The Giants have had the Patriots’ number as they beat them 24-20 earlier this year.  They also beat the Patriots 17-14 in the Super Bowl just five years ago.  That being said, this game is going to be a war.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Giants have the ball:  The Giants are going to try to be a little more balanced than usual this Sunday.  Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs are likely to get a lot of work to help slow the Patriots’ pass rush and keep them honest.  The Patriots have been better against the run lately and they have a decent linebacking corps, so Bradshaw and Jacobs are going to have to fight for every yard they get this weekend.  If Eli Manning has time to throw the ball, he is likely going to have some success as WRs Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham have matchup advantages over the corners of the Patriots.  Manning will also look for TE Jake Ballard when things get rough as he has made some big catches for the Giants this year.  Manning will have to be careful with the football though as the Patriots had 23 interceptions during the regular season.

When the Patriots have the ball:  The Patriots are also likely going to run the ball more than usual with BenJarvus Green-Ellis as the middle of the Giants’ D has been rather soft against the run.  LBs Michael Boley, Chase Blackburn and Mathias Kiwanuka are going to have to tighten up the chinstraps this Sunday.  The Giants are going to need DEs Jason Pierre-Paul, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora to get to Tom Brady early and often in this game, because if he has time to throw, tehy are in big trouble this Sunday.  Brady is going to attack the Giants’ corners with short passes to WRs Wes Welker and Deion Branch, letting them try to get yards after the catch.  Brady is also going to attack the safeties with throws to TEs Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.  The secondary is going to have to step up this Sunday if the Giants are going to win this game.

PREDICTION:  PATRIOTS 31, GIANTS 27

The defensive ends are the keys for the Giants this Sunday, as they won’t win without putting pressure on Tom Brady.  It’s lucky for the Giants that they had two of the best DEs in the NFL on their team right now.  23-year old Jason Pierre-Paul is a flat out beast.  He played in all 16 games for the Giants this year and he had 86 tackles, 16.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 6 passes defensed and 8 tackles for a loss.  He has also played well in the playoffs so far.  In his first three playoff games this year, Pierre-Paul has 16 tackles, 1/2 a sack, 3 tackles for a loss and 2 passes defensed.  30-year old Osi Umenyiora is also a big time pass rusher and playmaker.  He played in 9 games for the Giants this year and he had 25 tackles, 9 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 pass defensed and 1 tackle for a loss.  Omenyiora also has played in all three playoff games for the Giants this year and he has 8 tackles, 3.5 sacks and 1 forced fumble.  The Giants hope that Jason Pierre-Paul and Osi Umenyiora get Tom Brady nervous this Sunday.

The Giants didn’t run the ball too well during the regular season in 2011.  The Giants only rushed for 89.2 yards per game and 3.5 yards per carry during the regular season.  But, Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs have stepped up in the playoffs as the Giants are averaging 117.3 yards rushing per game and 4.2 yards per carry so far.  The Giants need Bradshaw & Jacobs to have one more big game in them this Sunday in the Super Bowl.  Bradshaw has carried the ball 46 times for 200 yards (4.3 ypc) and he also has caught 14 passes for 95 yards (6.8 avg) so far in the playoffs.  Jacobs has carried the ball 28 times for 127 yards (4.5 ypc) with 1 TD run and he has also caught 4 passes for 16 yards (4.0 avg) so far in the post-season.  If the Patriots gang up to stop the Giants’ passing game, look for the Giants to hit the ground running this Sunday.

33-year old kicker Lawrence Tynes isn’t the most accurate kicker around, so the Giants will likely have to adjust the game plan to compensate for that a little bit this Sunday.  Tynes played in all 16 games for the Giants this year and he connected on 19 of 24 field goals (79.2%) and all 43 of his extra points, good for 100 points.  Tynes has now played in 113 games in his first 8 years in the NFL and he has connected on 157 of 194 field goal attempts (80.9%) and 311 of 317 extra points, good for 782 points.  Tynes has now played in 9 games in the post-season in his NFL career and he has made 11 of 16 field goals (68.8%) and all 19 of his extra points, good for 52 points.  Hopefully, Tynes is more accurate than usual this Sunday.

