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Justin Tuck says he has done everything he can to clear his schedule so he can attend Game 2 between the Rangers and Devils on Wednesday night.

But the Giants defensive end is going to be a little busy. The Giants will receive their Super Bowl rings at Tiffany & Co., but Tuck will have the Rangers on his mind as well, as he has become a big Blueshirts fan.

"Went to my first Rangers game versus the Pittsburgh Penguins in that series in 2005 and have been a fan ever since," Tuck said at a Subway appearance for the screening of the movie "Battleship" at the Intrepid on Tuesday night. "It is funny, I have been to a lot of Rangers games and until I banged on the home bench after they scored a last-second goal to send it to overtime, nobody ever noticed me."

"I lost my mind," Tuck added of him banging on the glass in celebration. "That was Game 5 against Ottawa. So I had the opportunity to become a fan. I didn't know what that felt like for a long time. That night I was a true fan."

Of course, Devils fans like to remind Tuck that he resides and works in New Jersey, where the Giants play and practice.

"When I became an East Coaster, the first hockey game I went to was a Rangers game and I was hooked from then," he said. "It has nothing to do with my dislike for the Devils. If the Devils so happen to beat the Rangers in the series, I will root for the Devils to win [the Stanley Cup]."

"It is kind of like the Nets and the Knicks," added Tuck, who is an avid NBA fan as well. "I am a Nets fan but I love the Knicks. And when the Knicks and the Nets aren't playing [each other], I root for the Knicks."

Tuck is hoping there will be plenty of more Rangers home games to attend this postseason.

"I don't see any reason why they can't [beat the Devils]," Tuck said. "The Garden is the greatest environment to play in; they are going to have home ice throughout. They play well. As long as [Henrik] Lundqvist is playing the way he did last night, they are going to be OK."

Justin Tuck saw Osi Umenyiora’s Mother’s Day Twitter jab at LeSean McCoy and came up with his own conclusion.

“My thing is it was just his ploy to get more followers,” Tuck joked. “That’s all.”

Appearing at a SUBWAY event for the screening of the new movie “Battleship” held aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space museum, Tuck cracked about Umenyiora wishing McCoy a Happy Mother’s Day.

While Umenyiora might have been having fun at McCoy’s expense on Twitter, the Giants defensive end won’t be laughing later this summer if he and the Giants are unable to resolve his contract.

Umenyiora wants a new deal as he enters the final year of his contract worth just under $4 million this season. Tuck said he and his teammates understand Umenyiora’s contract concern and how it is a part of the business of the NFL.

“We just understand that it is a part of the game and why make it bigger than what it is,” Tuck said. “You can add fuel to the fire and make it huge. Right now it is just smoke. You don’t even see the flames yet. And we would like to keep it that way.”

GM Jerry Reese has said he is open to an extension and has offered Umenyiora an extension for two straight years. Umenyiora countered by saying that the team offered him half of what Mathias Kiwanuka recently received in guarantees in a new three-year, $21.75 million extension. Kiwanuka will get $10.95 million in guaranteed money.

Tuck hopes the Giants will be able to keep his good friend happy knowing full well how important Umenyiora is to the defending Super Bowl champions’ success.

He has been in constant contact with Umenyiora but is unsure if he will see the defensive end at Wednesday night’s ring ceremony at Tiffany & Co.

“I talk to Osi constantly,” Tuck said. “I haven’t seen him. He tweeted some pictures of his son doing my Tuck bow [sack celebration]. I told him, ‘hey, your son is smarter than you, he recognizes a real football player.’ That’s all it is, stuff like that, back and forth.”

When asked if he thinks he will see Umenyiora on Wednesday night when the Giants receive their rings, Tuck joked about his good friend again.

“If he tweets me a picture of his son doing something,” Tuck cracked. “He thinks he has better abs than me and stuff like that. Osi is weird.”

But, of course, if Tuck doesn’t see Umenyiora on Wednesday night, he hopes to see his friend in a Giants uniform later this summer in camp.

The defending Super Bowl champions get back to work this weekend, as the New York Giants hold their rookie minicamp in East Rutherford, N.J. Repeating is hard work, though, and there are good reasons why only one team this century has been able to do it.

You lose players. You lose coaches. You become the No. 1 target for teams that have identified you as the biggest obstacle standing in their way of getting what they want. The people who run the Giants, and many of the people who play for the Giants, were in this position four years ago, and they know all about the challenges that face the defending Super Bowl champs.

But this year's Giants are not your ordinary defending champ. They were, speaking strictly in terms of winning percentage, the weakest Super Bowl champion in history. They didn't even secure their playoff spot until the final game of the regular season. With two weeks to go, they were 7-7 and in real danger of finishing under .500.

All of these things are facts, just as much as the title they won. So as they get back to work this spring and summer, the Giants face the seemingly incongruous dual task of maintaining the magic that brought them their title while also improving a 9-7 team.

They have some things going for them, and I'm not just talking about Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz, Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul. The Giants run their franchise as one that's perpetually in transition.

