Tonight's the Night

The last team standing between the Patriots and history is the New York Giants. Tonight the two face off in Giants Stadium in what amounts to a meaningless game for both teams in the short run. The debate is: should either team play their starters?

The Giants have nothing to play for, having locked up the 5th seed and having several banged up starters that could use a week of rest. The Patriots have home field throughout the playoffs and also have no use for a victory tonight. What they do have is an opportunity for history on both the individual and collective level.

Randy Moss is only 1 touchdown away from tying Jerry Rice's single season record for TD receptions. Against a guy like Sam Madison, I wouldn't doubt his ability to break that in the first half. Tom Brady is 1 away from tying Peyton Manning's single season record for touchdown passes with 49. Likewise, he could easily take care of that in the first half, maybe even the first quarter.

More importantly, the Patriots could become the first team since the 72 Dolphins to post a perfect regular season record, and the only one to do so under a 16 game regular season schedule. Therefore, it looks like the Patriots have some serious motivation to play out this game at full force, or at least the first half. The Giants really don't have much of a chance here. Eli Manning scares nobody. He would need a career night to beat New England today.

That being said, if I were either team I would play my starters as long as possible. Hello? You play. To win. The game. The Giants have a chance to do something special in beating the Patriots, as it is unlikely that they would run the table with Eli Manning at quarterback. The Patriots likewise have something special to accomplish and should at least play the starters long enough to assure victory.