When it comes to the wide receiver position, the Patriots are suddenly finding themselves in potentially tough shape heading into next season.

Head coach Bill Belichick gambled a bit and lost in putting this year’s group of wide receivers together.  In an attempt to bring in another veteran to go along with Wes Welker, Belichick brought in free agent receiver Chad Ochocinco in hopes the former Cincinnati Bengals receiver would be even more productive catching passes from Tom Brady than he was with Carson Palmer throwing him the football.

Yet as much as we all wanted it to, that obviously didn’t quite workout.

From there he clearly felt comfortable enough with Deion Branch to believe the veteran would come back and give the team another productive year. After a quiet preseason where he didn’t register a catch, he did what they needed him to and finished the season catching 51 balls for 702 yards and 5 touchdowns.  The only problem is over the course of a 16 game season – which later became 19 games – at the age of 32 and having dealt with leg injuries throughout his career, he clearly wore down.

Through the first twelve games of the season, Branch was New England’s third leading receiver in receiving yards with 48 catches for 665 yards and four touchdowns.  However, during the last four games of the regular season he struggled getting open and his effectiveness dropped off.  Over that span he registered just 3 catches on 11 targets (27% competion percentage) for 37 yards and a touchdown.

During the postseason Branch had just eight catches for 45 yards on 13 targets (61%) for 148 yards along with a touchdown.  He saw six of those targets and three of his catches come during their loss to New York two weeks ago.

If Deion Branch is back next year, hopefully there’s a bit more talent ahead of him on the depth chart. (FILE:Icon/SMI)

Having Branch back was clearly a positive for Brady last season and he was a great complimentary player in the offense this year.  However, when Rob Gronkoski suffered his ankle injury, that took away 30% of their postseason offensive production and left them forced to be over-reliant on Wes Welker and Aaron Hernandez, and eventually Branch two weeks ago.

As it stands right now they’re going to be in need of addressing their perimeter receivers during this offseason, because they saw first hand the result of losing one of their key offensive weapons without much of a contingency plan.  Ochocinco was supposed to be a key offensive acquisition who should have been much more effective than he was this season.  However, he quickly dropped on the depth chart and never really recovered, leaving them forced to rotate in guys like Matthew Slater, Tiquan Underwood, and Julian Edelman at times this season.

Watching the Giants during the Super Bowl made you realize just how depleted the Patriots really are with that group. Seeing guys like Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, and Mario Manningham make plays at the receiver position makes you wonder just how lethal New England would have been if they had the same trio to go along with their two outstanding tight ends. As fans, that fact was more or less ignored before Gronkowski’s injury because they had been so effective before he went down.

That whole situation really was a big problem for them all year, and Ochocinco made it worse by not being able to really give them much of anything.  It’s even more frustrating when you look at how well Branch adjusted during his first game back after Randy Moss’ departure last year. In his first appearance as a Patriot he caught 9 balls for 98 yards and a touchdown in a 23-20 overtime win over the Ravens.

He went on to catch 48 passes for 706 yards and 5 touchdowns. That’s a far cry from the 15 Ochocinco had during the regular season, and Branch managed to do it in fewer games.

Looking back, it just makes this season’s results that much more disappointing from the former Bengals receiver. Last year Branch didn’t have an issue picking things up in an offense that was obviously much different than it was before he left.  He was able to re-learn the offense on the fly despite not having spent one moment of training camp with his new team. Granted a lot of the terminology may have been similar, but being able to become such a big contributor in less than a week doesn’t exactly explain why Ochocinco had such a difficult time over the course of an entire season.

However, Branch is clearly at a point in his career where he can’t be a “go to” guy in this offense.  Which is fine, because looking at the fourth or fifth receiver spot he’s obviously more effective than Slater or Edelman in the offense.  The only problem is at the #2 and #3 spots on the depth chart they really need to get younger and bring in more talent, and with Gronkowski hampered against the Giants, this was clearly a glaring issue.

