Eli Manning proves he is a better "Big Game" quarterback than his brother Peyton.

Super Bowl XLVI is in the books, and once again Eli Manning drove the Giants downfield on a game-winning touchdown drive in the last few minutes of the Super Bowl. 

Eli now has two Super Bowl rings compared to the one Peyton has.  Eli has a winning record in the playoffs, Peyton does not. 

Eli has also won two Super Bowl MVP's to Peyton's one. 

Eli has beaten arguably the best coach and best quarterback in the NFL twice.  Peyton beat Lovie Smith and Rex Grossman, and also threw a pick-six to lose a Super Bowl to the Saints.

You can't take anything away from Peyton Manning's regular season stats.  He dominates just about every other quarterback that ever played the game in that regards.  Last I checked though, no one ever gives you a title for winning in the regular season.  I'm talking to you Baltimore. 

For all the well deserved accolades Peyton receives in his career, he has gone one and done in the playoffs EIGHT times.  Twice now, Eli Manning has taken his team from the wild card round to the top of the NFL world. 

Everyone always says if you want to accurately predict who will win a playoff game, just look at who has the better quarterback.  How many playoff games have the Colts played in with Peyton at QB and lost to inferior quarterbacks?  I know, Peyton's stats haven't been horrible in the postseason, but even still, the truly great quarterbacks find a way to lead their team to glory. 

If we're talking about the regular season then Peyton is your guy although Eli threw for 4933 yards this season.  That's a better total than Peyton's best year of 4700 yards.  Maybe Eli is ready to take over for Peyton in regular season domination as well.

Almost makes you wish you could be there for the next Manning Thanksgiving dinner.  We all know Peyton is still better at shouting "Cut that meat."

Super Bowl XLVI Preview

Just a few years ago the New York Giants stunned the football world by knocking off the undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.  Here we are four years later and the two teams will square off in a rematch for the Lombardi trophy.

Last time out the Patriots were undefeated and had the highest scoring offense in NFL history.   The Giants were a wild card team from the NFC that no one outside of New York thought had much chance of winning.  .Plaxico Burress famously predicted the Patriots wouldn't score more than 17 points which drew laughter from Tom Brady.  It turned out Plaxico was right. 

The Patriots once again come into this Super Bowl as the favorites to win.  While I would never rule out victory by a team led by Tom Brady, this should be a close matchup just like we saw four years ago.

We could see some history if the Patriots win.  A victory would mean that Bill Belicheck would be tied with Chuck Noll for most Super Bowl titles by one head coach.  It would also put Tom Brady up with Terry Bradshaw as the only quarterbacks with four rings.  I'm sure a lot of Steeler fans out there will be hoping this does not happen.

Brady ended the regular season with the second highest amounst of passing yardage in NFL history.  He'd own the record except Drew Brees happened to throw for more yardage this year.  Even still, 5235 yards passing is an amazing total.  Brady completed over 65% of his passes and upped the ante in crunch time, connecting on 68.6% in the playoffs. 

Eli Manning is more than capable of producing a lot of offense against a Patriot secondary that ranks amongst the worst in the league this year. Manning threw for almost 5000 yards (4933) this year. He completed 61% of his passes and has been just as good in the postseason, throwing for 923 yards through 3 games plus 8 touchdowns against just one interception. 

Both teams are more than capable at the quarterback position, but their rushing attacks leave a lot to be desired.  The Giants ranked dead last in that category this year, averaging just 89.2 yards per game.   Ahmad Bradshaw leads the Giants in rushing this year but did not reach the 700 yard mark.  New England's rushing attack ended up ranked 20th in the league, at 110.3 YPG.  BenJarvus Green-Ellis also failed to break the 700 yard mark on the season. 

The bread and butter of both offenses remains their passing attacks.  New York had two receivers eclipse the 1000 yard mark this year.  Victor Cruz (1536 yards) and Hakeem Nicks (1192 yards) both have had fantastic seasons for the Giants, plus Mario Manningham provides a great third option for Eli Manning. 

