Resilience has been the Patriots’ 12th man all season.
If you ask Patriots owner Robert Kraft and coach Bill Belichick, they will tell you that resilience has been the difference between the one-and-done playoff teams the previous two seasons and the group that outlasted the Ravens 23-20 in Sunday’s taut AFC Championship Game.
That resilience is as much a reason the Patriots are headed to Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis in pursuit of the franchise’s fourth Lombardi Trophy as Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and Wes Welker have been.
And that resilience is probably the Patriots’ best chance to overcome the surging tidal wave of momentum, confidence and execution their Super Bowl opponents, the Giants, have become on their magical ride to a second Super Bowl in four years.
The Patriots need to go no further than watching the tape of the Giants’ riveting 20-17 overtime win over the 49ers in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game in San Francisco to understand that there might not be a more mentally tough team than the Giants in the land.
“I’m very impressed with our mental toughness,’’ Giants coach Tom Coughlin said yesterday. “We preach it from Day One and try to explain what it is — a perfectly disciplined will that refuses to give in. I think you see evidence of that.’’
Indeed, the most significant point of resistance for the Patriots from the Giants will be their mental toughness, galvanized with each single-elimination game they’ve won during their run to glory the last month and a half.
The Patriots certainly remember having their dream of a perfect season shattered by the Giants in that Super Bowl loss four years ago, the last time either team made it to the NFL’s ultimate destination, how mentally-tough those underdog Giants were on that day.
The Giants’ resilience that Super Bowl Sunday was more powerful than that of the Patriots. Whichever team owns the edge in that department on Feb. 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis will likely be the team hoisting the Lombardi Trophy amidst the confetti falling from rafters.
The Patriots, who have a score or two to settle with the Giants, the last team to beat them this season (10 New England wins ago, on Nov. 6), believe it will be them.
“It hasn’t been perfect, but they’ve never backed down,’’ Belichick said.
Belichick defined his team’s mental toughness as “doing your best for the team even when everything’s not going right for you personally.”
There were a number of moments in the Patriots’ win over the Ravens Sunday when examples of what Belichick referred to were on display in neon lights, beginning with perhaps the most pivotal moment in the game — the pass breakup in the end zone by Patriots cornerback Sterling Moore on Ravens receiver Lee Evans with 22 seconds remaining in the game.
“We won 10 straight games and they haven’t all been pretty,’’ Brady said. “There’s really some resiliency, we’ve shown that all season. Even in the games we’ve lost we fought until the end. We’re always going to fight to the end.’’
So will the Giants. It figures to be another epic game.