Rather than wait for problems to present themselves, or roster holes to open, the Giants constantly churn the middle and the back end of their roster, developing players in their system so they're ready to step in when need arises. There are running backs and wide receivers on the roster who have been waiting for the opportunity created by the free-agent defections of Brandon Jacobs and Mario Manningham, and those players will get the chance to do what Cruz and Pierre-Paul did last year when presented with similar chances. The Giants never allow themselves to get so thin at any one position that they don't at least have options for replacing those who leave or get hurt or decide to sit out training camp.

That said, this Giants team does have holes to fill and problems to solve. They finished 32nd in the league in rushing offense -- a fact that, while mitigated by the improvements the run game showed in December and January -- didn't sit well with their running backs and their offensive linemen. They will need to get better there, and to do so they'll need Ahmad Bradshaw's feet to stay healthy for the first time in years. Plus, they must find someone to replace the 167 touches and eight touchdowns Jacobs contributed to last season's cause.

They'll need to shuffle the offensive line again. While Kareem McKenzie was not what he used to be, he was the starting right tackle on a team that won the Super Bowl, and they did not replace him. They hope that Will Beatty (a) comes back healthy from his eye injury and (b) plays better than he did at left tackle in the first 10 games of last season.

David Diehl isn't around to slide over and bail him out this time. Diehl's got to play right tackle in place of McKenzie. The Giants have some offensive linemen they like for the long-term, but this looks like another transition year on the line. While they have enough good veterans in place to pull it off, that's a tough tightrope act to try too many years in a row.

They have bodies at linebacker, with Keith Rivers brought in as a good veteran reinforcement and some of last year's promising rookies hopefully ready to take a next step, but they have no clear man for the middle. They have bodies at cornerback, but they have question marks there, too.

Corey Webster was awesome in 2011. Can he repeat that performance? Is Terrell Thomas fully recovered from the preseason knee injury that cost him the whole season? Will Prince Amukamara make more of a contribution?

Don't think for a second that GM Jerry Reese isn't concerned. He used each of his first three draft picks on positions at which he lost a player in free agency -- running back (David Wilson for Jacobs), wide receiver (Rueben Randle for Mario Manningham) and cornerback (Jayron Hosley for Aaron Ross). And he's smart to be concerned, because while these Giants rightfully consider themselves a championship team, they're also a team that won one less regular-season game in 2011 than it won in 2010. Had someone in the NFC East won 10 and the Giants missed the playoffs, their offseason narrative would have been that of a team moving in the wrong direction.

Instead, the Giants have a two-front problem to solve. They have a division and a conference and a league full of teams that saw what they did and now consider Super Bowl glory more attainable than ever. And they have an internal mandate to be better this year than 9-7, because they know first-hand that it's not usually good enough to get you the chance to make a Super Bowl run.

They're capable of doing it, and they'll deservedly enter the season among the favorites to win it all again. They have superstars at quarterback, wide receiver and defensive end, and in this day and age that can carry you a long way. But as far as defending Super Bowl champions go, these Giants have more issues than most -- and more work to do.

Tom Coughlin sounded the alarm here at the combine last year that the Giants needed a center entering the draft.

Of course, the Giants didn’t end up drafting a center but they did sign David Baas in free agency.

This year, Coughlin says tight end is the priority after the Giants watched Jake Ballard and Travis Beckum tear their ACLs in the Super Bowl.

Both underwent surgery on Tuesday and Coughlin said the rehab process will take at least seven months, which means the head coach will need tight end bodies in camp. At the moment, they have Bear Pascoe, who will be a restricted free agent, and Christian Hopkins, who was on the practice squad, as the two healthy tight ends on the team.

“That’d be nice,” Coughlin said when asked about getting a tight end. “It would be a nice thing. We had a pretty good combination we thought in terms of people who could block, people who could run up the field, that type of thing. Jake Ballard really did an outstanding job in all capacities. Became an excellent receiving tight end, made big play after big play for us and that was a great thing. Unfortunately, Ballard and Beckum both get injured, seriously injured in the Super Bowl. They both had their surgery and they’re on their way to recovery, but as you know that’s a lengthy recovery.”

The Giants draft 32nd overall in the first round.

ROAD TO RECOVERY: Coughlin said cornerback Terrell Thomas and middle linebacker Jon Goff are both part of his plan for next season. The two are unrestricted free agents and also recovering from ACL surgeries last year.

“All you can do is you have a plan,” Coughlin said. “And the plan certainly does include those two guys. How soon or whatever, that remains to be seen. The overall scope of needs, who you’d like to have and so on and so forth, that all becomes part of the plan.”

Coughlin -- who also revealed that Justin Tuck, Chris Canty and Linval Joseph underwent surgeries -- said Thomas and Goff should have enough time to be ready for the season if they re-sign.

PROTECTING THE LINE: Coughlin defended his offensive line when someone asked the head coach about the Giants’ O-line in his press conference.

“Well, I would argue with you about talent,” Coughlin said. “It's a very talented offensive line. Two out of the past four Super Bowls we've just won, and it basically was the same guys, give or take one or two. Eli [Manning has] always been a quick decision-maker, but the combination of our protection schemes, our athletes up front, the quarterback's ability to get the ball out quickly. That has served us very well because our sack numbers over the years have been down. That may be that one game Eli was exceptional at getting rid of the ball, but it comes down to protection as well. We're certainly a good offensive line, but in every circumstance, you have to continue to build and develop and bring along young players."