The Patriots feature Wes Welker, who has been one of the most productive wide receivers in the league the past few seasons.  This year he caught 122 passes for 1569 yards.  Rob Gronkowski also destroyed the 1000 yard mark by totalling 1327 yards and 17 TD's.  He's been hampered by a high ankle sprain, so that might limit his playmaking ability in the Super Bowl.  If not, look for the Patriots' other tight end, Aaron Hernandez to try and fill some of that void. 

Defensively, the gameplan for the Giants will be to attack Tom Brady via the blitz and try to limit the amount of time he has to make throws downfield.  Jason Pierre Paul (16.5 sacks), Justin Tuck, and also Osi Umenyiora must get to Tom Brady early and often to try and disrupt his timing. 

The Patriots will give up a lot of yards in this one, but their ability to win the game will come down to forcing some turnovers by the Giants.  Baltimore dominated just about every category in the AFC championship but lost because of some poorly timed mistakes.  Eli Manning has been solid in the postseason by limiting his mistakes.  He is exactly the kind of quarterback you want going up against the Patriots in this matchup.

Overall this game will come down to how well the Giants are able to play defensively against Tom Brady.   If they can contain him as well as the Baltimore Ravens did in the AFC Championship, I think the Giants offense will be able to produce enough points to claim victory.  If this becomes a shootout game, I think you then have to favor the better quarterback, which is Tom Brady.

If Rob Gronkowski plays and is effective he could be a huge difference maker.  It's very tough to defend the two tight end look that the Patriots throw at you, along with Wes Welker.  All reports indicate he should be ready to go.

On paper, just about every major stat seems to indicate a Patriots victory, and you never want to bet against Tom Brady.  Having said that, there's some irony in the fact the Giants are once again standing in the way of the Patriots in the Super Bowl.  I think the Giants have almost as good of an offense, and they have the better defense. 

It could be wishful thinking on my part but I'm taking the upset pick and going with the Giants.

Patriots-Ravens: Which is the lesser of two evils?

Steeler fans are used to rooting passionately against the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots. 

In terms of AFC teams, there is no bigger rival than the Ravens, although the Patriots led by Tom Brady are pretty close.

It's safe to say most Steeler fans were hoping the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans could pull off upsets in their divisional round matchups against these hated foes, but it wasn't in the cards.

So now we're left with the ultimate no-win scenario for Steeler fans.  Do you root for the division rival you despise with every inch of your soul or do you root for Tom Brady?   Gatorade Bath (Harbaugh) vs. Spygate (Belichick)?

This should be a question in the popular party game "Would You Rather?"  Would you rather see the Baltimore Ravens get over the stigma of being unable to perform in the playoffs or would you rather see Tom Brady's smiling face mugging for all the Super Bowl reporters?   Maybe this time he won't laugh if the Giants also make it and predict a low scoring affair.

So who will The Voice be rooting for in the AFC Championship game?  This might not be the answer many of you are expecting, but I am going to root for...



I think I need to pick the....



Give me a minute here.  This leaves a sour taste in my mouth.



I'm pulling for the...






                                                    ...Baltimore Ravens.


I cannot stand cheaters, and from the moment the Spygate scandal came to light, I could never respect the Patriots again.  For all the talk of how Belichick was some kind of coaching genius, it loses a ton of luster when we find out he had to cheat to give himself an edge.

The hatred for the Ravens is born from the fact that Baltimore and Pittsburgh are two teams that play football the way it is supposed to be played.  Hard hitting, tough, physical football.

We hate Terrell Suggs, Ray Lewis, Haloti Ngata, and Ed Reed with a passion but only because they are a division rival.  I admire the fact there's another team in the NFL willing to play this style of football.

Granted, they need to learn a little humility and act like they've won something recently by not dumping Gatorade on their coach after a regular season victory.

Plus, look at the silver lining in this matchup.  At least one of them is guaranteed to lose next week.

I've met a lot of Baltimore football fans from my days announcing for the Erie indoor football team.  Baltimore was one of their big rivals for a few years and those guys love their football as much as Pittsburghers love the game.  You have to respect that.

Doesn't mean I have to like it.