Gerard Warren got his hands on Peyton Manning when he was a Raider.

The New York Giants were crowned Super Bowl champions, again, beating the New England Patriots 21-17 at Indianapolis.

A few former Oakland Raiders were key on both sides. SBReport.net takes a look at their performances:

Sterling Moore – Patriots – CB

Moore had three tackles, ending his solid playoff run with the Patriots. The cornerback had two passes defended, one which halted a key Giants’ drive on a 3^rd and 10. That gave Tom Brady the ball back in the 4^th quarter with a shot at extending their lead prior to New York’s go-ahead possession. Moore had a forced fumble on a play in the 1^st quarter that was negated due to a penalty.

Gerard Warren – Patriots – DT

Had one tackle and assisted on another playing as a reserve.

Dave Tollefson – Giants – DL

Played well on special teams and in varying packages along the defensive front.

Kevin Boothe – Giants – OL

In the 2^nd quarter, he had a holding penalty that washed away a converted 3^rd and 1. On the next play, on 3^rd and 11, Eli Manning tossed an incomplete pass in the direction of Mario Manningham.
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Running back Ahmad Bradshaw celebrating a score versus the Raiders.

Super Bowl XLVI will feature two very deserving teams, with two passers looking to cement their legacies and one club in particular, searching for revenge after having their perfect season wiped away in this final game a few years back.

SBReport.net will take a look at what both the New York Giants and the New England Patriots have to accomplish to win this game and what would occur if either team gets to hoist the Vince Lombardi trophy on Sunday evening.

THE CASE FOR THE NEW YORK GIANTS (NFC CHAMPIONS)

Unlike the Patriots, the Giants can wing it with Eli Manning, not worry about a ground game and still come away victorious. That talented unit of wide receivers, which features Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham, could provide enough troubles for a highly questionable Pats’ secondary and enable Manning to put up better stats than his counterpart at the end of this final game of the 2011 season.

The Giants moved the ball very well against a tough, solid tackling and fiery defense on the road to get to the Super Bowl. Their efforts in San Francisco were impressive. And this Bill Belichick defense is nowhere near the talent level of the 49ers’ unit.

Brandon Jacobs nor Ahmad Bradshaw, do not need big games. But a few draws, some Bradshaw pitches to the edge and Jacobs’ downhill style could help set a tone and keep New England off-balance.

Manning will need a 40-plus pass attempt effort to win this game.

On defense, it’s quite simple, keep the Patriots one-dimensional. Yes, that may lead to big numbers for Tom Brady, but the Giants have to shutdown Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis and hope that fierce pass rush can get to the quarterback enough to make life miserable for him.

That formula was used to win in 2007 – so if Jason Pierre-Paul, Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora cannot get heat on Brady, the Giants will be in a shoot-out all afternoon and hoping that Brady doesn’t have the ball in his hands late in the contest either up with a chance to seal the deal, or with the team’s fate in his hands.

The Giants secondary isn’t very good either, but they have playmakers in Antrel Rolle and Kenny Phillips. And if their pass rush is wreaking havoc, they have enough talent on the linebacker unit and back end of the defensive backfield to contain New England’s deadly  tight ends.

A WIN FOR MANNING WILL…

Wouldn’t it be sweet for Eli to raise the trophy in the ‘House that Peyton built”?

A second victory against Brady in a Super Bowl will put the younger Manning among the elite in New York sports history. He’ll easily surpass Phil Simms as the greatest signal caller in Giants’ history and place himself in the pantheon of the Big Apple’s greats.

I would put him ahead of Mark Messier, who delivered the Rangers their first Stanley Cup in 54-years back in the 1993-94 campaign. Manning will surpass Walt Frazier (Knicks), will cast a shadow over Joe Namath (Jets) and by career’s end, which could sound crazy, may even have a chance to take the crown as the greatest Giant ever, taking the mantle away from Lawrence Taylor, who revolutionized the linebacker position in the NFL.

Manning could easily place himself in the Mt. Rushmore of NY sports; along with Derek Jeter, Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth – all who played for the Yankees.