As it stands right now they’ll need to try and figure out a way to bring back Welker, who is a free agent this offseason. In all likelihood they’ll figure out a way to keep him even if it means franchising him, because when it comes down to it, they’re potentially in tough shape if they lose him. After Welker the depth chart is less than impressive, leaving Edelman, Slater, Ochocinco, and Underwood as the only other guys on the list to go along with Branch. Should Hernandez or Gronkowski go down next year, Brady could find himself once again struggling to find someone open during the postseason.

We’ve already seen them lose a critical offensive player in each of the last several seasons. First it was Welker in ’09, followed by Hernandez in ’10, and then Gronkowski in ’11. Other than potentially Edelman, they need some serious help at the receiver position because they’re just not equipped to deal with injuries.

If you disagree and you’re comfortable with Brady having to look to Edelman and Slater to throw to with two minutes to go in a postseason game, you’re in denial. I appreciate versatility as much as the next guy, but ultimately in the end talent wins out. And as we’ve seen the talent and personnel gap between Welker and Branch is just too large to ignore and needs to finally be addressed.

For now, how Branch fits in next season remains to be seen. As a free agent he doesn’t have the same options he had when he originally left, so the odds are pretty good he’ll be back next year.  However, he’s at the point in his career where he needs to be a smaller piece of the offense and a guy who can win a few match-ups here and there and give them some additional production when he can.  Without anyone else other than Hernandez and Welker to throw to in the closing minutes against the Giants, Branch just couldn’t deliver because he’s simply not as young or as quick as he used to be.

In the end, he shouldn’t have had to have been put in that position.  If all goes well they’ll make a move so he can slide down the depth chart and there will be a couple of other players other than Welker sitting ahead of him to take the pressure off next season.

Don’t get me wrong, Branch has been a bright spot and they’ve been fortunate to have him. But they need to finally bring in a couple of players that can allow the veteran receiver to fill the role that he should be playing at this stage of his career.

Needless to say in the coming months hopefully we’ll see that area addressed. Injuries happen in the NFL, and they’ve already had three seasons to figure out they need to make sure they’re stocked well enough for Brady to have the options to get them another potential title.

We know it can be done. We saw another Manning do it two weeks ago because he had enough personnel to survive a couple of key injuries yet still win the biggest game of the year. With the window of opportunity closing on Brady, it would be nice to see the Patriots give him the same advantage heading into next season.

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Could Indianapolis Colts Reciever Reggie Wayne Be Catching Passes from Tom Brady next season?

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Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald had an interesting mention in her Sunday football notes about free agent receiver Reggie Wayne, who apparently is open to the thought of playing with the Patriots.

Guregian caught up with former Patriot Willie McGinest, who is now an NFL Network analyst.  McGinest cited an on-air chat with Wayne and asked him about the potential of playing in New England.

“It came up in the conversation would he ever want to play for the Patriots,” McGinest told the newspaper. “He smiled and said, ‘Who wouldn’t want to play there?’

“If it could have worked with Chad (Ochocinco), it would have been good. It didn’t. I just think [Tom Brady] has a lot of weapons, but he can always use that stretch-the-field receiver. When they had Randy (Moss) there, it really made it tough for teams to stop them. Reggie Wayne is somebody who could stretch the field. He has great hands, he’s a professional who could pick up the system. Having another big-time receiver like that would put it over the top.”

With Wes Welker, and Deion Branch also set to be a free agents this offseason, the Patriots have some tough decisions to make.  The initial thought is that they’ll franchise Welker if an agreement on a long-term deal can’t be reached, and in all likelihood they’ll bring back Branch at a reasonable deal.  But they learned the hard way that they’ll need at least one more receiver to compliment what ended up being a depleted group without Rob Gronkowski in the line-up.

Wayne, who is 33, has been durable during his career, having played in all 16 games in nearly every season in the NFL.  He’s coming off of what he would probably consider a down year, catching just 75 passes for 960 yards after having seven straight years of finishing with over 1,000 yards.  A lot of that likely had to do with who was throwing the football, as Peyton Manning had been the guy feeding him the ball over that span. Manning’s future in Indianapolis appears to be over, so it would be to Wayne’s benefit to move on to a team like the Patriots where he’d certainly see his productivity potentially go up with Brady throwing him the football.

