Super Bowl XLII Preview, Part I

The two week break between Championship Sunday and Super Bowl Sunday is living up to the hype as being one of the worst stretches in all of sports. There's no football games to preview, baseball is still a month away from Spring Training and the C's are suddenly looking like the C's of old and are currently in a 4-4 stretch against some of the worst teams in the NBA.

With little relevant to talk about, I thought I'd start breaking down the Super Bowl preview with some cold, hard facts. I'm not really sure what's going on in the world today but somehow people are starting to jump on the New York Giants' bandwagon. That's fine with me if you want to cheer for the future loser of Super Bowl XLII but consider yourself warned.

To start off my series of Super Bowl previews, I thought I'd do a quick quarterback comparison. And I already know what you're thinking- Tom Brady is a far superior quarterback than Eli Manning and you're right. Is another Manning really in the Super Bowl? This really is Bizarro world. Anyway, while I will eventually get to the head-to-head Brady/Manning comparison, here are some numbers for you to divulge while wondering if it's really a good idea to get a huge Giants tattoo on your chest:

Quarterback Number 1: 262-480 for a 54.6 completion rate, 3,193 yards passing, 23 TDs and 20 INTs for a QB rating of 73.9.

Quarterback Number 2: 297-529 for a 56.1 percent completion rate, 3,336 yards passing, 23 TDs and 20 INTs for a QB rating of 73.9 QB.

You can probably guess that neither of those quarterbacks are Tom Brady. What you probably didn't know is that quarterback number 1 is Rex Grossman from 2006, while quarterback number 2 is Eli Manning from 2007. Just a guess on my part, but there is no way that anyone can possibly feel good about their starting quarterback being compared to Rex Grossman.

Does anyone remember the year Grossman had last year? Well, let me remind you- he was mired in a QB controversy the entire year because of his shaky play and the only thing that allowed him to keep his job was that the defense of the Bears was phenomenal the entire year, carrying the team for games at a time. That is, until they ran into a juggernaut of an offense in the Indianapolis Colts and got destroyed in the Super Bowl by a score of 29-17.

And in case you're wondering, Grossman was 20-28 for 165 yards, one TD and two INTs in the Super Bowl. I think that Eli Manning would be lucky to have numbers that good against the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

So, now let's get to the real quarterback comparison.

Quarterback Number 1: 398-578 for a 68.9 percent completion rate, 4,806 yards passing, 50 TDs and eight INTs for a QT rating of 117.2.

Quarterback Number 2: 297-529 for a 56.1 percent completion rate, 3,336 yards passing, 23 TDs and 20 INTs for a QB rating of 73.9 QB.

I hope I don't need to tell you that quarterback number 1 is Tom Brady and quarterback number 2 is Eli Manning, once again. Beyond the fact that they both play quarterback, there's really not much of a comparison, is there? I think that Brady has more in common with Luke Skywalker than he does with Manning. Brady threw for nearly 1,500 yards more than Manning and you could double Manning's number of TDs and still be four shy of how many Brady threw. Coincidentally, you could also double the number of INTs that Brady threw and still be four shy of the number that Manning threw. And Brady's QB rating was more than 40 points higher.

Everyone is also talking about how great Manning has been the last three games and I will give him credit for those wins. He's managed the games against Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay especially well while not throwing any interceptions during that time. But he's only thrown four TDs in those three games. Brady, in two playoff games this year, has thrown five TDs.

I'd also like to remind everyone that this game will be played in warm weather, which the Patriots haven't seen since they played on a clear night in Buffalo, winning 56-10 on November 18. Since then, they've played in snow, sleet, rain and freezing cold in just about all of their last eight games. In a stadium that is expected to be dry and warm, Brady will be able to once again go deep at will. Do you remember the record breaking play where Brady threw his 50th TD and Randy Moss caught his record breaking 23rd TD? If not, it's the one where the play before, Moss got wide open a dropped a sure TD. The very next play they ran the exact play and Moss again burned his man for the TD. Look for that play early and often in Super Bowl XLII.

So, take heart, Giants fans, you're basically going into Super Bowl XLII with Rex Grossman leading the way. I have a feeling some of those bandwagoners may be jumping ship soon.

Much more to come next week where we'll break down each offense and each defense. If you're a Giants fan thinking that you'll have a possible chance to redeem yourself in those categories let me warn you- it's going to get ugly. And I'll wrap the Super Bowl hype up with a final pre-game rundown complete with my predicted score.