THE CASE FOR THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (AFC CHAMPIONS)

On defense, Vince Wilfork will have to play the game of his life. Brandon Spikes will have to be a tackling machine and someone from that secondary – anyone – will need a key interception to slow Manning and that potent aerial attack.

A vital aspect of this contest is the week off. Belichick is a mastermind when given time to game plan, and with the Giants in such a roll, the bye actually is a major advantage for the Patriots – especially with Rob Gronkowski’s injured left ankle.

That two tight end set that New England deploys could give the Giants massive headaches. New York had breakdowns in coverage versus Vernon Davis and a 49er team that offered very little in terms of other targets in the NFC Championship game.

If Gronkowski can play and perform effectively, it will give the Patriots a chance to match him either against a slower linebacker or smaller safety, and others such as Aaron Hernandez, Wes Welker and Deion Branch could have huge games working the middle of the field.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Brady started the game in a no-huddle and uses it plenty throughout the evening in hopes of tiring the Giants pass rush, causing confusion in the secondary and prevent New York to make substitutions to their active front-seven.

Green-Ellis must be productive. They may not need well over 100-yards out of him, but it’s essential they can move the chains on short yardage with the run and offer more than what San Francisco did in terms of balance and versatility against an aggressive Giants defense.

Running right at the pass rushers and draw plays off of shotgun formations, quick snaps and other creative ways to get chunks of yards on the ground will be needed to keep Manning on the sideline as well. The one unit that took a beating when the Giants beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, in the game and via the media afterwards, was the offensive line of New England. This time around, they’ll have a chip on their shoulder and major incentive to play well against a New York team that has been chatty and boisterous along the defense the last few days.

ANOTHER RING FOR BRADY…

Brady has done it all. He’s a hall of famer to be and recognized as one of the elite sporting figures of this generation.

But a fourth Super Bowl title would be epic.

Brady could situate himself among the league’s immortals with a win. Not only will the Patriots need a big game from their star passer, but a larger-than-life stat line with a win could be the single greatest feat of his already stellar career.

New England enters this game with their most vital offensive component nowhere near 100% percent, per many reports. The defense they are heading into the game with may be the worst defensive unit ever in Super Bowl lore. Add  that he doesn’t posses a great rusher, nor an offensive line you could recognize immediately, and you’re talking about all the makings of a historic evening for Brady – especially since he’s still disturbed by his performance two weeks ago versus the Ravens and a few years back when his perfect season evaporated and a title slipped through his fingers, in a game which he played valiantly in and was in line to win another MVP.

Brady with a win, will stand-alone with Joe Montana and Johnny Unitas. From there, you can argue all you want about who’s the greatest. Then, you can add him to the list of greatest players to don shoulder pads, not just that played under center.

PREDICTION

Will Brady have a great game? Yes. Will Welker and the rest of the offense find a way to keep it tight through three quarters with the G-men? Absolutely. But I find it hard to believe, as much as I trust Belichick and his game-planning genius, that Raider cast-off Sterling Moore and that questionable secondary can stand toe-to-toe versus Manning and that passing game.

The New York pass rush will be relentless. And even if they face a no-huddle attack, they’ll find a way to make plays, get Brady moving in the pocket and force some throws down the field. With Gronkowski on a tender ankle, it really hinders what New England can do in their passing game.

What I find surprising is the line before the game? The Patriots have remained a 2 ½ to 3 point favorite all week. I know their regular season record and playoff seeding was taken into consideration, but the Giants are the hottest team coming into the game. The Pats are on a current 10-game winning streak, but they’ve faced Mark Sanchez, Tyler Palko, Vince Young, Dan Orlovsky, Rex Grossman, Tim Tebow (twice), Matt Moore, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Joe Flacco since their last defeat on November 6.

Oh, by the way, their last loss was against? Yes, Manning and the Giants.

COTTO’S FINAL SCORE: Giants 33 – Patriots 27    MVP: Eli Manning

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Chris McClain – click here to reach him on twitter.

This year’s Giants remind me of last season’s Green Bay Packers. Like the Packers last year, New York had to win their final two games of the season to win the NFC East and make the playoffs. The Giants run will end with the Lombard Trophy, just like last year’s Packers.