It’s an interesting idea and you have to be intrigued at the thought of Brady potentially having Welker, Wayne, Aaron Hernandez, Gronkowski, Branch, and a more seasoned Chad Ochocinco in the mix next season.   We’ll have to wait and see how it all plays out when free agency begins on March 13th.

With last night’s Super Bowl loss spelling the end of the 2011/12 campaign, the Patriots were back in Foxboro this afternoon where they were greeted by a pretty good crowd of fans who were there to welcome them back to Gillette Stadium.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft still ended up with one trophy this season. (FILE:Icon/SMI)

Shortly after Patriots owner Robert Kraft addressed the media issuing a statement, but not taking any questions.  During his speech he praised what he felt was one of the more memorable seasons he’s had in a long time.

“I must tell you, the strength of spirit that I saw with this team is unlike any other team I’ve seen in my 18 years in the NFL,” Kraft said on Monday. “I think that sense of spirit was ignited by our fans, the way they supported our team and also the way they supported our family. That’s something I’m forever going to be grateful for, because I think this was a memorable season and one that I won’t forget for a long time.”

The team dedicated the season to his wife, Myra Kraft, who passed away last year.  They were one game away from a title, which would have been an amazing end to what he felt was a special season.  However, he acknowledged that the odds of getting there – let along winning one – are generally a longshot in today’s NFL.

“You have a six percent chance of going to the Super Bowl and a 3 percent chance of winning.” said Kraft. “I think the coaching staff and players really did a remarkable job this year. ”

Sunday night’s loss was their second straight Super Bowl defeat to the Giants, and their fifth trip back during Bill Belichick and Tom Brady’s quarterback-coach tenure.  The team also played in it following the 1996 season, giving Kraft an unprecedented sixth appearance in his 18 years of ownership.  Kraft pointed out that during his tenure as owner, the bar is set high and they’ve only had two losing seasons.

“I thought back, this is our 18^th year of ownership of the team, and in those 18 years, we’ve had two seasons that are losing seasons – 1995 when we went 6-10 and 2000 when we went 5-11. In the next 16 years, we were able to have winning [or .500] seasons – we went to seven AFC Championship games and six Super Bowls. I think what’s happened is that we’ve set a level of expectation here that is high. I’m very happy with that and it’s the way we run all of our businesses. ”

For now there will likely be some personnel decisions made this offseason, with the club currently having to decide what to do about the 20 free agents they have.  Despite the loss Kraft says that they’re not going to overreact, nor will it affect how they’ve done things heading into next year.

“We’re not going to change the way we run things,” said Kraft.  ”Look, we’re all disappointed in what happened. The beauty of the NFL, and – I can say this as chair of the broadcast committee – the reason the networks pay us the large fees they do is that no one knows what is going to happen in a game – head coach, quarterback, owner, d-linemen. No one knows. It’s two or three plays that make the difference but makes the game so exciting.”

Taking a quick look back at the game tonight, here’s a look at how the final numbers broke down between Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, and Giants signal caller Eli Manning:

FINAL TOTALS:

Tom Brady: 41-of-27 for 276 yds, 2 TD’s, 1 INT
Eli Manning:  40-of-30 for 296yds, 1 TD, 0 INT

FIRST DOWN TOTALS:

Tom Brady: 12-of-19 for 128yds 0 TD,  1 INT
Eli Manning: 11-of-17 for 126yds 0 TD, 0 INT

SECOND DOWN TOTALS:

Tom Brady: 8-of-12 for 69yds 1 TD, 0 INT
Eli Manning:  12-of-14 for 100yds, 1 TD, 0 INT

THIRD DOWN TOTALS:

Tom Brady: 6-of-15 for 64yds, 0 TD, 1 INT
Eli Manning: 7-of-9 for 70yds, 0 TD, 0 INT

