Super Bowl XLII: How they match up
10:42 PM CST on Saturday, February 2, 2008
| QUARTERBACKS | |
| EDGE:  | Eli Manning led the NFL with 20 interceptions this season but hasn't thrown any in the playoffs. Manning threw 23 TD passes in 2007. Brady threw his 23rd on Oct. 21, in his seventh game. Brady is undefeated in three Super Bowls and enters this one coming off an MVP season. |
| RUNNING BACKS | |
| EDGE:  | Brandon Jacobs rushed for 1,009 yards, and Ahmad Bradshaw gave the Giants a late-season big-play threat. Laurence Maroney has rushed for 100 yards in four of his last five games and scored TDs in all of them. Running is what the Giants do. They averaged 4.6 yards per carry, the Patriots 4.1. |
| RECEIVERS | |
| EDGE: | Plaxico Burress plays bigger in the big games than Randy Moss does. Five Patriots combined to post a league-leading 16 100-yard receiving games. Wes Welker led the NFL in receiving, and Moss led in receiving touchdowns. |
| OFFENSIVE LINE | |
| EDGE: | The Giants don't have any Pro Bowlers, but the right side is stout with Kareem McKenzie and Chris Snee. The Patriots have three Pro Bowlers manning a line that allowed only 21 sacks. New England has a Pro Bowl center (Dan Koppen), guard (Logan Mankins) and tackle (Matt Light). |
| DEFENSIVE LINE | |
| EDGE: | The Giants led the NFL with 53 sacks, and the line had 39½ of them – more than 25 teams. Nose tackle Vince Wilfork is a Pro Bowler, and ends Ty Warren and Richard Seymour are beefy run defenders. The defensive line is where the Giants sink their draft picks and money. |
| LINEBACKERS | |
| EDGE: | Middle linebacker Antonio Pierce is the backbone of the NFL's eighth-ranked run defense. Junior Seau is a Hall of Famer, and Adalius Thomas, Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel are veteran Pro Bowlers. The strength of a 3-4 scheme is its linebackers. New England lines up stars across. |
| SECONDARY | |
| EDGE: | The Giants allowed six 100-yard receiving games during the regular season and a seventh in the playoffs. Cornerback Asante Samuel is a force against the pass, and safety Rodney Harrison a force against the run. Two New England receivers had 100-yard games against the Giants in the last meeting. |
| SPECIAL TEAMS | |
| EDGE: | Kicker Lawrence Tynes showed signs of the shakes in the NFC title game. With Larry Izzo, Kelly Washington and Brandon Meriweather, New England has the better coverage units. Kicker Stephen Gostkowski and the coverage units should give New England the edge in field position. |
| COACHES | |
| EDGE: | Against Green Bay, Tom Coughlin won his first conference championship game in three tries. Bill Belichick is unbeaten in three Super Bowls. Belichick can become the second coach in NFL history to deliver a perfect season. |
| INTANGIBLES | |
| EDGE: | The Giants won an NFL record 10 consecutive road games this season. The Patriots have won a record 18 consecutive games in one season. The team with the best quarterback and best coach usually wins. That's New England. |