Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
February 1, 2008, Washington Post

Super Bowl: Want a Giant Upset?

It's Super Bowl time again.

The Super Bowl is the biggest, most popular sports event in the United States. It is estimated that more than 140 million Americans, including lots of kids, will watch at least part of the big game on TV Sunday night. Some will tune in just for the ads during timeouts and at halftime. Funny and unforgettable ads are as much a part of the fun as the football.

The New England Patriots are playing the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII (42). Not many football fans are giving the Giants a chance against undefeated New England, which won 18 games this season behind quarterback Tom Brady.

Six years ago not many fans gave the Patriots a chance to beat the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI (36). But the Pats and Brady upset the highly favored Rams, 20-17, on a last-second field goal.

Just like those Patriots, the Giants will have to do three things on Sunday to pull off the big upset.

Get lucky. If the Giants can grab an early interception or recover a fumble, they might make the Patriots nervous. An early Giants score could get the Pats thinking that their perfect season is in jeopardy. The Giants have the benefit of having played New England in the final game of the regular season. New York lost, 38-35, but the game could have gone either way. So the Giants believe they can win the Super Bowl.

Get Brady. New England's quarterback gets all the glory and attention, but the unsung heroes of the Patriots this season are the offensive linemen. They are the hard-working strongmen who give Brady enough time to find his star receivers, Randy Moss and Wes Welker, downfield. The Giants have to put pressure on Brady. Defensive ends Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan had 22 sacks of the quarterback during the regular season. They will need a couple more on Sunday.

Get a great game from quarterback Eli Manning. During the regular season Manning threw 20 interceptions and had a quarterback rating of 74. That's like getting a C on a test -- not good, but not terrible. In the Giants' three playoff wins this season, Manning has not thrown an interception and has a quarterback rating of 99 -- that's an A+. The Giants need Manning to bring his "A" game on Sunday.

Do I think the Giants will upset the Patriots? Not really. With all their stars, I think the Pats will win by a score of 31-20. But I will be watching. The possibility of a big upset is one reason so many people watch the Super Bowl.

That and the ads.

Fred Bowen writes KidsPost's sports opinion column and is an author of sports novels for kids.

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