(10-6) New York vs New England (16-0)
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New England Patriots
AFC East Champions
16-0 (8-0 home)
No. 1 seed
A narrow 38-35 defeat to the New England Patriots in the regular-season finale may have been the best thing to happen to the Giants - even if the game was essentially meaningless to them.
Not only did it show New York (13-6) that it could compete with the league's best team, the loss served to spark a slumbering offense that had produced more than 21 points just once in the previous eight games.
Armed with a renewed confidence, the fifth-seeded Giants ripped off three consecutive road victories, including revenge games against the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers, to earn a most improbable berth in Sunday's Super Bowl XLII.
Their opponent, appropriately enough, is the Patriots (18-0), who capped off the first 16-0 regular season by overtaking the Giants, rallying from their largest deficit of the season (28-16) in the second half to do so.
New England held its final practice session Friday. Coach Bill Belichick elected to have the Patriots forego the normal walkthrough at University of Phoenix Stadium on Saturday.
"We're ready to roll," Belichick said. "We're ready as we're going to be."
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New York Giant
NFC No. 1 Wild Card
10-6 (7-1 road)
No. 5 seed
Giants coach Tom Coughlin put his team through an 80-minute workout Friday and concluded preparations with a walkthrough Saturday.
"It was a good solid work week," Coughlin said. "We talked about coming over here and having a good six hours (of practice) together. We had that each day we worked."
Now the task for New York is slowing down the Patriots' bid for history - something its players know is possible from the first matchup.
Quarterback Eli Manning, however, was quick to caution that as well as the Giants played in the regular-season finale, the final outcome still resulted in a loss.
-Tom Torrisi PA SportsTicker Pro Football Editor
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