FOURTH DOWN TOTALS:

Tom Brady: 1-of-1 for 19yds, 0 TD, 0 INT
Eli Manning: No Fourth Down Attempts

PASSING BY DIRECTION:

Number of Passes to the left*:

Tom Brady: 19 attempts, 15 completions, 159 yards, 2 TD’s
Eli Manning: 19 attempts, 17 completions, 169 yards (9.9 avg)

Number of Passes to the middle*:

Tom Brady: 8 attempts, 3 completions, 31 yards (10.3 avg)
Eli Manning: 8 attempts, 6 completions, 53 yards (8.8 avg) 1 TD

Number of Passes to the Right*:

Tom Brady: 13 attempts, 9 completions, 86 yards (9.6 avg)
Eli Manning: 13 attempts, 7 completions, 74 yards (10.6 avg)

*As scored on the official stat sheet

His brother might be on his way to potentially retiring, but it appears that Tom Brady and the Patriots have a new nemesis with the last name Manning.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning got them again on Sunday night, engineering a scoring drive in the closing minutes that ended up being the difference in the game as New York handed the Patriots their second straight Super Bowl loss.

Here are some quick thoughts on this one:

- Mistakes were critical in this game: Looking back at the stats in this game, both quarterbacks were pretty much even. However, it was two plays that really made the difference in the game:

The safety that was called on Brady on the first play of the game cost them because it gave New York two points and possession after New England’s defense had already been on the field for nearly six minutes.  From there they spent another 5:28 on the field after the Giants marched 78 yards on 9 plays en-route to a touchdown to go up 9-0 early in the game.   The Giants closed the quarter having held the ball for 11:28 compared to just 3:32 for New England, and that possession swing really hurt them.  In the end those two points ended up playing a key factor since it could have potentially forced New York into a situation where they would have had to score a touchdown instead of a field goal to win the game, which would have likely changed the sequence of how the end of the game was handled defensively.

The interception to start the fourth quarter was also big, because again, it put the defense back on the field after they had just spent five minutes on the field while managing to hold New York to a field goal.  You could make the argument that it was like a “long punt”, but the problem with that rationale is the fact that Brady made the throw on 1st down – not third down.  Granted the defense ultimately held the Giants to a punt, but not until New York ate up another 5 minutes and ran another 10 plays (excluding penalties).   New England did manage to put together a six minute drive after that, but that sequence essentially left their defense more or less out of gas by the time New York attempted their game winning drive.

With Gronkowski injured, the Patriots really needed another receiver to step up and have a big game. (FILE:Icon/SMI)

- Their lack of a 3rd receiver really hurt them: Somewhere Bernard Pollard must be pretty happy with himself.  Thanks to his injury on Rob Gronkowski, New England needed someone else to step up tonight and pick up the slack.  They finally started getting some production late in the game with Aaron Hernandez, but it’s clear that the Giants defense really only needed to key on he and Wes Welker because New England didn’t really have anyone else.  Chad Ochocinco made his token 21 yard grab, but from there he was virtually invisible and Brady found himself trying to buy additional time on multiple occasions to find an open receiver.  Deion Branch looked slow and the drop at the end of the game could potentially force New England to take a good hard look at that position after the season.

They’ve got at least two good years left from Hernandez and Gronkowski before their rookie contracts expire and one from Welker should they elect to franchise him.   One would have to believe they’ll at least try and bring in one or potentially two players to compliment them.

- It’s tough to put this one on their defense: By the time the game was over, it was obvious that we saw a tremendous effort defensively by a group that in all honesty should have just been happy with being in the position they were in.  They essentially gave up 19 points in a game where it was up to their offense to play well enough to win the game, and unfortunately the Giants simply made a few plays to win the game.  Granted some offseason moves are going to be necessary, but there seems to be a lot more to work with than most fans originally thought.

