The New England Patriots know the New York Giants as well as one conference champion can know the other. The teams played in the regular-season finale five weekends ago, so the memory of that 38-35 New England victory is still fresh in the mind of Patriots coach Bill Belichick. He knows his Patriots went on the road and took the Giants' best shot, and it wasn't good enough.

But the Giants have a secret. That wasn't their best shot. A player who has developed into a key offensive weapon for the Giants – rookie running back Ahmad Bradshaw – did not play that night. He sat out with a calf injury.

Without Bradshaw, the Patriots did not see New York's best hope for a game-breaker. Just the weekend before, Bradshaw turned in the longest touchdown of the season for the Giants, an 88-yard run against Buffalo.

Bradshaw rushed 17 times for 151 yards against the Bills, the first 100-yard rushing game of his career. This after touching the ball only eight times from scrimmage through the first 14 games.

Realizing what they had, the Giants increased Bradshaw's role in the postseason. He carried 17 times for 66 yards against Tampa Bay, six times for 34 yards against the Cowboys, and 16 times for 63 yards and a touchdown against Green Bay in the NFC title game.

The Giants finished seventh in the NFL in rushing in 2006 with Tiki Barber supplying the speed and Brandon Jacobs the power. But Barber retired in the off-season, and the Giants became a more methodical offense, devoid of big plays, with Jacobs pounding away for 1,009 yards.

But the emergence of Bradshaw late in the season restored that thunder-and-lightning combination. The Giants had hoped to unleash the thunder on the Patriots in December.

"They put a couple packages in for me that game," Bradshaw said.

But the Patriots never saw those packages. They never saw the speed that could threaten the aging legs of their linebackers. That should work to New York's benefit in the rematch. If an upset is to be sprung, Bradshaw could be the Giant to spring it.

The New England Patriots fielded a top-five defense in 2007, finishing 10th against the run and sixth against the pass.

Not many offensive players gave New England problems in 2007. The Patriots allowed one 300-yard passer, three 100-yard rushers and three 100-yard receivers in 18 games.

But no player gave the Patriots fits like Colts running back Joseph Addai. Not only did he rush for 112 yards against New England in November, but he also caught five passes for 114 yards and a touchdown.

Indianapolis attacked the one area of concern for the Patriots – linebacker. Talent isn't the concern. Age is. Junior Seau is 39, Tedy Bruschi 34 and Mike Vrabel 32. The youngster of the group, Adalius Thomas, is 30.

The Colts made the New England linebackers chase Addai. Old legs vs. young legs. It was a mismatch. The New York Giants have that same potential mismatch with rookie Ahmad Bradshaw, who is a clone of Addai in style and size (5-9, 198).

The NFL has seen only a snapshot of his ability. Bradshaw touched the ball 25 times during the regular season. But his 88-yard touchdown run in the 16th week against Buffalo gave the Patriots an idea of his speed.

If the Patriots studied Bradshaw's Marshall game tapes, they would have seen the 75-yard touchdown he scored on a screen pass against Kent State and a 77-yard TD run against Western Michigan.

Bradshaw represents the only real speed in the Giants' offense. Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer are big, physical wide receivers, and 264-pound Brandon Jacobs is a bruising runner. The Patriots know what to expect from all three.

"We need to add a few new wrinkles," Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said.

Expect Bradshaw to be the major new wrinkle.