2012 Super Bowl Picks: Eli Manning Given Edge Over Tom Brady
Many people are setting their 2012 Super Bowl picks on the shoulders of Eli Manning, who beat Tom Brady in their last two match-ups.
In their previous match-up for Super Bowl 42, Tom Brady came in with all the wins, records and previous Super Bowl wins. However, by the end of the game, it was Eli Manning who stood victorious with a Super Bowl MVP and the N.Y. Giants third Super Bowl trophy.
The 2012 Super Bowl match-up features a rematch between the two and many people are picking Manning over Brady this time around.
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Tom Brady still has the better numbers this year with, 5,235 passing and 39 touchdown throws, according to ESPN.com. He also has and more wins with 13. He led the New England Patriots to a number one seed in the AFC playoff bracket.
But it's fresh in the memory of football fans how Eli Manning overcame the New England Patriot juggernaut in 2008, when they came in with a 18-0 record.
Not to mention that before the 2011 season started, Manning assured the sports world that he was worth the same "elite" status that people crown Tom Brady with.
In the 2011-2012 season, Manning threw for 4,933 yards, 29 touchdown passes and led the Giants to an NFC East Championship. He then led the Giants to three consecutive road victories against the Atlanta Falcons, the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers. All those teams were picked over the Giants to be in the Super Bowl in 2012.
BleacherReport.com predicts that Manning will edge Brady and complete 27 of 42 pass attempts for 325 yards and three touchdowns. They predict a modest performance for Brady with 29 of 47 passing for 285 yards and two touchdowns.
Brady slung the pigskin all over defenses in the regular season and embarrassed the Broncos in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. He also became only the third quarterback to throw for 5,000-plus yards in 2011. He is a three-time Super Bowl winner and two-time Super Bowl MVP.
Very few people are willing to bet against Brady.
However, the only team to beat Brady in the Super Bowl is the Giants and the only quarterback- outside of Peyton Manning- to beat Brady in consecutive games is Eli Manning.
One has to note that the Giants grizzly defensive line usually gives the Patriots offense fits. They did in the regular season match-up, sacking him twice and forcing him into two interceptions.
In Super Bowl 42, they sacked him five times and only allowed 266 passing yards, according to NFL.com. Analysts believe that Brady will be looking for revenge and head coach Bill Belichick will have a strategy for containing them.
Brady has all of the accolades and will probably go down as the greatest quarterback ever, but he gets rattled when being pressured and hit by opposing defenses.
Eli Manning does not. Against the San Francisco 49ers, who had a top ranking defense, Manning took a pounding. He was sacked six times and knocked down throughout the entire game, but he still threw for over 300 yards, two touchdowns and didn't turn the ball over.
Maybe that's what centers around the picks for the Giants or it could just be people remembering what happened the last time these two teams met in a Super Bowl. Nevertheless, many are riding with Eli Manning over Tom Brady.
SB Nation has picked the Giants to win 20-19, an identical score to when they beat the Bills in 1990.
Celebrities such as Maya Angelou, Arnold Palmer and Octavia Spencer also pick the Giants to beat the Patriots, according to ESPN.com.
ESPN analyst and former Super bowl winning head coach, Jon Gruden also picked the Giants, and so did ESPN columnist Ashley Fox.