- Welker’s Missed a chance to shine Sunday night: With Gronkowski ailing they really needed Wes Welker to step up and have the game of his life against New York Sunday night, and it just didn’t happen.  In fairness to Welker, their lack of one more threat prevented him from exploiting too many bad match-ups, but he had a couple of key drops that really could have turned the game and also potentially given them some momentum.  His contract situation will be the biggest topic this offseason, and if they are able to keep him, they’ll need to finally bring in some younger and better players to compliment the talent they have with Welker, Hernandez, and Gronkowski.

- Not much negative you can say, it’s just a tough loss - Other than the fact they lost to a Manning, it’s tough to feel too terrible about this game.  In the end they won 15 games with a bunch of unknowns on defense and some guys who were at the tail end of their careers in Branch and Ochocinco on the offensive side of the ball.  What they managed to do was unbelievable, and the biggest problem is simply the fact that they were so close to what was ultimately a big missed opportunity.  But as Belichick said after the game his players gave it all they had, and it just came down to a couple of plays that ended up being the difference in the game.  This one will sting for a while, but they have a lot of young talent on both sides of the ball that – if nothing else – should put them in great position heading into next season.

Some highlights from the fourth quarter:

The Patriots made their first big mistake of the game, with Tom Brady getting pressure on a 1st down play and rather than throw it away he heaved the ball up to Rob Gronkowski who had linebacker Chase Blackburn on him and Blackburn managed to come up with the interception.

The Giants drove down to the Patriots 38 yard line, and New England caught a huge break after Mario Manningham got behind Sterling Moore, but ended up running his route too wide and ended up catching the ball out of bounds, which set up a 3rd and 5 for New York.  They then were forced to burn a timeout after the game clock hit zero, and then followed it up with a false start, which backed them up an additional 5 yards.  One play later Sterling Moore knocked the ball away from Mario Manningham, which had the Giants extremely upset after they felt he interfered with him.  But New York would punt the ball away, and the Patriots got the ball with 9:24 to go in the quarter.

On New England’s ensuing possession a 19–yard completion got the Patriots out from their own 13 to their own 32, giving them a little more breathing room.  They then ran a reverse to Wes Welker, which saw Brady put a block on Osi Umenyiora which allowed him to pick up 11 yards on the play.

A few plays later they had just the match-up they wanted and Brady took a shot downfield on a 2nd and 11 to Wes Welker, and Welker couldn’t quite come down with it.  Brady then threw incomplete to Deion Branch and forced them to punt, which pinned the Giants in their own 12 yard line. with just under four minutes to play in the game.

However, the Giants went deep on their first play from scrimmage, with Eli Manning connecting with Mario Manningham down the sideline for a 38-yard gain.  Bill Belichick would challenge the play, but replays reveal that he held on which gave them the ball at the 50 yard line.

From there Manning completed passes of 16, 2, and 14 yards, which got the Giants down to the Patriots 18 yard line, and that took them into the 2:00 minute warning.

After the Giants drove down to the Patriots 6, Belichick called the defense to let New York in which at least gave Brady one shot to score the winning touchdown with :57 to go in the game.

The ensuing kickoff saw them start off with the ball at their own 20 after Julian Edelman knelt in the endzone for the touchback.

The first pass saw Brady go deep to Deion Branch, throwing just over the coverage but Branch must have lost it because he dropped it.  One play later Brady again went over the middle to Aaron Hernandez, and he also dropped it.

A third down sack left them with a 4th and 16, and Brady somehow escaped and found Branch for a 19 yard pickup to keep the drive going.

Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be, as the game came down to a final Hail Mary that Rob Gronkowski was inches away from coming down with but couldn’t quite get to, and the Giants would escape with a 21-17 win.

