FOXBOROUGH – On Day 2 of the carefully-choreographed “Where’s Tom?” game the Patriots are playing – with Tom Brady again nowhere to be found – most of the talk from his teammates yesterday centered around the Giants.
The first to blow sunshine the Giants’ way was Bill Belichick.
“The Giants are a tough team to get ready for,” the Patriots coach said. “They do a lot of things well. This is probably one of those games (that) if we had a month to get ready for them, we’d still be working on them.”
Defensive end Richard Seymour was so impressed with the Giants after his Patriots beat them 38-35 in the regular-season finale that he made a gentleman’s bet with his friends that the Giants would make it to the Super Bowl.
“From a fan’s perspective, me and a couple of my buddies had our picks for the week, and I rode the Giants all the way (to the Super Bowl),” Seymour said. “I’m off of their bandwagon now, though.”
Asked why he picked the Giants, Seymour said: “Because I played them. I wouldn’t call it (an) inside scoop. I knew they were a good football team and it was just something fun. Me and my buddies got together and did that.
“They play the game the way the game is supposed to be played. Defensively, they’re tough. They can stop the run, rush the passer, they’re good on special teams, they’re well-coached. They have really good players over there, so we understand what they have and I think that’s what makes this match-up intriguing.”
The Giants’ performance in that game, one that helped propel them to Super Bowl XLII against the Patriots next Sunday, caught the attention of a number of the Patriots.
“It doesn’t surprise me at all that they’re in the position that they’re in; they’re one of the best teams we’ve played all year,” wide receiver Wes Welker said.
Unwittingly, the Patriots helped provide a lot of the momentum the Giants carried with them into the playoffs en route to three road postseason wins to get them to this point.
“They took the game they played against us and – even though they lost – they took a lot of positives out of that game,” cornerback Ellis Hobbs said. “What you’re seeing throughout these playoffs and what you saw in December is what they are and how good they can be.”
Linebacker Junior Seau, however, said the Patriots should take no credit for aiding the Giants.
“We’re not responsible for anything they did,” Seau said. “They did it on their own. They’re a great team and they went out there and performed under some adverse conditions. They took the scenic route to where they are. You’ve got to tip your hat off to them.”
The Patriots scoffed at the fact that they’re 121/2-point favorites.
“Favored? Just like I guess Green Bay was favored,” linebacker Adalius Thomas said. “That doesn’t mean anything. The only thing that matters is when the ball is kicked off, when it’s time to play, you make more plays and go out there and play good defense and good team ball and try to win the game. That favor doesn’t do anything but motivate the other team.”
Fullback Heath Evans boiled the rematch to its essentials:
“They look a lot better, which is scary,” he said. “We’ve got to do some different things. We’ve got to execute better.”