A Tale of Two Jerseys: How Navy Is The Story of the Patriots Season

Christine Roy

Jan 25, 2012 at 11:44am ET

The matchup is set and so are the jerseys. The Patriots will wear their navy jerseys and the New York Giants will wear their white jerseys when they take the field February 5 in Indianapolis.

Tom Brady has reason to be fired up. His navy jersey needs some Super Bowl success. The last time he won the big game in blue was in 2003. (FILE:Icon/SMI)

This post season the Patriots made their way to the Super Bowl by battling it out at home. As AFC Champions, the road to Indy went through them. In their game against Denver their uniforms came out looking clean but against Baltimore, a little more sweat and hard work was required.

On the contrary, the Giants hit the road for the bigger games of their postseason. After socking it to the Atlanta Falcons at home 24-2, they put on their white jerseys and beat the Packers and 49ers en route to the big show. Manning's jersey took a heavy beating in the rain in San Francisco. He was hit 12 times and sacked six. And yet he didn't throw any interceptions. He was focused and calm under pressure.

You may remember that the last time these two met up in Super Bowl XLII, the uniform situation was the same. The Giants last drive is burned into my brain and that unbelievable helmet catch by David Tyree is a scar that will not fade. So one can only imagine unfavorable memories will be brought up when we these two teams take the field for the rematch.

The Giants also beat the Patriots at home this season (24-20). Once again, the Patriots were in navy and the Giants, in white. And once again it was a last minute drive that gave Eli Manning the win over Tom Brady. In his own house Brady was forced to watch as Manning executed a game winning 1-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds left.

As we get closer to the Super Bowl you may think that uniforms are an insignificant detail but give it a chance to settle in. The Patriots have some unfinished business to take care of in their navy uniforms. Brady's only Super Bowl loss is to Manning and the Patriots only home loss this season was to the Giants. Both time the color of the uniform was, you guessed it, navy.

Brady said on WEEI this week that he wants to "hopefully go out there and play my best game, you know hopefully the best game I've ever played." He's got plenty of motivation and an extra patch on the left side of his jersey (MHK patch) should put some extra fuel in his heart to bring home another Lombardi Trophy to New England.