65-year old head coach Tom Coughlin runs a tight ship.  Early this year their were rumors going around that he might get fired.  The Giants snuck into the playoffs with a 9-7 record, but they are red hot right now.  The Giants are 3-0 in the playoffs so far and they have outscored their opponents by a combined score of 81-39!  Tom Coughlin is now 74-54 (57.8%) during the regular season in his 8 years with the Giants.  He also is 7-3 (70%) in the post-season for the Giants and he won the Super Bowl in 2007 over the Patriots.  Tom Coughlin can punch a ticket to Football’s Hall of Fame with a second Super Bowl win and he has had Bill Belichick’s number as of late.

25-year old WR Victor Cruz played in 3 games as a rookie in 2010 for the Giants and he didn’t catch any passes.  In 2011, Cruz was needed due to injuries and he really stepped up.  Cruz played in all 16 games during the regular season for the Giants and he caught 82 passes for 1,536 yards (18.7 avg) with 9 TD grabs.  Cruz had over 100 yards receiving in a game seven times in 2011.  The sky is the limit for Cruz in the future.  He could have a big game this weekend in the Super Bowl as the Patriots have had some issues in the secondary.  He has already caught 17 passes for 244 yards (14.4 avg) in his first three games in the post-season for the Giants, but he has yet to catch a TD pass as Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham have been hogging them up.  I look for that to change in the Super Bowl this Sunday.

The Giants had some unlikely stars in yesterday’s NFC Championship Game.  To me, the star of the game was WR Devin Thomas as he recovered 2 fumbles that led directly to 10 points and the game winning field goal by Lawrence Tynes.  Eli Manning had a very solid game as he completed 32 of 58 passes for 316 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Ahmad Bradshaw led the way on the ground yesterday with 74 yards rushing on 20 carries (3.7 ypc).  He also caught 6 passes for 52 yards (8.7 avg) last night.  Brandon Jacobs pitched in with 5 carries for 13 yards (2.6 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 8 yards.  WR Victor Cruz had another huge game to lead the way for the Giants in the passing game yesterday when he caught 10 passes for 142 yards.  Hakeem Nicks (5 rec, 55 yards), Mario Manningham (1 rec, 17 yards, TD) and TE/FB Bear Pascoe (1 rec, 6 yards, TD) also helped out in the passing game yesterday.  The Giants finished up with 85 yards rushing on 26 carries (3.3 ypc) and they also completed 32 of 58 passes (55.2%) for 267 yards as they had possession of the ball for 39:36.

The defense was good against the pass, but not so good against the running game yesterday.  LB Chase Blackburn (7 tackles) and DE Jason Pierre-Paul (6 tackles, 1/2 a sack, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed and 1 QB hit) led the way for the Giants in this game.  The 49ers finished up with 150 yards rushing on 28 carries (5.4 ypc) and they also completed 12 of 26 passes (46.2%) for 178 yards.  The Giants now have a rematch of the last Super Bowl they won with the New England Patriots.

This is going to be a great football game for the NFC Championship this Sunday.  The Giants shocked the world by thumping the Packers at Lambeau Field last Sunday, while Alex Smith and the 49ers pulled out a miracle win in the last minute against the Saints.  These are two pretty evenly matched teams.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Giants have the ball:  The Giants are just going to run the ball enough to keep the 49ers’ D honest.  Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw are going to have a tough time getting a lot of yardage running the ball as Niners’ LBs Patick Willis and NaVorro Bowman have been stuffing running games all year long.  The Giants saw how well Drew Brees threw the ball last weekend and that is the attack they are going to use this Sunday.  For that to work, the offensive line is going to have to keep DE Justin Smith and OLB Aldon Smith out of Eli Manning’s face.  That will be easier said than done. When Manning does have time to throw the ball, he’s likely going to be playing a glorified game of catch with Mario Manningham, Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks.  Manning will have to be somewhat careful though as Carlos Rogers has had a great year at corner for the Niners.  Manning will also likely look to keep TE Jake Ballard involved to make the Niners’ safeties pay for paying too much attention to the Giants’ WRs in this game.

