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It’s been two weeks since the New York Giants, for the second time in five years, defeated the New England Patriots to win the NFL title. The game was pretty much just as exciting as the Giants’ huge upset in 2007 when New England came into the game undefeated, but the result was not as unexpected this time. Rather than rehash the game itself, here are some thoughts I’ve had resulting from it:

* In winning his second Super Bowl ring and game MVP award, Eli Manning has removed any doubt that he is an elite quarterback in the NFL. He may never be a record-breaking passer like the Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady types that dominate today’s game, but he’s a leader, a gamer, and has now outdueled Brady in both of their head-to-head meetings.

* This is now the second time the Giants have struggled through a good portion of the regular season, gotten hot at the right time and ridden that momentum to a Super Bowl title. Add to that the fact that Green Bay did the same thing last season, and it makes what Bill Parcells has always said look very prophetic. His philosophy is that the key is to continually try to get your team to improve each game, and do whatever it takes to get that team into what he calls “the tournament”. From there, anything is possible, as the Packers and Giants have proven the last two seasons.

* As passing records fell all year long this season, I’ve often wondered if the days of dominating defenses, like the old Steel Curtain and Miami “No Name” defense, are gone forever. But after seeing the Giants play a decent defensive game once again versus the Pats, I have a feeling that defense will be back in vogue next season.

* Speaking of the Giants’ good defensive showing late in the year, here’s hoping that late season improvement results in New York defensive coordinator Perry Fewell getting some serious consideration for a head coaching job in the future. Fewell did a good job in his short opportunity as interim head coach in Buffalo a few seasons back, and deserves another shot.

* Just like in 2007, the Giants again showed that the key to beating today’s elite passers is to get pressure up the middle on them, taking them out of their comfort zone in the pocket. Whereas the QBs are all adept at beating pressure off the edges by using subtle “step up” movement in the pocket to buy time, forcing them to vacate the pocket disrupts the timing of their precision passing games. So even though the hometown Buffalo Bills have a long way to go to improve their defense, they have two key pieces to their puzzle already in place in interior linemen Kyle Williams and Marcell Dareus.

This Sunday’s Super Bowl game between the New England Patriots and New York Giants looks like it has the makings of a great matchup. If the two teams can play a game anything close to their Super Bowl matchup of 2007, when the Giants ruined the Pats’ attempt at the first unbeaten season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins, it’ll be a game well worth watching. Both teams are solid organizations, well-coached by two disciples of Bill Parcells – Bill Belichick and Tom Coughlin. Circumstances have changed for both teams going into this game. In the Super Bowl XLII matchup, the Patriots were a heavy favorite, boasting an offensive juggernaut led by Tom Brady, who had a record-breaking season. His main target that year was Randy Moss, who had the best season of his career.  The Giants barely got into the playoffs, but got hot late in the regular season, and rode their momentum all the way into the big game. In the game itself, the Giants did something no other opponent did that year – they pressured Brady up the middle, took him out of the comfort zone he’d been in all year, and held the high voltage attack to 14 points in pulling off the biggest championship game upset since the Jets beat the Colts in Super Bowl III.

One of the strengths of the Giants going into this year’s game is their pass rush, which is one of the few in the NFL that’s capable of applying pressure with just the front four. The only player who isn’t on that front line from the 2007 team is Michael Strahan, who retired. In his place, however, is an emerging defensive star in Jason Pierre-Paul. The Giants’ secondary is somewhat suspect, but the effectiveness of the defensive line can mask that. The Patriots are not the same high-powered offensive machine they were in 2007, but as long as Brady is directing the attack, they are a threat to win. Two players the Giants didn’t have to deal with in the earlier Super Bowl are tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, who are matchup nightmares for any defense. Although Brady is seeking his fourth Super Bowl title, which would elevate his stature to the Joe Montana/Terry Bradshaw level, don’t overlook the skill of Eli Manning on the other side of the field. Manning won the 2007 matchup with Brady, and has matured into an even better passer and leader than he was then.

How much will the 2007 game affect this year’s Super Bowl? Considering that the Giants have only 16 holdovers from their Super Bowl winning roster of that year, and New England only 7, probably not much. My feeling is that the Giants, although they were a roller coaster team most of the season before catching fire late in the year, are a better team than they were then, while the Patriots are not. For that reason, I’m picking the Giants to win on Sunday, in a tough game in which New York’s more physical presence, on both sides of the ball, will be the difference.