Super Sunday

After an off season lockout, 512 regular season games, and 10 playoff games, it has all come down to this: Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots (4:30pm MT on NBC). The commercials, the halftime show, the food, the rematch, New York vs. Boston, Manning vs. Brady, and oh yeah, the game.

Four years ago in Glendale, Ariz., the New York Giants shocked the New England Patriots, 17-14, in what many rank as the greatest Super Bowl of all time. Four years later, the Patriots and Giants are at it again. The venue has changed, as has the cast of characters, but much remains the same. The Patriots, led by Tom Brady, will enter with a double-digit win streak; Eli Manning, the MVP of Super Bowl XLII, brings the Giants into XLVI as the "hot" team again. It's hard to imagine this Super Bowl topping the last one between these two teams, but with Brady and Manning, nothing should be counted out.

This will be New York's fifth Super Bowl. The Giants are 3-1, having won Super Bowl XXI and XXV under Bill Parcells, and XLII under Tom Coughlin. Coughlin was actually an assistant on Parcells' staff when they won Super Bowl XXV, coaching the wide receivers.

Bill Belichick was also an assistant on that team, as well as the '86 Giants that won Super Bowl XXI, serving as defensive coordinator. Later, he was Parcells' defensive coordinator on the 1996 Patriots team that lost Super Bowl XXXI to the Packers. This is Belichick's fifth Super Bowl appearance as New England's head coach.

[nfl.com]