Jerry Reese admitted recently that he is not sure how the offensive line will look this coming season with left tackle Will Beatty having been cleared to return and Kareem McKenzie set to hit free agency. Extra offensive linemen Tony Ugoh and Stacy Andrews are also free agents.

NASCAR AT NASCAR: Three members of the Giants’ NASCAR package will be at NASCAR’s Daytona 500 on Sunday Feb. 26.

Osi Umenyiora, Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka will ride in the Grand Marshal pace car before the 54th running of the Daytona 500.

NASCAR was the name for the Giants’ four defensive end alignment on passing packages.

I recently gave my report card for the Giants 2011 season position-by-position. But because there was only so much space to discuss each position, I wanted to go more in-depth on each position and spin it forward to next season.

Today we look at the defensive line. On Monday: Linebackers.

DEFENSIVE LINE
Grade: A

It was a roller coaster-like season for the defensive line last season.

Osi Umenyiora opened camp refusing to practice over his contract, temporarily was allowed to seek a trade before coming back for three practices only to opt for surgery on his knee. But this might’ve been the biggest blessing in disguise for the Giants. While Umenyiora was missed, his absence allowed Jason Pierre-Paul to get valuable first-team reps in camp and the second-year stud took off, emerging into a superstar with 16.5 sacks.

He carried the defense on occasions during the season and, of course, even found time to block a field goal to help save the Giants’ season in Dallas.

The season was a battle for Justin Tuck, who suffered a stinger in the preseason and wasn’t himself until late in the season. Tuck battled through injuries and personal grief with the death of relatives throughout the season. But he finished the season strong with 5.5 sacks in his last six games, culminating with a two sacks in the Super Bowl.

After his turbulent start to the season, Umenyiora returned after missing the first three games and was sensational early on. But a high ankle sprain cost him four games later in the season and the Giants struggled without their speedy pass rusher.

But like Tuck, Umenyiora came on strong when the Giants needed him most at the end -- he had 5.5 sacks and two forced fumbles in his last five games -- and the pass rush came to life during the Giants’ final six-game winning streak.

Coinciding with this was the solid play of Chris Canty, Linval Joseph and Rocky Bernard inside. All three plugged the inside and even provided an added dimension to the pass rush.

The Giants’ depth at pass rusher is pretty much unmatched. Mathias Kiwanuka got more comfortable with his hybrid linebacker-defensive end role as the season progressed. And Dave Tollefson was another one of Reese’s underrated offseason moves. Re-signing Tollefson, who is popular in the locker room, was big and the veteran provided incredible depth at pass rusher.

The future, though, remains a bit hazy on the defensive line. Umenyiora still wants a raise and is under contract for this season at just under $4 million. He also still views himself as a starter and JPP is now the starting right defensive end. Tollefson, Bernard and DT Jimmy Kennedy are free agents.

The Giants will have second-round pick Marvin Austin returning after missing all of his rookie season due to injury but Austin still hasn’t played any football now since the 2009 season.

The Giants also have young developmental players like defensive end Justin Trattou and DT Dwayne Hendricks.

Draft-wise, do not discount Jerry Reese from taking another defensive lineman. He will always subscribe to the best player available theory and this year should be no different since the Giants are Super Bowl champs.

Tell us what your assessment is of the Giants defensive line and what you think the Giants should do this offseason below.

This didn't feel like a Tuesday at MetLife Stadium.

"Beautiful crowd, no questions about it," Giants running back Brandon Jacobs said about the fans who gathered at MetLife Stadium for the team's pep rally Tuesday. "It felt like a Sunday here."

The Giants estimated that 40,000 to 45,000 fans packed the venue to welcome home the Super Bowl champions after their ride up the Canyon of Heroes. Several speeches were made, rap group Naughty by Nature performed and players took time to interact with fans.

"We just had an incredible experience going through the Canyon of Heroes," Giants co-owner John Mara told the crowd. "But I have to tell ya, and I said this four years ago, when you pull into this place and see all you fans out there, you realize one thing: There's no place like home."

The crowd worked itself up before the pep rally, as Naughty by Nature entertained it with a brief concert, and the Giants' players showed up around 3:30 p.m. to a loud ovation. A video showcasing the Giants' season was shown on the big screens, with the players reacting as they saw some of the top moments.

Mara, co-owner Steve Tisch, head coach Tom Coughlin, defensive end Justin Tuck and Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning all took time to address the crowd and thank fans for supporting them throughout the year and showing up on a rather chilly day.

"We started the season out with a theme," Coughlin said. "The theme was finish. This is an incredible finish to an amazing season."

Tuck, who had two sacks in the Super Bowl, elicited one of the biggest reactions from the crowd. The defensive end referenced Giants Stadium before bringing up the new name of facility, MetLife Stadium. He then fired back at the Jets and their head coach Rex Ryan, who has said his team owns New York City and is big brother in town.

"It's MetLife Stadium. But the one thing you can be sure of, of whose house it is," Tuck said about the stadium.