Both teams will make adjustments at the halftime, causing the bulk of the scoring to occur in the second half. The Giants will get their running game going to assist Manning and the receivers, along with keeping Brady off of the field as much as possible. Brady and the Patriots will have a chance to win the game late, but much like in 2007, the Giants defense will hold strong and secure the New York’s fourth Super Bowl victory.

MCCLAIN’S FINAL SCORE: Giants 28 – Patriots 24    MVP: Eli Manning

BOB CARR’S PREDICTION: Giants 38 – Patriots 24    MVP:  Eli Manning

ERIC STRAUSS’ PREDICTION: Giants 27 – Patriots 17   MVP: Eli Manning

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One of the reasons in the tongue-in-cheek column was:

2. All the real fanatics live in working-class Oakland and cheer for the Raiders. We’ve seen Raider Nation, and it’s a frightening spectacle. Niner fans don’t know from spikey costumes.

I’m sure that will bring a huge smile to the Raider Nation, as many of them will cheer against their Bay Area rival on Sunday. Here are some images  in honor of the article and the faithful that show-up every weekend wearing their Sunday best:

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Bill Belichick is aiming at his fourth Super Bowl title.

If you’re a fan of the NFL, this is a bittersweet weekend because you are getting a full day worth of football, but very agonizing if you expected your team to be in this spot and you begin to realize that the season is winding down.

The New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers are in the final-four. Winners go to the Super Bowl. The losers lament a season that just fell short of being on the grand stage.

RAVENS vs. PATRIOTS

For Baltimore, it’s a simple formula…

Run Ray Rice and hope to get enough pressure on Tom Brady to slow down his offensive onslaught.

In their last playoff meeting, Rice had a monster outing and then boasted about it being his finest day as a pro. The Ravens rushed that afternoon for 234-yards in a 33-14 win at Foxborough. The same must happen again.

Baltimore has to play keep-away, control the clock and pound that suspect New England defense. Yes, the Patriots played inspired football last weekend and looked fiery versus the Broncos. But that was a different offense. The Ravens are far more versatile and can move the chains with consistency with a balanced attack.

Sure, Tom Brady will put up points. That Ravens secondary doesn’t have the talent at cornerback to match-up outside with New England, nor do they want to use their linebackers and safeties in space to cover the best tight end tandem in the league. But ultimately, if Terrell Suggs and the rest of the front-seven can get into the pocket, that can shift the flow of the game dramatically.

Brady is a master and on a mission. Bill Belichick can still game plan with the best of them. And having the game in New England will be vital.

Ultimately, I trust Brady more. And even with all their flaws on defense, I can’t see Joe Flacco playing a mistake free game. As much as I like Rice and what he could potentially do, Belichick and co. will find a way to corral him and Brady’s arsenal will make the Ravens look slow and old.

PREDICTION: Patriots 34 – Ravens 27

GIANTS vs. 49ERS

Jim Harbaugh has the 49ers one-win from the big-game.

Who do I trust more? Eli Manning or Alex Smith? Easily… I’ll go with the man who has already won a ring and more importantly, a passer who has played league MVP-type football all-season for the New York Giants, but will be trumped by the likes of Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers in the voting.

San Francisco’s defense is legit. They are tough, as evidenced by some of the hitting last week and are stout versus the run. But even Brees carved them up and had the Saints up late in the 4^th quarter, while being a one-dimensional attack. The 49ers will get a heavy dose of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, and the Giants the last few weeks have had just as good as a aerial attack as anyone in the league.

Jacobs and Bradshaw are tough and shifty, can break big runs and will keep the 49ers off-balance enough to move the chains and help Manning’s play-action.

The 49ers need a major effort from Frank Gore. If not, they’ll have to depend on Smith’s arm again and that suspect group of receivers. The Giants secondary can be had. But can Kyle Williams, Michael Crabtree or Ted Ginn Jr. make enough plays? They were non-existent last weekend, and the only thing that saved the Niners’ offense was a career-performance from their all-world tight end, Vernon Davis.

