It never fails, some middle of the road, semi talented braggart opens their mouth in the week before the Super Bowl, promising victory and forgetting there will only ever be one Joe Willie Namath.
This year’s big mouth happens to be Plaxico Burress of the surging New York Giants who predicted a 23-17 Giants win at an NFL press conference earlier this week.
It appears Burress’s ego has ballooned in recent weeks as he reportedly taunted the Green Bay Packers bench repeatedly on championship Sunday shouting, “he can’t cover me,” over and over again, referring to Packer corner back Al Harris.
Looking at the statistics in a year that saw the Patriots defeat their opponents by 300 points, Burress may not want to test his odds in Vegas.
“Everyone has the right to dream,” said Burress, a bit remorseful on media day. “We came here to win the game.”
Yes everyone does have the right to dream but in season in which the Patriots have both dominated and picked up the tough wins on the way to an 18-0 record, a dream is all a Giants victory really is.
Even though it has become evident in the past weeks that Tom Brady is suffering from a high ankle sprain the prospect of him taking the majority of his snaps from the shotgun is not one the Giants should be happy about.
Brady completed nearly 80 percent of his passes from the gun this year. The extra one or two seconds it gives him in the pocket does nothing more than allow him to look off his first and second receivers to find his number three or four guy. And if Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan don’t get to him early and often he is going to pick apart the Giants secondary like a family of ten sitting around the Thanksgiving carcass.
As for the quarterback on the other side of the hash marks Eli Manning has come on particularly strong during this post season, ever since he faced Brady and the Patriots in the regular season’s final game. But anyone who has watched Manning during his short career knows that an early pick coupled with the pressure that is experienced only by those who have played in the Superbowl, will crush him like a tin beer can against Bubba’s forehead.
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And if disappointed, pouting Manning shows his sad little face for even one play during Sunday’s game the Giants dream will quickly turn into a nightmare.
Despite the media frenzy that followed Randy Moss in the week following the Patriots AFC championship win over the San Diego Chargers, he seemed relaxed and calm during Tuesday’s media day circus. His legal troubles took a back seat to the double coverage he will most likely face on Sunday.
“One catch won’t be enough in the Superbowl,” said Moss, referring to his dismal performance in the title game. “I mean this is the Superbowl and as for Tom, hurt or not he will show up Sunday ready to play.”
Rumors concerning the severity of his injury were largely dispelled Monday as Brady participated in a full practice with only thick tape high up on his sprained ankle.