As the players filed off the stage, some left quickly while others took time to give the fans a show. Jacobs ran around the stadium with the Lombardi trophy, letting the fans touch the team's newest hardware. Victor Cruz, who heard "Cruuuuuuz" chants throughout the event, also ran around the stadium to interact with followers.

Running back Ahmad Bradshaw and wide receiver Hakeem Nicks spent plenty of time autographing footballs, shirts, hats and other items for the fans, moving slowly from left to right as they thanked the fans for their support. Safety Antrel Rolle slapped hands with fans.

"The whole day is unbelievable," Mara said. "To watch these players enjoy the Canyon of Heroes is pretty cool. But then to come back here to our home and see this kind of enthusiasm is really the icing on the cake, and it's just been a great day."

Mara said there were more fans at the event than expected but added he shouldn't have been surprised. He actually said that it felt better than when the Giants hosted the same events after winning the NFL title in 2007. Long snapper Zak DeOssie added that it seemed there were more people here this time.

"Today was a gorgeous day on both sides of the river," Tisch said on the field afterward. "Millions of fans saying thank you to the New York Giants and the New York Giants thanking millions of fans back."

INDIANAPOLIS -- A season that was full of heartache and physical pain for Justin Tuck concluded with pure joy.

Following the 21-17 win over the Patriots and winning his second Super Bowl in four years, Tuck sat and soaked it all in as his teammates celebrated on the Lucas Oil Field. Tuck lost close relatives this season and fought through neck, groin, toe and shoulder injuries.

But he got healthier -- mentally and physically -- as the season progressed.

"I thank God for things I went through this year," Tuck said. "It made me a stronger person, a better leader. I know my uncles and my grandfather and my grandmother are up there smiling and I know all the heartaches I had this year was for a reason. I'm just tremendously blessed to have this opportunity to have teammates and coaching staff like I do. This team has been all in ever since 7-7."

Tuck saved his best for the end of the season. He had his finest game of the season in the Super Bowl with two sacks and three tackles. In the NFC Championship win over the Niners and the Super Bowl win over the Pats, Tuck had a combined 3.5 sacks.

During the regular season, Tuck had a total of five sacks and one forced fumble. He was frustrated on the field and at times off the field with the deaths in his family. But Tuck persevered much like the Giants did during their topsy-turvy season.

"It was a roller coaster for us, getting off to a hot start, in the middle we wavered a little bit, but we finished," he said.

QUARTERBACK: Eli Manning completed 30 of 40 passes for 296 yards, one touchdown and a 103.8 NFL rating. He did not turn over the ball, which was huge for the Giants during their 21-17 victory. Manning's 38-yard sideline strike to Mario Manningham showed the raw arm talent that made Manning the first player selected in the 2004 NFL draft. Not many quarterbacks can make that throw. Manning made it when the Giants trailed, 17-15, with less than four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Manning completed his first nine attempts for 77 yards and a touchdown, staking the Giants to an early lead as they dominated time of possession to begin the game. Manning made effective use of his running backs and tight ends, executing a mostly conservative game plan. But the Giants settled for field goals too frequently. Both teams had trouble striking on pass plays down the field until Manning found Manningham in the clutch. The two had failed to connect deep down the right sideline earlier in the fourth quarter. Manning's pass was a bit wide. Manningham could have done a better job getting his feet down. Grade: A-minus.

OFFENSE: The Giants came to life in the fourth quarter, a theme for them all season. They also avoided turnovers, a huge key. That excused their earlier offensive struggles, but we'll cover them anyway. New York twice committed drive-dooming penalties after crossing midfield. A first-half holding penalty against guard Kevin Boothe on a third-and-1 play proved pivotal. The infraction wasted Brandon Jacobs' 10-yard run, setting up third-and-1. The Giants went from driving toward likely points and a potential 16-3 lead to watching Tom Brady execute a 96-yard touchdown drive as New England pulled in front, 10-9. Then, with the Giants trailing 17-15 in the fourth quarter, a penalty for illegal procedure left the Giants in another third-and-10 situation, leading to another punt. The Giants did enjoy success early in the game. They were fortunate to recover their own fumbles, especially when Ahmad Bradshaw lost the ball deep in Giants territory. Losing tight ends Travis Beckum and Jake Ballard to injuries left New York with only one available tight end, Bear Pascoe. Grade: B

DEFENSE: Justin Tuck's pressure on Brady forced a safety on the Patriots' first offensive play. That was a sensational start for the Giants. Tuck closed out the game with a third-down sack with 39 seconds remaining. The Giants failed to get enough pressure between those plays, allowing Brady to shred their defense for stretches. But Brady averaged only 6.7 yards per attempt. The Giants held the Patriots to 17 points, about two touchdowns below their regular-season average. Jason Pierre-Paul was effective batting down passes. Chase Blackburn made his presence felt with a de-cleater hit on BenJarvus Green-Ellis. He also picked off a deep pass for Rob Gronkowski. The Patriots' quickness in general and Danny Woodhead's in particular gave the Giants problems, especially with Brady having time to operate. The Giants caught a break when Wes Welker got wide open and dropped a pass that would have moved New England into field-goal range while leading with about four minutes left. Grade: B-plus

COACHING: The Giants left 57 seconds on the clock when Bradshaw scored on a run up the middle to take a 21-17 lead. Bradshaw tried to sit down at the 1-yard line, but his momentum carried him into the end zone. The points were nice, but leaving that much time on the clock for Brady carried risk. The offensive plan seemed conservative and without enough play-action passing early. That was to be expected given Tom Coughlin's philosophy. That showed up when Coughlin handed off instead of taking a shot deep down the field on an early second-and-1. Grade: B

SPECIAL TEAMS: Lawrence Tynes made both field-goal attempts. The Giant did not allow a punt return. They forced New England to begin three drives inside their own 10-yard line. The Patriots never started a drive outside their own 29. No complaints here. Grade: A

It's 2 pm. Four-plus hours to go.