Tom Brady Fourth Quarter Passing Stats:

Brady: 6-of-15 for 64 yards 1 INT

FINAL PASSING STATS:

Brady: 27-of-41 for 276 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 INT

1st DOWN: 12-of-19 for 128 yards, 1 INT

2nd DOWN: 8-of-12 for 69 yards, 1 TD

3rd DOWN: 6-of-9 for 60 yards, 1 TD

4th Down: 1-of-1 for 19 yards

 

Some highlights from the 3rd quarter:

New England opened the second half with a 21-yard completion to Chad Ochocinco to start things off, and two plays later had a 17-yard pick-up by BenJarvus Green-Ellis which got them to the Giants 33 yard line.  Four plays later Tom Brady completed a short pass to Aaron Hernandez, who  took it in for a 12-yard touchdown and just like that the Patriots were up 17-9 to with 11:20 to go in the third quarter.  That finished an 8 play, 79 yard drive for New England.

The Giants put together another long drive, marching down to the Patriots 25 yard line.  However Patrick Chung gave Hakeem Nicks a huge shot to force an incompletion, followed by another incompletion to Jake Ballard and a great play by Sterling Moore to hold Mario Manningham to a 5-yard gain.  The Giants would settle for a 38 yard field goal, which cut the Patriots lead to 17-12 w/6:43 to go in the third quarter.

On New England’s next possession, they couldn’t answer.  They went three and out after a 2 yard run by BenJarvus Green-Ellis followed by an incompletion to him.  On the 3rd down play Brady ended up taking a sack after all of his receivers were covered, and Zoltan Mesko punted the ball away.

The Giants got the ball to start their next drive with great field position, starting at the Patriots 47 yard line.  They drove all the way down to the Patriots 9 yard line, but facing 3rd and 8 Eli Manning was sacked, which forced New York to settle for a 33-yard field goal, cutting New England’s lead to 17-15 with :35 left in the quarter.  That finished a 9 play, 33 yard drive for the Giants where they held the ball for 5:01.

The Patriots lead 17-15 to finish the quarter.

Brady’s passing stats for the 3rd quarter: 6-of-8 for 65 yards and a TD

 

Some highlights from the second quarter:

The Patriots continued their drive and made their way down to the Giants 11, but facing a 3rd down play Brady’s pass to Aaron Hernandez was batted down on a 3rd and four and New England would be forced to settle for a field goal, cutting New York’s lead to 9-3.

The Giants got things going again on their next drive, but a costly illegal substitution penalty helped set up a third and long and the Patriots defense was able to hold and force them to punt.

New England couldn’t take advantage, with Brady seeing his first pass attempt to Aaron Hernandez get batted down, and they would end up going three and out.

The Giants started driving again, but another costly penalty negated a first down and helped set up another third and long.  Sterling Moore made a great play against Mario Manningham and it forced the Giants to punt.

The Patriots had another tough start, with the Giants punting the ball out of bounds at New England’s four yard line.  They immediately shot themselves in the foot on their first play from scrimmage, with Logan Mankins getting called for a false start.

However, they would get things going.  Brady found Wes Welker for 7 yards, followed by a pickup of 6 on 2nd and 5 to Danny Woodhead.  Fans then saw Rob Gronkowski make his first reception of the day after a 20 yard gain to get the Patriots out to their own 35 yard line.

A few plays later Brian Waters was called for holding, setting up a 2nd and 12.  But Brady found Aaron Hernandez for 8 yards, followed by another 12 yard pickup that allowed them to convert and keep the drive going.

A 10-yard completion to Wes Welker would be the final play before the 2-minute warning, with the Patriots sitting at the Giants 22 yard line.  Brady then hit Woodhead for an 11-yard pickup, and then followed it up with an 8-yard reception to get them down to the Giants 3.

They went to Woodhead again, but Jason Pierre-Paul got into the backfield and took him down for a 1-yard loss.  But one play later Brady hit Woodhead from 4-yards out, and the Patriots took a 10-9 lead with :08 to go in the half.

That drive was 14-plays 96-yards, tying for the longest drive in Super Bowl History.

