SUPER BOWL PREDICTION: PATS V. GIANTS

There's a lot of speculation and armchair quarterbacking about the Super Bowl this year, and I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in.

The NY Football Giants are playing at a higher level than they have all year, perhaps even higher than when they almost defeated the Pats a few weeks ago.

The Giants' quarterback, Eli Manning, is awake and finally doing something with his head rather than using it as a hat rack. He's dangerous, accurate and elusive. Plaxico Burress is on a roll, as is fellow wide receiver Amani Toomer. Eli's new tight end, Kevin Boss, is performing instead of giving grief every tenth minute. Brandon Jacobs is platooning effectively with the diminutive but powerful Ahmad Bradshaw.

The Giants' D is physical, fast and experienced. They can bring pressure on Pats QB Tom Brady, and they have the number for the Pats front line. Michael Strahan hasn't looked this good in a long time.

But the Pats find a way to win. Brady's offensive weapons are now legend. It's Moss, Stallworth, Welker, Faulk, Watson, Maroney and Gaffney, and it's all working. There is not a team in the NFL the Pats cannot score against.

The Post reported Tom Brady is injured: Probably not enough to change the outcome if he is.

The Pats' D: Fans will call them experienced; detractors will call them senior citizens. I think the Pats' secondary is as good as any in football, with corner Assante Samuels being a tried-and-true playmaker, among others.

Junior Seau, Ted Bruschi, Ty Warren, Vince Wilfork, Richard Seymour and -- the dean of mean -- Mike Vrabel -- are a lot to deal with for any team in the NFL.

What's the difference going to be? Super Bowl experience, team chemistry, and most of all I think the New England defense is going to hold. But the 14 point spread is too much.

I think New England takes it home, 31-21, with a game closer than the score will represent. I think the sometimes sloppy play the Giants offer is going to come back to haunt them and, when it comes to kicking units, the Pats' are better. Coaching will come into it, and Bill Belichick is just a better coach than Tom Coughlin, but then Bill is probably better than anyone (Chuck Noll, Tom Landry, and Vince Lombardi included).

BIG BLUE WINS TRIP TO THE NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Manning & Co. out-fought, out-lasted and out-thought the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday in Irving.

Eli Manning hasn't looked this good his entire career. Meanwhile, I could have swore this Michael Strahan is the Michael Strahan of old during yesterday's game. Hey, the whole team showed up and put on an outstanding performance against the NFC's No. 1 seed. At the beginning of the season, the talk was if Head Coach Tom Coughlin was going to have a job at the end of the season, and here he is on centerstage.

Meanwhile, the Green Bay Packers are having a remarkable year. Future Hall-of-Famer Brett Favre has alluded to the fact that they just find a way to win, during the regular season. Well, he's being a bit shy aboutt he fact that any team that has a Brett Favre is going to have a chance at greatness.

Personally, I have been a New England Patriots fan since 1975, when my Aunt Sue (who lived in Brunswick, Maine) used to tell me that being a Pats fan was a burden: "Do like me and just appreciate the hard work they put in during the week and enjoy going to the game." Well, Pats fans have learned to appreciate mroe than just a moral victory in recent years.

Is San Diego a good team -- absolutely. It's a great team with injured star quarterback, running back and wide receiver. The Bolts are going to face a relatively healthy undefeated Patriots team that isn't going to give it an inch. I expect a great fight from San Diego, but believe their season ends in Gillette Stadium this coming weekend.

My pick for the NFC match-up is more of a prayer than a prediction: The Giants beat the Pack in a sterling moment for Big Blue's D: 21-14 at Green Bay. Meanwhile, after a fierce physical game the Pats beat the Chargers, 35-28.

Click on the headline and go there.

Jags rookie safety does some trash talking

Long ago, it was made clear that professional athletes shouldn't be, universally speaking, hailed as role models for kids. It should be a matter of picking and choosing.

A young man who plays safety for the Jacksonville Jaguars, fresh off last night's playoff defeat, had some ungenerous words for Patriots future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Tom Brady.

Part of sports is sportsmanship, which seems to be lacking here. The Jags and their head coach, Jack Del Rio, had a great game, a great season and it is clear they have a bright future. When it comes to class, maybe that should be a period of instruction for their rookies.

Click on the headline to go to YahooNews!

Patriots top Colts in 24-20 thriller

The New England Patriots edged out the World Champion Colts, in Indianapolis, today by a score of 24-20. Big days for Quarterback Tom Brady and receivers Wes Welker and Randy Moss. Of course, it was also an enormous day for the New England defense, which held one of the NFL's greatest quarterbacks ever to a mark that didn't hit the bar.

Of course, this one was a thriller right up to the last minute, meeting the expectations of many across the country. At the office, I said New England would win it by 3. On the blog I said they would win it by 7. I guess 4 is somewhere in-between.

While there is all kinds of speculation that the Pats may go unbeaten, or be anointed likely Super Bowl champs by some right now, I think this game tonight did prove that the AFC championship is probably going to go through Foxboro. I think home field during the playoffs for the Pats is not an out-of-line expectation. And whatever team is going to try to win at New England, in the playoffs, against this team had better bring it. Click on the headline to go to the Yahoo News! story.