Green Bay, New Orleans or New York Gmen?

[dogdoctor]

49ers, NYG, GB, NO in that order. I think the 49ers would have been the easiest matchup while I think the Saints would have lit us up. But now we get the Giants. I just wonder which Giants team will show up.

 

[PatsGator]

Yes we have the easiest of the 4. We have the worst possible match-up as far as what it "means", image, perception.

Aside from the obvious ring and Super Bowl win....

Once again, we have everything to lose, nothing really to gain from it.
While they have everything to gain, nothing really to lose from it.

Patriots winning their 4th ring and getting their "revenge" is a nice story for those who wanna buy into it. Patriots winning their 4th ring against the most efficient quarterback in the NFL in 2011, against the toughest all around team in SF or arguably the only other team who can win football games despite - turnover margin...that would have meant much more to the Pats. And in a loss, it would mean nothing.

If we blow out the Giants, they still will get off the hook. "Oh well they still overachieved". That's going to be what everyone says.

Who cares about anyone's "perception?" All I care is that they see Tom Brady running out of fingers for his rings.

 

[ExpatPack]

IMO the toughest matchups for the Pats would have been:

1. NO
2. GB
3. Giants
4. SF

I chose NO over GB because GB's defense was just so horrible. I think that the Pats defense would have made a few stops against Rodgers and co, enough to win the game whereas the GB defense would be lucky to stop the Brady Bunch even once. Still, the score would have been something like 45-42. NO was more balanced.