Halftime Passing Stats by Down:

Tom Brady passing stats by down:

1st Down: 7-of-9 75yds

2nd Down: 4-of-4 35yds

3rd Down: 4-of-5 37yds 1 TD

Halftime Patriots Receiving Leaders:

Wes Welker: 4 Targets/4 Receptions 42 yards

Aaron Hernandez: 7 Targets/5 Receptions 40 yards

Danny Woodhead: 3 Targets/3 Receptions 23 yards 1 TD

Rob Gronkowski: 1 Target/1 Reception 20 yards

Deion Branch: 1 Target/1 Reception 15 yards

BenJarvus Green-Ellis: 1 Target/1 Reception 7 yards

Some highlights from the first quarter:

New England won the toss to start the game and deferred, giving the Giants the ball and the Patriots possession to start the second half.

On New York’s first possession they worked their way down the field, working their way down the field to the Patriots 33, but New England was able to make two straight sacks, stalling their drive and forcing a punt.

After getting pinned inside their own 10 yard line, things went poorly for New England after they caught a bad break.  On their first play from scrimmage, Tom Brady was hit by Justin Tuck in the endzone, throwing deep downfield before he got there.  The bad news was since there was no one in the vicinity of the throw, Brady was called for a safety.  Just like that the Giants had a 2-0 lead and the football.  It was the first safety since Super Bowl 25 between the Bills and Giants.

On New York’s ensuing possession they went back to work, marching back into New England territory and down to the Patriots 16 yard line, where Sterling Moore forced a fumble on Victor Cruz, and Brandon Spikes recovered.  Unfortunately the Patriots made their second mistake of the night after being called for 12 men on the field, so the Giants retained possession.

Two plays later Eli Manning found Victor Cruz for the touchdown, capping a 9 play 78 yard drive and putting them up 9-0 w/3:24 to go in the first quarter.  Through two possessions, Manning was a perfect 9-for-9 for 77 yards and a touchdown.

The Patriots had better field position on their next possession, starting from their own 29 yard line.  They finally got in rhythm after Brady converted a big third down to Deion Branch for 15 yards which got them to midfield, and Brady then found Wes Welker for 19 yards, followed by a well timed end around to Wes Welker just as Brady was about to be hit that picked up 10 yards down to the Giants 17 yard line.

First Quarter Passing Stats:

Tom Brady 3-of-4 for 41 yards (107.3 QB rating)

Eli Manning: 9-of-9 for 77 yards and a touchdown (139.4)

We’re mere hours away from kickoff for tonight’s showdown as New England gets set to battle the Giants, and here are some final thoughts on tonight’s game.

1) Patriots need to start fast in this game: The Giants are the only team to hold New England to 3 points through three quarters since 2008, when Matt Cassel found himself stymied over the same span against San Diego’s defense.  Should they win the coin toss they’ll likely defer, and their highest scoring quarter has been the second quarter, which is actually a trend that dates all the way back to 2006.  If they’re not able to score early and put up points and this one stays close late in the game, that definitely plays into New York’s hands.

2) This is a huge game for Wes Welker: Most of the talk this week has centered around Rob Gronkowski, but Welker has an incredible opportunity to earn his next contract with a big performance tonight.  Through two games it’s been all Gronkowski with their offense (he has 15 catches for 232 yards and 3 touchdowns), and with the Giants likely focused on trying to contain New England’s tight end, tonight’s game is an unbelievable chance for Welker to find space in the middle of the field and potentially break off a long play.  He’s proven all season that he’s the best in the league at what he does, and tonight would be a great time to show the world just how good he really is.

3) Look For Branch to sneak up on New York: Through the first 12 games of the season Deion Branch was targeted 15 times in the red zone with five touchdowns, but in the final weeks of the season he didn’t see his number called as often.  He was targeted just twice with one touchdown in the final four games down in the red area, and with all the focus on his teammates, he could potentially find himself with some one-on-one opportunities to make a play.  He’s a free agent after this season, and it’s a great chance to prove they should bring him back next year.