Running the ball with Gore is a must. They need a 25+ carry, 130+ yard performance out of him. If they want to slow down that Giants’ pass rush, they must run right at Jason Pierre-Paul and neutralize New York’s four-man rush attack. If Perry Fewell has to commit extra men near the line of scrimmage to stop Gore, that could open it up for Davis, who has a clear advantage over anyone on the Giants defense who tries to cover him.

This game will be tight at the end. As I stated earlier, I trust Manning more, and if New York can apply some pressure on Smith, he’ll surely make a throw that will hurt  his team.

PREDICTION: Giants 23 – 49ers 17

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Tommy Kelly and co. should be happy with Mike Waufle

Several media outlets on Friday reported that the Oakland Raiders have hired Mike Waufle to coach the defensive line.

Waufle was the Silver & Black’s defensive line coach from 1998-to-2003 and was in that same capacity the last six campaigns. The Giants fired him earlier in the year.

Waufle was one of the more beloved coaches on the Giants staff for some time. His teaching techniques were applauded by standouts such as Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora – players who strived and were very productive linemen within his schemes.

Tom Coughlin admired his style – tough work ethic – as the former Marine was methodical in his approach with his players.

“I am extremely saddened by it,” Umenyiora reported to The Associated Press in an e-mail after his firing. “He is a great coach and we have a special relationship. I’m sure he will be OK though because there should be very high demand for a coach of his caliber.”

Waufle, 55, will inherit a unit with a lot of young talent.

But the biggest key will be the return of Richard Seymour. If Seymour is back in Oakland and Matt Shaughnessy and Desmond Bryant can continue to develop into competent contributors, this bunch could be very good.

Veterans like Greg Ellis, Gerard Warren and Tommy Kelly should benefit from Waufle’s arrival.

But the keys here is how he will improve their discipline, gap control and make them a better run stuffing unit.

The Raiders have had one of the worst run defenses since 2003:

2009 – 29^th in the NFL – 155.5 yds/g

2008 – 31^st in the NFL – 159.7 yds/g

2007 – 31^st in the NFL – 145.9 yds/g

2006 – 25^th in the NFL – 134.0 yds/g

2005 – 25^th in the NFL – 128.1 yds/g

2004 – 22^nd in the NFL – 125.8 yds/g

2003 – 32^nd in the NFL – 156.9 yds/g

Dwaine Board was the Raiders defensive line coach last season.

So far this off-season, Oakland has done a great job adding good coaching to their sideline. But this is just one move – hiring Waufle. There are many to go, and one of utmost importance that we have awaited for weeks.

About the team’s effort:

Ah, we was kind of behind the eight ball once again. But, I think we kept fighting till the end. We played against a great football team today. And it showed, especially when we was not moving the football like we should and you have to strike some sort of way against a team that, goes out, good defense, offense is moving the ball. Our offense, we just have to show up.

I asked him about the frustration, every week the offense not producing and going up against a tough Giants’ defense:

It really can’t be explained man. We say we are not far on certain plays, but not far is not going to get us where we need to be.

We need to be there, much closer than what we are.

Talking to Gerard Warren during the game:

Telling me just to keep fighting, stick in there…

He does that a lot. He just tells me that he was going to go out there and keep fighting just to get us the ball back so we can move forward as an offense.

I then asked if he felt the pressure today applied by the Giants and if he felt comfortable behind the offensive line:

At the time man, you don’t really pay attention of who’s in. When a guy is out, it’s a better situation for the guy coming in, to show what he could do to help. And I expect that out of each and every one of the guys that came in the game. So, I don’t really pay much attention to it, I just continue to do what I can do and control what I can control.

We played against a good group today.

On locking in on receivers and whether he can feel the pressure:

Locked in, you know, Most of the time you feel it and you kind of get away from it.

[Giants] were just making plays today…

What possible good can come out of this game?

The good things we did today. That’s always a plus. It may not seem like it at the time, but there is always a plus to look from it. Hopefully, we can gain a lot from it and keep fighting. It’s got to be a brighter day. At the end of that tunnel, there has to be a brighter light.