We're blogging some stories to read about the Giants before Super Bowl XLVI. At the top of every hour until 6 pm, there will be a blog posted with a link to another Giants story that came during this Super Bowl run that you might’ve missed either on a Giants player or an angle that could factor into tonight’s game. So check back every hour. Fourth up:

LORDS OF THE RINGS: When kickoff comes and all those camera flashbulbs pop in blinding unison, there will be a handful of Giants who will not be in awe of the moment. Here's the 15 Giants who played in Super Bowl XLII and why their experience was valuable in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl and why it could be huge tonight.

Which Giant with a ring already will come up big again tonight in your mind? Tell us in the comments list below!

INDIANAPOLIS -- During his rookie season, while he was in the midst of losing his first six games as the New York Giants' starting quarterback, Eli Manning got an unexpected phone call. It was from Derek Jeter, the star shortstop of the New York Yankees, and he had a simple message for Manning, who remembers it to this day.

"It was kind of right after I'd become the starter and had a couple of tough games," Manning said. "He just told me, 'Keep your head up, keep doing what you're doing and it'll get better.'"

This was 2004. Jeter was an established New York superstar, owner of four World Series rings and on a Hall of Fame path. The phone call mattered because Jeter was someone Manning had been studying carefully.

"Derek's a guy, from the time I first came here, that I definitely have paid a lot of attention to," Manning said last week after a Giants practice. "He's a great player, but he's also a guy who really shows you what you have to do to succeed in a place like New York. The way he's handled himself on the field, off the field. The way he's dealt with all of the attention without letting it affect the way he does his job. He's done that better than anybody."

As Manning prepares to play the New England Patriots on Sunday in his second Super Bowl, he's the focus of much attention and hype. There is an urge to rate him, to compare him, to discuss his place in the pantheon of quarterbacks -- both current and all time. He is compared to his brother, the great Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. He is compared to Tom Brady, the three-time Super Bowl winner he's trying to beat in the big game for the second time in five years. But the best comparison for Manning may actually be a guy who plays a different sport in the same town.

Jeter has succeeded as a New York superstar without once saying anything to get himself in trouble or embarrass his organization. He is a quiet leader whose entire team respects and follows him without question. At a young age, he established himself as the kind of player who excels in clutch situations, and the way he does that is by remaining exactly the same regardless of the intensity of the situation. By refusing to let the game become too big or too important at times when it feels that way to many other players, he effectively raises his game at the critical moment. All of these same things can be said about Eli Manning, and it's no accident.

"Playing in this market, you learn quickly that you've got to be immune to the distractions," Manning said. "And watching Derek and seeing how he's kept his private life private and managed to keep the focus on the field and on the job he has to do, that's a big help for someone like me. That's what you've got to do, and he's the ultimate example."

It's not a perfect comparison, of course. Jeter is a single guy who digs the club scene and has, throughout his career, been romantically linked to movie stars and Miss Universe contestants. Manning is married to his high school sweetheart. Jeter was Rookie of the Year, won the World Series in his first full season in the major leagues and three more times before the end of his fifth. Manning struggled at the start of his career and to this day continues to fight a perception that he's not one of the game's great quarterbacks. A quarterback is more integral to the success of a football team than a shortstop is to that of a baseball team. Jeter is nearing the end of his career, while Manning's appears to be taking off.

"Eli is Eli," said Justin Tuck, Giants defensive end and admitted Yankees fan. "If you want to make the comparison, he's more Jeter than he is Peyton. I'll give you that. But he's Eli. He's himself. He doesn't need to be compared to anyone."

But the comparison to Jeter as a clutch player and an even-keeled star is a worthy one, and it seems to please Manning and Jeter, who share a mutual respect.

"I've always appreciated the way Eli has carried himself, not only on the football field but more importantly away from it," Jeter wrote in an email through the Yankees' media relations department. "He certainly seems to me to have the perfect demeanor to handle the spotlight that comes with playing in New York. He's already had a great deal of success in his career, and I don't see any reason that won't continue for a long, long time to come."

If it does, part of the reason for it will be the example Jeter set and the intelligent extent to which Manning paid attention to it. The classy phone call from the star shortstop to the rookie quarterback seven years ago was a part of that example, and the meaning it held for Manning is part of the reason he's so determined to follow Jeter's lead. It's not easy being a star athlete and winning championships in New York. But if Manning really is about to win another one, the comparison between the football star and the baseball star will only grow closer. And you only have to ask Manning about it once to learn that it's no coincidence.

