Super Bowl: Gearing up for The Game

Let the hype begin. Or should we say continue?

Super Bowl XLII is a week from today in Glendale, Ariz. The AFC champion Patriots (18-0), who are favored by 12 1/2 points over the NFC champion Giants (13-6), arrive this evening for seven days of discussing perfection in an NFL host city that defines professional athletic futility. The Giants fly in Monday afternoon, no doubt packing enough "no-respect" clichés to last until kickoff.

We've already seen more photos of cover boy Tom Brady's dinged right foot. The guess here is he'll be fine for the Super Bowl and not so fine for the Pro Bowl a week later.

Naturally, Brady's big-game counterpart is a Manning. His name is Eli, but he played more like Peyton in last week's NFC Championship Game. Right, Green Bay?

The coaches know each other well, having spent three seasons (1988-90) and one Super Bowl victory (XXV) together on Bill Parcells' Giants staff. New York's Tom Coughlin ranks sixth among active coaches in total victories (110) but is making his first Super Bowl appearance as a head coach. New England's Bill Belichick ranks third on that list (142) and needs to win this game for his fourth Super Bowl title in seven years and the first 19-0 season in NFL history.

So, without further delay, here's our annual 10 Super Bowl questions, homeboy.

10. Will Coughlin derail Beli-fection?

Belichick is the leading genius in this game. But let's not overlook Coughlin. In 12 seasons as an NFL head coach, Coughlin has faced 68 different head coaches and beaten 55 of them. He's 5-3 against Joe Gibbs, 5-3 against Parcells and 2-1 against Belichick.

In 1995, Coughlin led the expansion Jaguars to a pair of AFC Central Division victories over Belichick's Browns. Their third meeting didn't come until Week 17 this season.

The Giants had nothing tangible to play for but still used their starters until the final whistle. New York led 28-16 midway through the third quarter before losing 38-35. Thanks to Coughlin, the effort became a springboard to upsetting three higher-seeded home teams during the NFC playoffs.

Coughlin was the last coach to stand between Belichick and the first 16-0 regular season, and now he is the last to stand between Belichick and the first 19-0 season.

Answer: Sorry, Tom. The Giants are good, but the Pats are perfect.

9. Will 'Spygate' distract Belichick?

We hate to spoil the party on Day 1 in the desert, but, um, Belichick did get caught cheating by the NFL back in Week 1. He did get fined $500,000. The Patriots did get fined $250,000 and stripped of this year's first-round draft pick.

The grumpy coach got to sweep the whole issue aside quickly back in September. He stonewalled the media with his usual glares, mumbles and arrogant brushoffs as his fans and apologists argued that Belichick wasn't the only coach who had ever videotaped an opponent's sideline signals in violation of league rules.

He was, however, the only one caught this season. And now he faces a weeklong Super Bowl media crush. Does Belichick have a week's worth of angry glares and contemptuous shrugs in him? You betcha he does.

Answer: Belichick? Distracted? Please. Nothing bothers him. And, apparently, since he won the Associated Press' Coach of the Year award, I have to assume there are a lot of reporters who don't really care that he was caught cheating.

8. Will the Giants' confidence last two weeks?

The Giants are the first NFL team to win 10 road games in the same season. They're also the first to win 10 in a row on the road in the same season. They won in our nation's capital in September. They won in London in October, avoided a setback in Motown in November, survived a chilly December afternoon in Buffalo and a subzero night in Lambeau Field in January.

It will be February by the time the Giants and Patriots meet in the desert. The Giants would have been better off playing this week, but the whole us-against-the-world mentality could sustain the team's momentum for another week.

"We just keep fighting," receiver Plaxico Burress said.

Answer: Yes. For whatever reason, the Giants have an extra swagger in them away from Giants Stadium. And guess who has been designated the road team in Super Bowl XLII.

7. Can Randy Moss be stopped on the biggest stage in the NFL?

Randy Moss set an NFL record with 23 touchdown catches this season, but he has been held to two catches for 32 yards in playoff victories over the Jaguars and Chargers.

The way to stop Moss is to jam him at the line of scrimmage and use a tight double coverage with a nickel back or a safety. A very fast safety. The Giants' secondary has an extra week to get healthy, which is important. But it's still one of the team's glaring weaknesses, especially if the Patriots can protect Brady.

Answer: Yes, but not by the Giants. In the Week 17 meeting, Moss caught six passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns, including a crushing 65-yarder in the fourth quarter. That was during a night game at Giants Stadium in December. Imagine what he'll do in perfect conditions in the desert.

6. Are we overlooking the Giants receivers?

Much like Week 17, the Giants can forget about winning a low-scoring, grind-it-out game. The Patriots have scored 31 or more points in 13 of their 18 wins, and at least 20 in every game.

