New York Giants vs. New England Patriots
Sunday, Feb. 3, 6:30 p.m. ET (-12, 53 ½)Line moves
Some
Vegas sportsbooks opened with New England favored by as many as 13 ½
points. Since then, heavy action on New York has moved the line to
Patriots -12 at most Vegas and offshore books. The game’s total has
held steady between 53 ½ and 54 points.
Brady’s boot
On Monday, Tom Brady
was photographed heading from an SUV to his girlfriend Gisele
Bundchen's apartment in New York on what looked like a walking cast on
his right foot.
"Ah, you know, there's always bumps and
bruises. I'll be ready for the Super Bowl," Brady said Monday during
his weekly radio appearance on WEEI. "I'm not worried about that. I'm
not missing this one. I'd have to be on a stretcher to miss this one.
There will be treatment this week. In games like this, you get a little
nicked up. It's nothing serious."
Stay tuned for updates.
Raising Arizona
The
Super Bowl will be played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in
Glendale, Arizona. The stadium, which opened Aug. 1, 2006, features a
retractable grass field and roof and should accommodate more than
73,000 fans.
Slaying the Giants
New York
gave up 80 combined points in its first two games of the season, both
of which, not surprisingly, ended up as straight up and ATS losses.
Since then, the Giants have held 14 of their last 17 opponents to 24
points or fewer with only Dallas, Minnesota and New England topping
that total. The Giants lost all three of those games, covering only
against New England in Week 17’s 38-35 loss.
The kicking game
New York’s Lawrence Tynes
was 23-of-27 in his field goal attempts in the regular season, with all
four of his misses coming on kicks from less than 40 yards out. Tynes
missed two huge field goal attempts during the NFC championship game,
but he hit the one that counted in overtime from 47 yards. His longest
kick of the year was a 48-yarder.
Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski
hit 21 of his 24 regular season field goal attempts, with two misses
from outside 40 yards. He has only attempted two field goals in the
playoffs, hitting one of them. His longest kick of the year was a
45-yarder.
Super stats
The Giants are 5-0 in their last five against the spread and against teams with a winning record.
The Patriots are 0-5 in their last five against the spread.
The favored team has gone 9-3 straight up and 4-6-2 against the spread in the last dozen Super Bowls.
Teams
that score more than 27 points in the Super Bowl are 23-1 and 22-2-1
against the spread. New England has averaged 35.6 points per game,
while New York averages 23.2.
Recent meetings
The
two teams have split the last four meetings between them dating back to
2005, but the Giants covered the number in three of those games. The
over cashed in three times as well.
Notable injuries:
New England:
Tom Brady QB - (ankle) probable.
Mike Wright DE - (foot) IR
Rosevelt Colvin LB - (foot) IR
Sammy Morris RB - (chest) IR
David Thomas TE - (foot) IR
New York:
Rich Seubert OG - (knee) questionable
Craig Dahl S - (knee) IR
Jeremy Shockey TE - (leg) IR
Derrick Ward RB – (fibula) IR
Mathias Kiwanuka LB – (leg) IR
Robert Douglas FB – (knee) IR
Adrian Awasom DL – (back) IR
Jim Finn FB – (shoulder) IR
Will Demps SS – (elbow) IR