Perhaps Justin Tuck watches “Animal Planet” or plenty of “National Geographic.”

When talking about the importance of the Giants' pass rush getting to the quarterback, Tuck likens it to cutting off the head of a snake. Get to Tom Brady and the Patriots offense will be headless.

“Look at ’07 … that was pretty much the reason why we were in the game, because we kept him off rhythm,” Tuck said when asked about the Giants’ chances of winning depending on the defensive line. “Obviously he is the main reason why [the Patriots] are successful … him and [Bill] Belichick, those minds together."

"The way to kill the snake is take off his head," Tuck continued. "The way to kill an offense as potent as that one is making sure you take care of Brady. Our defensive front will put a lot of pressure on itself to make sure that we do our best to get after him.”

Tuck didn’t call Brady a snake or anything like that. But, of course, the whole cutting the head off a snake analogy made its way to New England.

“If that’s the analogy they’re taking, then that’s what it is,” wide receiver Deion Branch said. “We have to protect our guy, protect the snake. That’s Justin; he’s a great player. We truly respect that guy, respect what he’s done for his team.”

When asked again about a snake dying if its head is cut off, Branch replied, “I know the snake is dead if you cut his head off. A real snake. Tom ain’t a snake though. Tom’s not a snake.”

Of course, Tuck never said that. Tuck is no snake charmer or snake expert. But he and the Giants' pass rush do know a thing or two about being quarterback charmers and getting in a quarterback's head.

“I think Brady makes it difficult to get to him,” Tuck said. “We feel as though we can play with just about any line in the country given the time. He did a great job of getting the ball out of his hand the first time we played him. When he didn’t, we hit him.”

“I think that’s going to be paramount in this football game and re-route their receivers and try to confuse him a little bit,” he said. “That goes back to that game of chess I talked about earlier, but we’re ready to give our rush a little bit more time to get after him.”

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Every step Tom Brady takes now brings a new accolade. The New England Patriots quarterback is making a case as the best ever to play the game. When he faces the New York Giants on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis, it'll be his fifth appearance as a Super Bowl quarterback, tying John Elway for the most ever. If he wins, it'll be his fourth Super Bowl title, tying Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana for the most ever. Those are Mount Rushmore quarterbacks, and the presence of Brady's name among them marks him as not just great but all-time great. If the Giants were intimidated, it'd be hard to blame them.

But they aren't, of course, and the main reason is their first-hand knowledge that Brady is beatable. They know this because they have done the beating. They beat him four years ago in Super Bowl XLII, when Brady and his Patriots were 18-0 and hadn't looked beatable all year. They beat him in Week 9 of this season, up in Foxborough, where no other team has beaten him in the regular season since 2006. Brady and the Patriots have won 10 games in a row since that one, which makes you wonder if the Giants have some sort of secret formula.

They say they do not.

"Every time you play against Tom, you have to go to the drawing board," Giants defensive end Justin Tuck said Tuesday. "He's definitely going to look at what we had success against him with the first time and come out with something to beat that. You have to do something different."

Perhaps. But there are certain basic elements of what the Giants do that have caused Brady problems in those two most recent meetings. In Super Bowl XLII, the Giants sacked Brady five times. Only once in his career has he been sacked more. In this year's Week 9 game, they got just two sacks, but the pressure they put on him led to two interceptions and a fumble. The Giants rely on their four down linemen to generate their pass rush, and Brady was a little bit less effective this year against defenses that dropped at least seven men into coverage. He averaged 8.1 yards per attempt in such situations as opposed to 9.9 when defenses rushed at least five.

Little of that matters, though, once the defense gets on the field and finds itself tasked with actually stopping Brady.

"He's tough, man," Giants safety Antrel Rolle said. "When I'm in zone coverage, I can just see him scanning the field and I'm like, 'Dang!' The way he scans the field, he's so good at it and so quick, it kind of stuns you for a second. He's an exceptional quarterback, man, and he gets all of the credit he deserves and then some."

But the Giants' healthy respect for Brady's abilities is part of the reason they've had success against him. Rather than relax and get comfortable in the knowledge that they've beaten him before, they remember how difficult it was, and their resolve and concentration intensify.

"We're going to have to have a few game plans in, and it's going to be a chess match," Tuck said. "I think every quarter, we'll have to throw something at him that he hasn't seen, or something we hope he hasn't seen from us, just to try to slow down his reads. Because if he gets a sense of what you want to do to him before he snaps the ball, it's pretty much impossible to stop him."

In the end, though, the Giants know it's not. And as they prepare to face Brady and the Patriots in the Super Bowl, that's one of their psychological advantages. They know he's great, and they know what he can do to a defense when he's on his game. But they also know that they have the ability to get him off of his game.

"He thrives on mismatches, and I think we match up well with them," Tuck said. "The people we have in our secondary, we have safeties that play like corners. They're going to do some things that we may not be ready for at the beginning of the game, and hopefully we'll be able to make those adjustments and keep them kind of stopped on offense."