4) An X-Factor: Rob Ninkovich: One guy who really has stepped up during this postseason is Rob Ninkovich, and he’s done a great job defensively in bringing pressure as well as being one of their better tacklers.  In their first meeting he registered a quarterback hit and a fumble recovery, and obviously a big key to tonight’s game is going to be trying to disrupt Eli Manning and the Giants passing game.  He’s been great in the playoffs so far, and how Ninkovich plays on what is essentially the biggest stage he’ll ever see is going to be a huge factor.

5) Tonight’s a big game for Shaun Ellis: He spent years listening to his former coach Rex Ryan talk about how his team was going to win a Super Bowl, and now here he is playing in one for the Patriots.  We saw glimpses of the guy he can be during this postseason, and tonight would be a great chance to do to Eli Manning what he did to Tom Brady last year in the playoffs.

One big play could erase a tough year for Devin McCourty tonight. (FILE:Icon/SMI)

6) McCourty can erase a bad season with a great game tonight: Between his struggles defensively this season along with getting his shoulder separated by his own teammate, it hasn’t exactly been a season to remember for Devin McCourty.  After being moved over to the safety spot we’ve seen an improvement with McCourty over the course of these final weeks, and if there’s going to be a chance for the second year defensive back to go out on a high note, tonight would be a great time for it.  He’s one of their best open field tacklers and I have a tough time imagining that the promise he showed in coverage last season can just magically disappear.  A big performance tonight would be a great way to get his confidence back, and it could also potentially give him some momentum heading into next season.

7) The Ochocinco factor: Considering the number of times he’s been targeted this season (32) he could have easily doubled his reception total (just 15 catches this season) had he been in the right place for a lot of them.  And so goes the story for what has obviously been a frustrating season for Chad Ochocinco.  They were 0-for-5 targeting him during their regular season meeting, but a lot has certainly happened since that November game and you’d like to think that he understands things better now than he did back then.  He’s waited his whole career for tonight’s game, and he’s still got the speed and talent to at least give them one additional threat if he can isolate himself into some favorable one-on-one match-ups.  We’ve talked about the elusive “breakout game” all year, and if ever he needed one – tonight would be it.

8) BenJarvus Green-Ellis could carry them to a win tonight: Green-Ellis had some success running the ball against New York in their first meeting, carrying 12 times for 52 yards (4.3 avg) against the NFL’s 19th ranked rushing defense.  Fans have questioned all season if he’s a good enough long-term solution for this offense, but he’s continued to play well and has also been one of their most sure-handed ball carriers.  Establishing the run is such a critical factor in tonight’s game, especially if they’d like to control the clock and give their defense a rest in between possessions.  Add in the fact that running the ball helps in keeping New York’s defense off balance, and it would give Tom Brady a chance to potentially execute some play-action plays – which is something we haven’t seen much of  in recent weeks.  Several players mentioned this week that New England would be changing some things up in this game, and hopefully we see some of that tonight.

9) Time for Brady to shine: There’s been a lot of talk leading up to this game about the fact that Tom Brady hasn’t played well in big games, and that how he plays tonight could affect his legacy.  A lot of the talk stemmed from his 0 touchdown, 2 interception performance against the Ravens in the AFC Championship game.  If history is any indication, it’s not very often you see Brady with two straight bad games.  He’s one of the best in the league, and tonight’s game against New York has him with an opportunity to solidify his place in history as one of the greatest quarterbacks ever.

10) Big Vince has a big opportunity: Vince Wilfork is having one of his best years as a pro, and he did a great job of causing problems against Eli Manning in their regular season match-up.  Wilfork registered two quarterback hits and did a good job of collapsing the pocket the first time they played, and he’s one of the few remaining players who knows what it felt like the last time his team battled New York and lost in a Super Bowl.  He’s the leader they need tonight up front, and so far this postseason he’s played extremely well – almost to the point where he’s not getting the amount of recognition he really deserves.  They’re about to play in front of what will likely be one of the biggest audiences ever in the history of television, and if all goes well, he’ll show the world what fans in New England already know about him.

Do you have any thoughts on tonight’s game?  Drop a comment below and share what you feel is an important key to tonight’s game.