When the Niners have the ball:  The Giants’ first priority has to be trying to slow down the 49ers’ impressive running game.  That won’t be easy as Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter are two pretty good RBs with a nasty run blocking O-Line in front of them.  At the same time, the Giants can’t afford to put extra players in the box as Alex Smith threw the ball pretty well last weekend.  The Giants hope to get big time pressure on Alex Smith and force him into making some mistakes.  The safeties of the Giants are going to have their hands full in dealing with TE Vernon Davis who can fly and it pretty big too.  WRs Michael Crabtree and Kyle Williams don’t scare the corners of the Giants too much.  Crabtree tends to catch with alligator arms on passes over the middle.

PREDICTION:  GIANTS 27, 49ERS 17

Eli Manning has completed 44 of 65 passes (67.7%) for 607 yards with 6 TD passes and 1 INT in the first two playoff games for the Giants this year.  He has also carried the ball 6 times for 23 yards (3.8 ypc) so far in the playoffs.  Manning is now 6-3 (66.7%) as a starting QB in the playoffs.  He has completed 157 of 258 passes (60.9%) in his post-season career so far, good for 1,904 yards, 14 TD passes and 8 INTs (88.7 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 17 times for 37 yards  (2.2 ypc) so far in his playoff career.  Eli Manning only has one more win to get the Giants back to the Super Bowl.  He worked some magic the last time he was in the Super Bowl with a last minute drive that helped the Giants defeat the then 18-0 New England Patriots….17-14.  Manning completed 19 of 34 passes (55.9%) for 255 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 INT (87.3 QB Rating) in that Super Bowl.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 4 yards (1.3 ypc).

The New York Giants whacked the Packers pretty good today in Lambeau Field as they played an almost perfect game.  Eli Manning was sharp tonight as he completed 21 of 33 passes for 330 yards with 3 TD passes and 1 INT.  Ahmad Bradshaw led the way on the ground for the Giants in this game with 12 carries for 63 yards (5.3 ypc).  He also caught 3 passes for 21 yards (7.0 avg).  Brandon Jacobs pitched in with 9 carries for 22 yards (2.4 ypc) with 1 TD run tonight.  WR Hakeem Nicks led the way for the Giants in this game with 7 grabs for 165 yards (23.6 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  WRs Victor Cruz (5 rec, 74 yards) and Mario Manningham (3 rec, 31 yards, TD) also pitched in for the Giants in this game.  The Giants finished up with 95 yards rushing on 27 carries (3.5 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 33 passes (63.6%) for 325 yards as they had possession of the ball for 29:35.

The Giants gave up a lot of yards in this game but they kept taking the ball away from the Packers, setting up good starting field position for Eli Manning and the offense.  LB Michael Boley (9 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 pass defensed and 2 QB hits) and safety Antrel Rolle (8 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 fumble recovery) led the way for the Giants’ D in this game.  Safety Deon Grant (6 tackles, 2 passes defensed, 1 fumble recovery and 1 interception), LB Chase Blackburn (3 tackles and 1 fumble recovery) and DE Osi Umenyiora (2 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 tackle for a loss and 2 QB hits) also pitched in for the Giants in this game with big plays.  The Packers finished up with 147 yards rushing on 23 carries (6.4 ypc) and they also completed 26 of 46 passes (56.5%) for 241 yards in this game.  The Giants have advanced to the NFC Championship Game which will be held in San Francisco next weekend.