Humble enough to know that "kind of stopped" is the best they can do against Brady, the Giants take comfort in knowing they can pull it off. They've done it in the Super Bowl. They've done it at his home stadium. If they've done it before, they can do it again. And when you're playing Tom Brady at this time of the year, the knowledge that it's even possible to beat him is no small thing.

On a day that showed the highs and lows of being a kicker, Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes ended up living the kicker's dream.

His kick, arguably the second-most famous kick of his career, sent the Giants to yet another Super Bowl. The kicker booted it right down the middle, a kick that looked good as soon as it left his leg.

Just hours before his kick, though, Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal that would have tied Sunday's game against New England. His kick went wide left and the Patriots won the game. Unlike Tynes, Cundiff had lived the kicker's nightmare.

"It can happen to any of us. Billy is a great kicker that's gone to Pro Bowls," Tynes said. "It stinks that what happened happened, but at the end of the day, Billy will bounce back. He's a pro, he handled it well and he didn't run and hide and I can respect that. That's what we signed up for. It can happen to any of us."

Tynes understands how close he came to being a goat in a championship game. Against the Packers in the NFC Championship Game in 2008, Tynes missed two kicks that would have won the Giants the game in regulation before eventually making the overtime kick that would send the Giants to the Super Bowl.

The kicker said he certainly knows that he would not be back with the Giants had he missed that kick, though he's confident he would have landed with another team. He knows that there would have been a label attached to him for his failures in those key moments.

"It's an A or an F. You either make it or you didn't," Tynes said. "There's no almost made it, there's no almost missed it. It's pretty black and white and that's the reality of what we do. It stinks sometimes but it's why we all signed up. It's a tough job. I'm not going to sit here and say it's easy but I enjoy the pressure part of it."

On Sunday, Tynes gave himself more credence as a clutch kicker in the league. For the second time, his kick won his team an NFC Championship Game, with both coming on the road in less-than-perfect conditions.

Teammate Justin Tuck said that Tynes is one of the more confident players on the team but kind of arrogant at times, and the kicker said that it's needed at his position for big kicks. He said he wants his teammates to be able to have faith in him and that edge is needed to show his teammates that he can make the clutch kick—just like he did against the 49ers.

"To have it happen once is awesome," Tynes said of a game-winning kick. "To have it happen twice, I'm blessed to play this game, but it's really, really cool and the thing is you play for a good team you're going to be in big games, that's kind of what its amounted to."

SAN FRANCISCO -- Party like it’s 2007 again (actually 2008) as the Giants are Super Bowl-bound for the first time since the ’07 season and will face the Patriots in the ultimate game –- again.

Here are three things to know about this upcoming Super Bowl XLVI match up:

Déjà Vu: Forgive the Giants if they’ve kind of seen this movie before. This season has had some “eerie” similarities to that 2007 squad that won it all.

That team lost to the undefeated Patriots in the regular-season finale, 38-35, at home before going on a tear in the playoffs. This season, the Giants lost to the then-undefeated Packers, 38-35, at home. And like in that regular-season loss to the Pats in ’07, the Giants gained a world of confidence from that loss. They’ve won six-of-seven games since that loss to the Packers.

Other similarities include the Giants avenging regular-season losses to the Packers and Niners in this Super Bowl run. In ’07, the Giants avenged regular-season losses to the Cowboys and Packers in the playoffs.

Lawrence Tynes sent them to the Super Bowl in both years with a game-winning field goal in overtime in the elements on the road.

And of course, they face the Patriots in the Super Bowl again.

“It is kind of eerie,” Justin Tuck said. “We have tried to downplay it all during this playoff run but I will be lying to you if it didn’t feel like ‘07. I mean, we are playing the Patriots too.”

One difference between this team and the 2007 squad is that Eli Manning is playing at a higher level and is more confident. He also has a better playmaking receiving tandem in Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz.

Elite Eli: Manning started the season by saying on The Michael Kay Show on ESPN New York 1050 that he is an elite quarterback, one that should be considered in Tom Brady’s class.

In their first meeting this season, Manning and Brady engaged in a classic duel. Brady was held in check for three quarters before throwing for two fourth-quarter touchdowns, including one that put the Patriots up 20-17 with 1:36 left. Brady hit Rob Gronkowski for a 14-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-nine.

But Manning marched 80 yards for a game-winning touchdown on a one-yard pass to Jake Ballard with 15-seconds left to stun Brady and the Pats with a 24-20 win.

Different Giants: The Giants are a different team now than that one that won in New England on Nov. 6. The Giants won that game without Ahmad Bradshaw and Nicks, who were out with injuries.

Their defense, which played well for three quarters against the Patriots, is playing at a different level now. The secondary is much better and the pass rush is healthier.

But Brady and the Patriots are playing better than they did back then and Bill Belichick has two weeks to devise a plan for revenge.

“I think it will be a factor,” Osi Umenyiora said when asked if the Patriots are looking for revenge for Super Bowl 42. “I think their coaching staff will come out really fired up and try to make a point.”

SAN FRANCISCO -- Stuck in traffic on a bus headed for rainy Candlestick Park on Sunday afternoon, Devin Thomas had a vision. Thomas is the No. 4 wide receiver for the New York Giants, and as such he doesn't get too many chances to make plays. He's a special teams guy, mainly, and not even a return man anymore after flopping in that role earlier this season. So when Thomas has a vision of himself making a huge play to help win a game, it's a special teams play -- a frantic, full-speed crazy play that no one could have seen coming.

