen outside of Lubbock. They exemplify how the anglo-saxon transforms a few resources into empire.
Greg Davis’ attempts to mimick it were comparable Montgomery’s Operation in Holland.

by Nickel Rover on Feb 5, 2026 3:42 PM CST reply actions

One mistake I made:
Apparently McCourty has been seeing use at safety in accordance with Scipio’s “every man a rifleman, every DB a cover corner” principle of defending the spread passing game.

Arrington is the corner likely to assume the role of eliminating Victor Cruz from the game. Ignore all the pre-game talk about Edelman playing that role.

by Nickel Rover on Feb 5, 2026 4:31 PM CST reply actions

Quite an odd story. Remember the Giants actully beat the Patriots in the regular season.

In the NFL they actually have a playoff. The Giants are in the Super Bowl because they played their way in.

by Newy25 on Feb 5, 2026 5:09 PM CST reply actions

Why do people (Cuppycup) hate Aaron Ross?

by Secret Squirrel on Feb 5, 2026 6:00 PM CST reply actions

Cuppycup is not like you or me.

Newy25: The Patriots are Florida in the 2008 analogy. I’m going to need you to disregard the Giants victory earlier this year for the analogy’s sake.

by Nickel Rover on Feb 5, 2026 6:03 PM CST reply actions

Aaron seems like an upstanding guy. My cable installer, Giants fan, made a comment about disliking him and couldn’t give a reason other than he wasn’t a Miami Hurricane.

by Secret Squirrel on Feb 5, 2026 6:28 PM CST reply actions

Nickel Rover-

I see what you are doing but there is no “back door” into the NFL playoffs. Oklahoma certainly took advantage of an arbitrary Big 12 tie breaker and that was not resolved on the field but the Giants won their division, played two road playoff games against teams with an extra week of rest and played their way through.

The only argument I have heard really against the Giants is their record during the regular season was 9-7 therefore they should not be where they are. Teams have won the Super Bowl from the 6th seed before at 10-6 and I think a lot of that has to do with the parity in the NFL. The difference between 9-7 and 11-5 is almost miniscule. The Patriots had a very easy schedule during the regular season (not one win against a team with a wining record) and the Giants had a very difficult schedule. Who is to say a healthy Giants team playing the Patriots schedule does not go 12-4?

In college we give 1-2 loss SEC teams the benefit of the doubt over undefeated teams from lesser conferences. Why would the perception be any different when there is such a drastic difference in schedule strength for NFL teams?

by Newy25 on Feb 6, 2026 8:21 AM CST reply actions

“Nickel Rover-

I see what you are doing but there is no "back door" into the NFL playoffs. Oklahoma certainly took advantage of an arbitrary Big 12 tie breaker and that was not resolved on the field but the Giants won their division, played two road playoff games against teams with an extra week of rest and played their way through.

This response strikes me as far too reasoned and detailed for this thread. Please have it removed.

by stevenebraska on Feb 6, 2026 9:34 AM CST reply actions

Newy25: I think you got the impression that I took that analogy far more seriously than was the case.

Btw, freaking Giants…we took away Cruz and were in position to win but made the mistakes that the Giants didn’t make. Out executed.
Also, just as in the first Super Bowl matchup between these 2 teams, the Giants fumble twice and lose neither one. They got lucky when they made mistakes and they made fewer mistakes than the Patriots.
It’s how been a huge factor in all of their playoff games this year, credit to them. Worthy champions.

by Nickel Rover on Feb 6, 2026 10:42 AM CST reply actions

Nickel,
Trying to get people to be pro pats only because the giants continue to beat the cowboys. I was pro giants because I want a Longhorn to get another ring. (Aaron Ross)

Until the Cowboys rid themselves of Romo they will always demostrate the choke scenario.

Comparing a pro team to a college team is insane.

by striker on Feb 6, 2026 11:08 AM CST reply actions

Striker, what are you talking about? I can’t even decipher the meaning of your comments. Are you under the impression that I’m a Cowboys fan? I don’t like them, in fact I actively root against them on a regular basis.

by Nickel Rover on Feb 6, 2026 11:20 AM CST reply actions

Nickel Rover-

Sorry to take it so seriously. Just a little sensitive to the notion that somehow the Giants did not deserve to be playing in the Super Bowl. There are some that actually believe a human poll conducted at the end of the regular season (think of all of the inherent east coast biases vis a vis ESPN) to announce a champion.

They beat New England twice and had to play an extra game. They are the champs and they deserve it. And as a Cowboys fan that hurts to say.

by Newy25 on Feb 6, 2026 2:10 PM CST reply actions

That was a shitty Super Bowl. I think it was fixed, trying to rekindle the magic from ’08-even the commercials sucked.

by don't waste my time on Feb 6, 2026 2:28 PM CST reply actions

maybe its some kind of test. its entertainment. that’s why some of the purists consider football dead by time the playoffs rollaround.

by Paul on Feb 6, 2026 4:28 PM CST reply actions

Also- SuperBowl 42 was special, took alot of people by surprise.It gave Giants psychological momentum over time. This Superbowl was ok. people wanted a re-match. Hopefully Cowboys will get their shit together (one day) .

by Paul on Feb 6, 2026 4:42 PM CST reply actions