Here's how the Super Bowl shakes up:
Spread: NE -6.5
In a matchup which is supposed to be a matchup of 2 solid defenses, here's the truths about these two teams.
Carolina's Game-Plan:
As usual, and it will be no secret, Carolina will try to run the ball. *yawn* Using that stout offensive line to open up gaps for Stephen Davis and DeShaun Foster, this will be the bread and butter if this team wants to sniff success. Believe it or not, this may work as the Patriots looked quite suspect with their run defense last week and with linebacker Tedy Bruschi possibly out, this team may be exposed. Or will they? Carolina's passing game has looked deceptively good, and Jake 'the new snake' Delhomme has gotten the job done for this Panther team. At some point throughout this game he will be forced to throw the ball once again. Is he up for the task? Carolina will clearly try to run the ball and calm down this young team early on and once the coverage is softened up, then they will throw the ball. No surprise. Defensively, Carolina's gameplan will be the same as it always is. Get pressure on the QB using the main four guys and drop a ton of guys into coverage. They will attack the vacancy left by Pro Bowl G Damien Woody and they will look to keep Brady out of rhythm, something that has not been done throughout most of this season. Seems like a lot of questions that need answering for this inexperienced team. Carolina has not truly been tested as they have played a porous offense, an extremely poorly coached team, and another very average team on their route to the Super Bowl. I'll give them credit, but this will definitely be a test for the kitty-cats, as they will claw for every yard.
New England's Game-Plan:
In all honesty, I don't see any possible way that New England will lose this game, here's why. Carolina's defense will look to get to the QB quickly using their excellent defensive line and New England will counter with short quick passes (as they usually do) to get guys like Julius Peppers tired and out of rhythm. Remember Dwight Freeney last week? He was not a factor at all. If Carolina's defensive line is out of the picture, then this game will get very ugly quickly. The Panthers secondary has always been questionable even with the emergence of Ricky Manning Jr. and getting physical with New Englands receiver's will not be an option if the Pats do four and five receiver sets. Expect that quite often. The Patriots are one of the poorest teams at running the ball in the 'hand it off' sense, but what they do in their passing game with their short quick passes is essentially like running the ball. The Panthers are going to have to bring blitzes, and it is here where the game will be won or lost. This most likely won't phase the Patriots since the Colts tried to blitz the hell out of them last week (as the game went on) and Belichick will most likely expect this. Defensively the Pats will be prepared. Fake Delhomme is not going to have an easy time of things this week. If the Pat's get ahead, or if the running game renders ineffective against the #4 ranked running defense in the league for any reason, the Pats will use him like a Paris Hilton Sex Tape. Even more so, and you can tell your friends you heard it hear first from your friend Vegas Dave, the Patriots will tear a page out of the John Fox defense of last week and play extremely physical with the Panther receivers. Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad are going to get peanut butter and jammed at the line of scrimmage everytime. Expect it. We'll see how stout this offensive line is when blitzes and fake blitzes are coming from every angle. If you noticed one thing about Fake and his 'nice passes', all of his deep passes are underthrown. It's a little secret that him and his receivers use (not sure why more people in the NFL don't do it). When the WR is running a route, Fake will underthrow the ball, and by the time the unaware DB's have located the ball, it will be too late for them to come back to it in time. The NE secondary will be very aware of this because Belichick has his team's ready. Patriots are a good road team, Patriots are more experienced, the Patriots are a TEAM. They get a 100% team effort every week and this week will be no different.
To steal a line from the typical addicted, cocky gambler: "Take the right side" and bet the Patriots minus the points.
Spread: NE -6.5
In a matchup which is supposed to be a matchup of 2 solid defenses, here's the truths about these two teams.
Carolina's Game-Plan:
As usual, and it will be no secret, Carolina will try to run the ball. *yawn* Using that stout offensive line to open up gaps for Stephen Davis and DeShaun Foster, this will be the bread and butter if this team wants to sniff success. Believe it or not, this may work as the Patriots looked quite suspect with their run defense last week and with linebacker Tedy Bruschi possibly out, this team may be exposed. Or will they? Carolina's passing game has looked deceptively good, and Jake 'the new snake' Delhomme has gotten the job done for this Panther team. At some point throughout this game he will be forced to throw the ball once again. Is he up for the task? Carolina will clearly try to run the ball and calm down this young team early on and once the coverage is softened up, then they will throw the ball. No surprise. Defensively, Carolina's gameplan will be the same as it always is. Get pressure on the QB using the main four guys and drop a ton of guys into coverage. They will attack the vacancy left by Pro Bowl G Damien Woody and they will look to keep Brady out of rhythm, something that has not been done throughout most of this season. Seems like a lot of questions that need answering for this inexperienced team. Carolina has not truly been tested as they have played a porous offense, an extremely poorly coached team, and another very average team on their route to the Super Bowl. I'll give them credit, but this will definitely be a test for the kitty-cats, as they will claw for every yard.
New England's Game-Plan:
In all honesty, I don't see any possible way that New England will lose this game, here's why. Carolina's defense will look to get to the QB quickly using their excellent defensive line and New England will counter with short quick passes (as they usually do) to get guys like Julius Peppers tired and out of rhythm. Remember Dwight Freeney last week? He was not a factor at all. If Carolina's defensive line is out of the picture, then this game will get very ugly quickly. The Panthers secondary has always been questionable even with the emergence of Ricky Manning Jr. and getting physical with New Englands receiver's will not be an option if the Pats do four and five receiver sets. Expect that quite often. The Patriots are one of the poorest teams at running the ball in the 'hand it off' sense, but what they do in their passing game with their short quick passes is essentially like running the ball. The Panthers are going to have to bring blitzes, and it is here where the game will be won or lost. This most likely won't phase the Patriots since the Colts tried to blitz the hell out of them last week (as the game went on) and Belichick will most likely expect this. Defensively the Pats will be prepared. Fake Delhomme is not going to have an easy time of things this week. If the Pat's get ahead, or if the running game renders ineffective against the #4 ranked running defense in the league for any reason, the Pats will use him like a Paris Hilton Sex Tape. Even more so, and you can tell your friends you heard it hear first from your friend Vegas Dave, the Patriots will tear a page out of the John Fox defense of last week and play extremely physical with the Panther receivers. Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad are going to get peanut butter and jammed at the line of scrimmage everytime. Expect it. We'll see how stout this offensive line is when blitzes and fake blitzes are coming from every angle. If you noticed one thing about Fake and his 'nice passes', all of his deep passes are underthrown. It's a little secret that him and his receivers use (not sure why more people in the NFL don't do it). When the WR is running a route, Fake will underthrow the ball, and by the time the unaware DB's have located the ball, it will be too late for them to come back to it in time. The NE secondary will be very aware of this because Belichick has his team's ready. Patriots are a good road team, Patriots are more experienced, the Patriots are a TEAM. They get a 100% team effort every week and this week will be no different.
To steal a line from the typical addicted, cocky gambler: "Take the right side" and bet the Patriots minus the points.