"I knew I was going to do it," Thomas said. "I was just thinking today was one of those crazy days where something crazy's going to turn the game. And I had a vision in my mind that I would be the guy who did it."

Thomas made two such plays Sunday. He recovered two fumbles on punt returns by Kyle Williams, the 49ers' backup return man. The first set the Giants up for a go-ahead fourth-quarter touchdown at a time when they appeared totally incapable of moving the ball against the San Francisco defense. The second came in overtime, and a few minutes later, after Lawrence Tynes kicked the second NFC Championship Game-winning field goal of his career, the Giants had a 20-17 victory and a date with the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.

"Our guys never quit, never have any doubts," said Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who spent his night being knocked around by fearsome 49ers defenders but never flinched, completing 32 of 58 passes for 316 yards and two touchdowns. "We just keep believing and keep fighting until the very end, no matter what the circumstances are."

These Giants are as improbable a Super Bowl participant as the NFL has seen in some time. Widely predicted (especially here) to miss the playoffs during the preseason, losers of four games in a row in a tough stretch in late November and earlier December, their record stood at 7-7 after a Week 15 loss to the division-rival Redskins. They have not lost a game since. If they had -- if they'd lost even one of the five games they've played since that loss to Washington -- they would not still be playing. The defining aspect of these Giants is their toughness, but out of that over the past five weeks has grown a patience and a discipline that's rooted in intense self-belief and has propelled them to unexpected heights.

"They have grit, now," a beaming head coach Tom Coughlin said of his second Giants Super Bowl team. "We've had five straight single-elimination games. We've played an awful lot of superior football teams this year, and that has certainly helped."

But no one could have seen this coming. Not from 6-6 or 7-7 and certainly not from the preseason, when they were dealing with a major injury per week and everybody was in love with the offseason the Eagles had. Back then, there was no way to know that Jason Pierre-Paul would become one of the best pass rushers in the league or that Victor Cruz would become one of its best wide receivers. The odds against both of those things happening were astronomical.

"I think we knew, here in this locker room," said rookie linebacker Jacquian Williams, who stripped the ball from Kyle Williams so that Thomas could pounce on it in overtime. "You see the talent those guys have on the practice field and you know it's just a matter of when they're going to get their opportunity."

From October, you couldn't have seen Williams coming. But he's become a critical asset in the Giants' coverage units over the past couple of months, and as he showed Sunday, he's capable of making game-changing plays on special teams. He laughed when I asked him how this was matching up to the expectations he'd had for his rookie season.

"Rookies don't usually have an opportunity to play," he said. "Especially when you got picked in the sixth round."

But this has been an all-hands-on-deck kind of season for the Giants, and opportunities have piled up. Brandon Jacobs got an opportunity to be a big part of the running game again when Ahmad Bradshaw got hurt. Bradshaw had the bigger game Sunday, but Jacobs has been a key part of the current streak. Osi Umenyiora came back from a late-season ankle injury and has elevated the pass rush to teetering heights, terrorizing quarterbacks and forcing fumbles during this run and helping Pierre-Paul and Justin Tuck get free to wreak their own havoc.

"I love these guys. They've had my back the whole time," said Umenyiora, who's transformed from cranky contract complainer to peaceful, happy team player in a span of a few months. "So I wasn't going to come back and be selfish. I just wanted to come back and do what they need me to do, whatever that is. That's what I've done and it's had an impact."

This Giants team may have led the league in surprise clutch performances. You may be able to say you thought Cruz would be good, or that Pierre-Paul would come on quickly, or that Umenyiora would put his personal stuff aside for the good of the team. You may be able to say you knew Manning was going to play turnover-free football in the conference title game against a team that forced 43 turnovers in its first 17 games. You may be able to say you knew Mathias Kiwanuka was going to change positions and be a critical part of the defense, or even that you believed Williams and Thomas would be making key plays in the biggest game of the season.

But to say you saw all of that coming? You'd have to be crazy to expect anyone to buy that. These Giants represent the reason we watch sports -- to be surprised and amazed, to see human beings push their own limits and achieve things few expected of them. These Giants are overachievers, a team that has found ways to win all year when it didn't appear they should. And you can't be that without getting big-time contributions from every corner of the roster.

"I think we always believed -- in ourselves, in our coaches, in our plan, in each other," wide receiver Hakeem Nicks said. "And that's the reason why we're here."

There are so many reasons, and they range from the obvious to the obscure. Nobody picked Thomas to make the plays that won the NFC Championship Game, because Thomas is the kind of guy you have to work hard to remember is still on the team. But as the Giants left their locker room late Sunday night, Thomas carried the ball he'd recovered in overtime and got right back on the bus where he'd envisioned himself doing just that. It may have been a surprise to the rest of us, but it wasn't to Thomas, and it wasn't to the Giants. There are many, many people who are surprised to find the Giants still standing. But the Giants are not among them. They may not have known how they were going to do this, but they always believed they would. And it's quite a varied and remarkable collection of players that has found a way.