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I’ve labored over this game like no other. There is a strong case to be made for both teams and opinion is divided and contentious. The ESPN site has had 760,000 responses to today’s poll question; who will win the Superbowl? The results are, incredibly, dead even thus far…almost the entire East Coast favours the Giants while the West Coast is all on New England…

The New England Patriots were 13-3 in the regular season, with a patchy 3-3 run midseason where they were beaten by Buffalo, Pittsburgh and the Giants. Since that time the Pats have won ten in a row, including high profile road games against the Jets and the Eagles. In the playoffs the Pats had a gift of a home game against Denver and then were very fortunate to beat a psyched Baltimore Raven squad. The Pat offence was ranked 2^nd in the NFL while their defense ranked 31^st.

The New York Giants were 9-7 during the regular season, including a loss to, ugh, Seattle, and two losses to the dreadful Washington Redskins. The Giants, however, had a Road to Damascus-like conversion towards the seasons end and are hot at the perfect moment. They started the playoffs with a home win against Atlanta and, then, a couple of superb victories on the road against Green Bay and San Francisco. The Giants offence was ranked 8^th in the NFL, their defense 27^th.

The teams met in Week 9 and the Pats outgained the Giants by a comfortable margin, 438 yards to 361 yards. Unfortunately a couple of fumbles contributed to a 24-20 loss, this with New England rated a 9.5 point favourite.

The dynamics of that game will likely be very different than this afternoons contest. New England came out and tried to run against New York, loading their line and even using two tight ends on certain plays. The game was scoreless at the half before the offence’s exploded with 44 points in the second half.

I expect the Superbowl to be a continuation of that second half, with both teams playing very aggressive football. New England will be confident they can win if they put the ball in Brady’s hands while New York will be chomping at the bit to throw long against porous New England deep coverage. It’s the biggest game of the year and unlike their previous Superbowl meeting, I expect a high scoring affair.

The dynamics of a high scoring game, with shifting strategy and a frenetic pace, will support the superior brains on the New England sideline. It’s in their interest to keep this game at a pedal-to-the-metal pace. Belichick and Brady, the architects of the biggest upset in Superbowl history when they upended the St Louis Rams, are back in hunger mode. They’ve been away from the games biggest stage for too long, and I fully expect the focus and intensity of that initial Superbowl win. Take the Pats, offer as few points as you can (hopefully 2.5) and plug an OVER…

PUG LIFE…Julio Caesar Chavez Jr won a hard fought 12 round decision over Marco Antonio Rubio last night.

It’s what happened after the fight that had tongues wagging.

Turns out Chavez Jr was arrested for a DUI two weeks before the fight! It is, as Fightnews gingerly notes, the time one would have expected a fighter to be in the peak stage of his training. He was arrested at 4.30 in the morning and weighed 175 lbs, 15 lbs over the middleweight level.

Rumours have circulated about Chavez ever since he burst into prominence. He was handed the WBC Middleweight title as a gift after the bauble was stripped off rightful Champ Sergio Martinez. It’s clear he won’t be able to handle the top middleweights and, indeed, is a probable upset victim even against the likes of Andy Lee, should he ever deign to leave the safe confines of Mexico. His handlers will look to string him along against second tier fighters as long as the suits at HBO let them…

…Kelly Pavlik vs. Julio Caesar Chavez Jr? The jokes would be flowing as smoothly as the booze in the two fighter’s camps…