What would be some of the good things to focus on?

On certain plays when you can tell the guy is making the right step on a block or anything positive you can pull out of what we did today.

About being fined, being overweight:

That was sort of the first day that I came to practice [back in camp]. Yeah, that’s over with.

Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report.net Columnist

Tom Cable:

Really, other than our effort on special teams, we just got outplayed on both sides of the ball. We are trying to just keep on pushing through. At some point, we have to get it stopped, so we can move forward as a football team.

Effort I felt like it wasn’t such a big deal. I felt like we were just getting beat on the line of scrimmage. IN terms of protection, we used a lot of 7 and 8 man protection, but lost individual match-ups.

I expected more out of us and we just did not deliver today.

When asked about the reshuffling of the offensive line:

It doesn’t help, that’s for sure, but who ever you put in there has to go in and be able to execute what you are trying to do. And certainly, the Giants have an excellent d-line.

Whether JaMarcus Russell was aware of the pressure:

Really, it was just a matter of moving around, and second effort by their guy, a second move really. It was just individual match-ups where we got beat.

What is your level of concern with Russell?

Well, I’m concern for this football team, not just JaMarcus.

I have so much faith in them, believe so strong in them, but you know, at some point, you got to draw the line in the sand, you have to put your foot down and say that is enough, so that you can move forward as a football team.

How do you do that? How do you say that [to the team]?

You stay the course. You don’t start making wholesale change. You just keep pushing and it just takes, you know a few plays here and there to get yourself on track if you will and once that happens, you can take off as a team.

What has happened to the defense?

Today, it looked like poor tackling to be quite honest with you.

About the Randy Hanson situation:

I don’t know why he would do that [talk publicly about his side of the story]. But, the process will take care of it.

For me, is just go to work every day and do your job…

About Hanson’s accusations:

I will not respond to any of that…

About the losses and keeping team from thinking its just another bad season:

Because its not. We are not them, and we just have to take care of us right now. We have a couple of home games coming up and a ability to get healthier at a coupe of other spots and see if we can move forward.

Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report.net Columnist

Lawrence Tynes nailed his third field goal of the day from 37-yards out to extend New York’s lead to 44-7.

JaMarcus Russell opened the next Raider drive with a 29-yard toss to Zach Miller. But on the next play, Miller was flagged for holding and Oakland faced a 1^st and 20. Russell again found Miller, this time for 13-yards and after a unsuccessful Michael Bush run on 2^nd down, the Raiders faced a 3^rd and 11. Former Raider Dave Tollefson sacked Russell on third-down – the sixth in the afternoon for the Giants – ending the Oakland threat.

New York started running out the clock midway through the 4^th quarter with running back Gartrell Johnson and a Carr scramble of 11-yards on 3^rd and 11.

The Giants had piled up nearly 500-yards of total offense approaching the 2:00 warning.

Stay tuned for more coverage live from New York.

Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report.net Columnist

On the Giants first play, Ahmad Bradshaw ripped a 24-yard run, giving him 106-yards for the game on 9 carries. A few plays later on 3^rd and 10, Oakland would force an incompletion, but Trevor Scott roughed up David Carr and a 15-yard infraction was called on the Raiders’ defensive end. Some time after that, Carr scampered into the end zone from 12-yards out for a commanding 38-7 New York lead.

On the ensuing drive, the Raiders faced a 2^nd and 8 when JaMarcus Russell scrambled and started his throwing motion, but the football was jarred loose on the sack by Mathias Kiwanuka and recovered by Antonio Pierce at the Oakland 22-yard line. Tom Cable challenged, but the official call was upheld.

The Giants were not able to get a first down, but the good field position set up a Lawrence Tynes 33-yard field goal that extended the Giants lead to 41-7.

Michael Bush got some of the workload on the next drive with runs of 6, 3 and 3 yards. But Oakland’s possession was thwarted when Justin Tuck recorded his second sack of the day, an 8-yard loss on 1^st and 10. Oakland eventually punted a few plays later after not converting a 3^rd and 14.

Score: Giants 41 – Raiders 7

Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report.net Columnist