Writers split on Super Bowl

Published Feb. 3, 2012, 3:00 a.m. ET

ED BARKOWITZ

ALL AROUND water coolers, corner bars and hair salons, the talk is heating up. The best quarterback of all time is either Joe Montana or Tom Brady.

Old-timers might throw in an Otto Graham here or a Y.A. Tittle there. Maybe John Elway would get a mention. But, really, it's down to Montana and Brady.

Brady can surpass Montana as the winningest playoff quarterback ever on Sunday. The Giants have a blueprint on how to beat Brady - which is the same formula for facing just about every quarterback - get pressure.

It says here New York will do enough defensively to disrupt Brady and allow the New York offense to keep pace. If the Giants do win, Eli Manning won't be crowned the greatest quarterback of all time. But, like David Ortiz in baseball, he might be the most clutch.

Giants, 34-27

LES BOWEN

The law of averages says the Bill Belichick Pats are overdue for another title; the Giants might have used up several Super Bowls worth of magic in their last roman-numeraled meeting.

I'm taking the Giants, though. The biggest mismatch I see is the Giants' receivers against the Pats' secondary. Hard to get around that. I also think Tom Brady has been pretty ordinary under heavy pass-rush pressure, and he will get some heavy pass-rush pressure Sunday.

It's absurd to think a 9-7 team is going to win the Super Bowl, but the lockout year produced some oddities. I'm not sure the Pats, despite their 13-3 record, really deserve to be in Indianapolis. You thought the NFC East was weak? I say the AFC East, by the end of the season, was weaker. The Pats should have lost to the Ravens and were very lucky to get Denver instead of the Steelers.

Yes, Giants fans will be unbearable after winning the Super Bowl twice in the last five seasons, but surely you're used to this sort of thing by now?

Giants, 27-23

PAUL DOMOWITCH

Picking against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick is akin to spitting into the wind or tugging on Superman's cape. But I like the Giants in this one.

I like them for a number of reasons. For starters, there's the Gronk factor. Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is nursing a high ankle sprain, and while he likely will play, he won't be anywhere close to 100 percent. Without him creating havoc in the middle of the field, it takes a lot of pressure off the Giants' back seven.

The Patriots are in this game only because Lee Evans dropped a touchdown pass and Billy Cundiff missed a field-goal attempt. They lost the turnover battle and were outgained by the Ravens in the AFC Championship Game. They have a defense that finished 31st in the league against the pass. Thirty-first!!!

I'm completely aware of the fact that the Giants were 7-7 7 weeks ago. Got beat by the Redskins, for God's sake. But that was then and this is now. Now, they're hot. Now, Eli Manning is playing like Peyton. Now, the Giants' pass rush can't be stopped.

Giants, 31-27

SAM DONNELLON

I think the Giants win this again for the same reasons they beat New England in the Super Bowl 4 years ago and earlier this season in Foxborough.

A good defense stops a good offense most of the time. A great defense stops it all the time.

I can't explain why the Giants lose their way for portions of almost every season Tom Coughlin coaches them, why so much of their success is of the hair-raising variety. Maybe it's injuries. Maybe it's confidence. Maybe they just need to see the finish line. All I know is they got real healthy there at the end, and the team that's playing now is a better all-around team than the Green Bay Packers, who were the best team in the NFL this season.

The Giants could have really embarrassed Green Bay, up there, if not for a few calls. That might even happen to the Pats on Sunday, but I think New York's propensity to make things hair-raising and Tom Brady's mettle will make this a four-quarter affair.

Giants, 23-17

MARCUS HAYES

Suddenly, Tom Brady is toothless without a tight end who was anonymous before 2011?

Suddenly, the Giants' defense is a monstrous thing that cannot compare with the Broncos? Or the Ravens?

Suddenly, Eli Manning is in the conversation with Peyton?

Please.

Patriots, 31-24

RICH HOFMANN

If you watched the NFC Championship Game, you watched the Giants win despite the fact that quarterback Eli Manning had the life nearly beaten out of him by the 49ers' pass rush. The Giants didn't get anybody blocked for about the last hour of that game. They won because the 49ers couldn't catch punts and because Manning managed not to turn the ball over as he waited for a break.

Sunday, that offensive line faces up against the Patriots' Vince Wilfork. He plays every snap. He has been a dominant force so far for the Pats in the postseason. He is a huge man, a veteran in his prime, a classic nose tackle but with outrageous athleticism.

The Giants are not blocking him.

Eli is not surviving another beating.

Patriots, 28-17

JOHN SMALLWOOD

Logic says the New England Patriots are the better team, but the Giants just seem to be a bad matchup for them.

More than any other team, the New York defense has figured out how to contain New England quarterback Tom Brady. They hit him a lot, they hit him hard, and there seems to be little the Patriots' offensive line can do to stop them.

Unless the Patriots can produce a rushing attack to keep the Giants' defensive line honest, there will be a lot of blue closing down the pocket around Brady.

Eli Manning has been the best fourth-quarter quarterback in the league. He beat New England in the closing minutes during the regular season. This game will be close, and the Giants again pull it out in the closing moments.

Giants, 31-27