Umenyiora and Strahan vs. Light and Kaczur

Key for Giants:

The Giants won three post-season games this year without getting a sack from Pro Bowler Osi Umenyiora. They also were only able to manage one sack on Patriots QB Tom Brady in their Week 17 meeting.

Umenyiora’s end mate, Michael Strahan, is one of the best pass rushers in NFL history, and benefits greatly having someone as talented and athletic as Umenyiora on the other side of the line. Add in third DE Justin Tuck, the G-men have one of the more formidable pass rushes in the game. They’re going to need all three of them getting after Brady every time he drops back if the Giants want to hold the league’s most prolific offense at bay.

And even that might not be enough.

New York has an opportunistic secondary, which has played fantastic football this post-season. They have the ability as a unit to cover the field, and possibly buy that extra second-and-a-half needed to sack a passer as savvy as Brady is. But the primary weapon the Giants have on defense is knocking the quarterback down – sometimes he even has the ball.

Strahan, Umenyiora and Tuck are going to have to get after Brady, and give their secondary a chance to find a passing lane or two. Consistency in both of those phases of the game could lead to two things that don’t happen much: Sacking Brady, or being the recipient of a rare off-target Brady pass.

Key for Brady:

As every team has seen this year, Brady is about as hard to sack as Sasquatch is to locate. WR Randy Moss will get massive accolades, but the simple fact is Brady is the NFL’s MVP because he is afforded six seconds to throw the ball, and his experience and intelligence can buy him an additional two seconds by sliding in the pocket.

As far as Moss goes, you can’t teach 6-foot-5. He’s going to get open against the two best coverage defensive backs in NFL history if he has seven seconds to run around the field. If Brady is able to break out a Barcalounger and pour himself a cup of coffee before he throws the ball (which Light and Kaczur have allowed him to do all season), the secondary is going to get burned.

Light is also going to the Pro Bowl, and not only has great strength, but he plays with tremendous balance. He’s the kind of tackle that doesn’t necessarily maul his assignment, but he executes at such a high level of efficiency, he’s never going to beat himself. As Umenyiora saw in Week 17, Light has an uncanny ability to use his opponent’s leverage against himself.

Kaczur isn’t much different. A little smaller, and a little less dominant than Light, he still doesn’t allow much to get past him. Kaczur (and RG Stephen Neal) did not play in Week 17, and the Patriots still only allowed one sack to the NFL’s leading sack-producing defense. But giving a future Hall of Famer like Strahan two weeks to study doesn’t improve anyone’s chances.

Final word:

The Patriots’ offensive line has kept Brady’s jersey clean all season, and even while the Giants physically have a dominant pass rush, even the best the league has seen this year hasn’t been able to accomplish much. If New York is able to establish pressure on every Patriots passing down, they still will need to get four or five sacks, and probably two or three interceptions to keep the Pats off the scoreboard – or perhaps more importantly, keep the ball in their own possession.

Keeping Brady upright is pretty much all the Patriots need, and the offensive line has done that all season – including 60 minutes against the Giants with two of their five starters out. Look for much of the same Sunday, but if the Pats fall to 18-1, it will be because Brady wasn’t given the same protection he’s used to.