In other words, Manning will have to throw the ball. And that's not a bad thing considering the way receivers Burress, Amani Toomer and even rookie Steve Smith are playing. Burress, who is 6-5 and all arms, had 11 catches for 154 yards while destroying Green Bay's Al Harris, a Pro Bowl player and an elite bump-and-run corner. He'll most likely draw Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel, another Pro Bowler.

Toomer isn't as athletically gifted as Burress, but he's a better route runner. Smith, meanwhile, stepped up with two tough catches in the fourth quarter at Green Bay.

The Patriots couldn't stop the Giants offense during most of that Week 17 meeting. Their aging linebackers sometimes become a liability in covering the shorter routes over the middle.

Answer: Yes. Burress can be as dangerous as Moss. He proved that against the Patriots in Week 17 when he caught four passes for 84 yards and two touchdowns.

5. How important is Laurence Maroney?

The Patriots outscored each of their first eight opponents by at least 17 points. But when the weather turned sour and the passing game started to struggle, it was Maroney, the former Gophers running back, to whom Belichick turned.

The Patriots have won only three of their past 10 games by 17 or more points. But it's more impressive that they've been able to transform themselves into a power running team when necessary.

Yes, Moss has only two catches for 32 yards in two postseason games. But Maroney had 122 yards rushing and one touchdown in each of New England's two playoff victories.

Answer: He's just as important as any of the Patriots receivers, including Moss. If the Giants stuff Maroney the way they did Green Bay's Ryan Grant (29 yards on 13 carries), they can really go after Brady.

4. Will the Giants wear out the Pats' geezer LBs?

The Giants have the largest, most powerful running back the Super Bowl has ever seen in Brandon Jacobs (6-4, 264). Just ask Charles Woodson or Nick Barnett what it's like to have this guy run you over (Woodson) or carry you downfield on his back (Barnett).

The Giants also have the best Bradshaw (Ahmad) the game has seen since Terry was winning four Super Bowls with the Steelers. While Ahmad certainly doesn't have the stats or the star power, he is one slippery little fella (5-9, 198). He's tough enough, quick enough and fast enough to help the bruising Jacobs put a lot of strain on a Patriots linebacking corps that has celebrated an awful lot of birthdays.

Junior Seau is 39, Tedy Bruschi 34, Mike Vrabel 32 and Adalius Thomas 30.

Answer: No. The Giants running game is powerful and diverse, but New England's old guys have had outstanding seasons, highlighted by last week's AFC title game. They can make it one more game.

3. Is Brady the best QB ever?

I know, I know. We're all supposed to step aside as the world anoints Brady as the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL.

Yes, he threw a record 50 touchdown passes and sits one game from his fourth Super Bowl title, not to mention the first 19-0 season.

But ...

Let us not forget a guy named Joe Montana. Montana is the only three-time Super Bowl MVP. He won four Super Bowls, and here's what he did the year he wasn't the MVP: Completed 23 of 36 passes for a Super Bowl-record 357 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning 10-yard score with 34 seconds left in a 20-16 victory over Cincinnati in Super Bowl XXIII.

Answer: Not yet. But he's only 30 and he's already got three Super Bowl wins and two MVPs. The only other players with at least two Super Bowl MVPs are Bart Starr (two), Terry Bradshaw (two) and, of course, a guy named Joe.

2. Is Archie officially the third-best Manning?

It's official. Archie Manning, 58, is the only former two-time Pro Bowler, No. 2 overall draft pick and 14-year NFL veteran to be the worst quarterback at the family dinner table.

For those of us old enough to remember, the memories of Archie are pretty much limited to poor Arch running for his life from 1971 to 1984 while playing for three of the league's worst teams (Saints, Oilers and Vikings). Archie never experienced a winning season, let alone participated in the playoffs.

His sons, Peyton (1998) and Eli (2004), not only were drafted higher than him, they have now made it to back-to-back Super Bowls.

Peyton won last year, shedding the image that he can't win the big game. And now Eli has gone turnover-free in the playoffs and dumped the image that he could never even make it to a big game.

Answer: Cheer up, Archie. You're probably better than your son Cooper.

1. Will the Patriots become the best team ever?

In case you haven't heard, the Patriots are the only 18-0 team in NFL history. But you know Don Shula and those 1972 Dolphins are sitting there praying for one last opportunity to pop some champagne in celebration as the only perfect team in league history.

The Dolphins were a great team. A 17-0 team. But they also went through a regular season in which they beat only two teams with winning records, and both of those teams were 8-6. In 16 regular-season games, the Patriots beat six playoff teams with a combined 67-29 record and a 10-6 team that didn't make the playoffs.

Answer: Yes. I always considered the '85 Bears (18-1) the best team ever. While I'd love to see that defense face the Patriots offense, I have to say -- sorry Iron Mike -- a Patriots win this week makes them the best team ever.

Mark Craig • mcraig@startribune.com