Even while favorite, Patriots are outsiders

Even while favorite, Patriots are outsiders:  This time, on the seventh Super Bowl cruise in New England Patriots history, the anticipation is riddled with uncertainty. Never, in fact, accept the Patriots played a appellation bold in which the aftereffect was so acutely in doubt.

All of which makes the civic angle on this bold all the added curious, because the ample majority of humans assume to be acrimonious the New York Giants.

Let's aback up actuality for a moment and accompaniment the obvious: in the NFL, especially, Super Bowl predictions beggarly nothing. The St. Louis Rams (in Super Bowl XXXVI) and the Patriots (Super Bowl XLII) were ample favorites, and both teams absent the bold outright. Not a individual one of us can adumbrate what will appear on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium, and that would be accurate whether the Patriots were advantaged by seven or 17.

But here's what doesn't accomplish faculty about this bold in particular: the Patriots about accept been a three-point admired from the alpha - the aboriginal Super Bowl point advance in almost 30 years - and yet a lot of anybody alfresco of New England is acrimonious the Giants. Why? Based on what? If did such a conflict become so clear? Everything about Sunday's bold suggests that accessible affect should be breach as analogously as it was in the 1960 presidential election, and yet the calibration seems acutely skewed in favor of New York.

If you don't accept this, you're not alone.

In New England, too, we all apperceive how acceptable the Giants can be. During New York's run to the Super Bowl, the Giants accept played bigger and added complete football than any added aggregation in what Bill Parcells generally referred to as "the tournament." Beginning with a brace of approved division victories over the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys in Weeks 16 and 17, the Giants accept won 5 beeline while acceptance a beggarly 13.4 credibility per game. They accept baffled the top two seeds in the NFC (the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers) on the road. They accept baffled no aggregation with annihilation worse than a .500 record.

Fine. We get it. The Giants are hot. But this is aswell a aggregation with the adequacy to play actual poorly, something anybody seems to accept abandoned in the endure ages or so.

For example, did you apperceive the Giants were in fact outscored during the approved season? Did you apperceive that above-mentioned to Week 16, they were a bare 38 for the year? Overall, their canyon aegis ranked 29th. Their hasty aegis ranked 19th. Their hasty breach ranked 32nd. Simply put, there's a acumen why the Giants went 7-7 through their aboriginal 14 games, something anybody is now too readily dismissing.

So are we just declared to abandon 14 amateur of history out the window?

Yes, yes, yes - that was again and this is now. But those beforehand amateur during the division are still at atomic allotment of who the Giants are whether New York admirers wish to accept it or not, just as absolutely as the Patriots' early-season achievement is a allotment of theirs.

In New England, we apperceive the Patriots' flaws all too well. The Patriots ranked 31st in canyon defense, 17th in hasty defense, 20th in hasty offense. Sounds a lot like the Giants, right? Until New England's AFC Championship achievement over the Baltimore Ravens, the Patriots had not baffled a aggregation that accomplished the year with a acceptable record. Not one. The Patriots faced maybe three teams all year with an aristocratic quarterback - the San Diego Chargers, Pittsburgh Steelers and Giants - and absent two; the alone achievement came adjoin San Diego in Week 2, if Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers looked added like Ryan Leaf.

So let's get this straight: the civic admirers is captivation the Patriots' approved division adjoin them, but not that of the Giants. Does that accomplish any sense? The Patriots still accept Tom Brady. The Patriots still accept Bill Belichick. Vince Wilfork could be the best arresting amateur on either aggregation to be arena in the Super Bowl, something we abstruse if Wilfork manhandled the Ravens in the AFC appellation game.

Everything about this bold screams that it is a 50-50 hypothesis - a accurate bread cast - and yet humans assume to be alleviative it nationally as if the Giants are the accessible choice.

For the Patriots, in some ways, this Super Bowl is clashing any added in which they accept played. In Super Bowl XX, admitting what humans capital to believe, the Chicago Bears were the accessible choice. Eleven years later, the Green Bay Packers were the bright favorite. The St. Louis Rams were the bright aces in Super Bowl XXXVI, the Patriots in Super Bowls XXXVIII and XXXIX. In Super Bowl XLII, the Patriots were 18-0 entering the bold and prohibitive favorites.

Nationally, some askew of civic predictions fabricated sense. But this time?

During the acme of the Belichick era, we all apperceive how the Patriots operated. In 2003 and 2004, if the Patriots won back-to-back titles, the Patriots went a accumulated 34-4 and were acutely the best aggregation in football. Nonetheless, Belichick somehow assertive his players that they were getting disrespected, which we all accounted preposterous. The Patriots were abuse acceptable and everybody knew it - including them - and cipher disrespected them.

Now, years later, it feels as if humans are absolutely searching accomplished New England.

Or maybe they're just a little too focused on the Giants.