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Yes, the start of training camps is two months away, but it’s never too early to consider the coming season. A look at the best-case and worst-case scenarios for the Giants in 2012.

Dream scenario (12-4): The last time the the Giants won the Super Bowl, they followed it up with a 12-4 season and claimed the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. It seems a fair bet that, this time, their top wide receiver won't shoot himself in the leg with an unlicensed firearm in a nightclub and severely damage their playoff chances. The Giants remain extremely strong at quarterback, wide receiver and pass-rusher in a pass-heavy NFL era, and for that reason they have reason to believe they can be a much better regular-season team than the one that went 9-7 and made the playoffs on the final day last season. In the Giants' dream scenario, Hakeem Nicks recovers from his broken foot in time to start the season, second-round pick Rueben Randle wins the No. 3 wide receiver spot and someone -- perhaps first-rounder David Wilson -- steps forward to be the running back who can spell Ahmad Bradshaw when he needs a rest. Terrell Thomas comes back healthy and continues along the career path that, this time last year, had him on track to become one of the best cornerbacks in the league. Keith Rivers solidifies the linebacker corps and Jason Pierre-Paul and Victor Cruz build on their breakout seasons as the Giants get back into the playoffs and make a real run at defending their title.

Nightmare scenario (6-10): The Nicks injury is a reminder that the Giants did lose some depth this offseason. And although they are (a) very strong if their front-line starters are healthy, (b) very good at filling needs internally and (c) always at least in contention even when they miss the playoffs, the likelihood of the nightmare scenario is unimportant to this exercise. This is about imagining, and in the Giants' nightmare scenario their key starters -- such as Nicks, Cruz, Pierre-Paul, Justin Tuck and Bradshaw -- struggle either with injury or ineffectiveness. Eli Manning reverts to his interception-happy ways of 2011. Thomas struggles to get back to where he was, Prince Amukamara fails to take the next step forward and they still can't find a reliable middle linebacker from among the crew they bring to camp. The nightmare scenario also sees the offensive line struggle, especially at the left tackle spot, where Will Beatty was a work in progress in 2011 before eye problems ended his season. Should these troubles come to pass, they would have to lean heavily on their rookies, and it's unlikely that Wilson, Randle and Jayron Hosley could all emerge as successful starters in their first year in the NFL. Again, the Giants' nightmare scenario seems unlikely, but if it happens it will have to do with depth issues behind the starters.

The Giants deal with Hakeem Nicks' foot injury, Falcons coach Mike Smith on his playoff struggles, and Marcellus and Schlereth read between the lines when Mark Sanchez talks at Jets' organized team activities.

This is the kind of stuff you hold your breath and hope you don't hear about your team when it takes the field for offseason practices: New York Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks fractured the fifth metatarsal of his right foot Thursday morning while running a route during OTA practices, the team announced. Nicks is scheduled to undergo surgery Friday to have a screw inserted into his foot, and the Giants estimate that he'll need about 12 weeks to recover. Assuming no setbacks, that puts his return around the middle of August. But because you can't assume there won't be setbacks, Nicks' availability for the start of the regular season is at least in question.

Real rough break for the Giants, who lost No. 3 wide receiver Mario Manningham in free agency and likely can't afford to have their No. 1 wideout miss significant time. The good news, if there is any, is that it happened now as opposed to a month or two from now, and Nicks will have time to recover. Once he does return, they could be questions about how much he can handle and how soon without re-aggravating the injury, and it's possible he won't be his usual dazzling self right away. Nicks is one of the best wide receivers in the entire league, and he and Victor Cruz form the strength of the Giants' Eli Manning-led passing attack.

This will open up reps in the preseason for receivers like Ramses Barden, Domenik Hixon, Jerrel Jernigan and rookie Rueben Randle, which could help the Giants better figure out which of those guys is the best bet to replace Manningham at that No. 3 receiver spot. That may be a side benefit of the unfortunate news, and last year's Giants obviously were able to succeed in spite of a rash of significant preseason injuries, so they surely believe they have coverage. But there's no one on the roster who brings everything Nicks brings to his position, and they'll surely hope his recovery will be on the short side and they'll have him on the field in plenty of time for their Sept. 5 regular-season opener.

There's little sense in taking the bait when San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh tells a radio program Michael Crabtree "has the best hands I've ever seen on a wide receiver."

Anyone with a strong grasp of NFL history would place Cris Carter, Raymond Berry and Steve Largent on a short list for receivers with the surest hands.

Hall of Famer Ken Houston, speaking for a 2008 piece on all-time great wideouts, stood up for AFL stars Otis Taylor and Lionel Taylor.

"Lionel Taylor, I mean, he would catch a BB," Houston said.

Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson, speaking for the same piece, said Randy Moss, then with New England, had the best hands in the NFL at that time (2008).

"A lot of guys can catch," Thompson said then. "He can catch on any platform, as we say in scouting. He can adjust and catch it over the top of somebody's head, catch it falling down, and it doesn't matter if he is covered."

With Moss now on the 49ers, it is possible Crabtree does not posses the best hands among wide receivers on his own team.

Oops. I wasn't going to take the bait on this one, but now it's too late. Time to regroup.

Bottom line, I suspect Crabtree has impressed Harbaugh this offseason, and Harbaugh would like that to continue for as long as possible. By offering such strong public praise for Crabtree, Harbaugh is setting a standard for Crabtree to meet this season. He realizes Crabtree has the ability to meet that standard, or else he wouldn't make the statement.

We should all recall Harbaugh's calling quarterback Alex Smith "elite" and promoting him for the Pro Bowl last season. Then as now, Harbaugh was standing up for his guy. Smith enjoyed the finest season of his career and even outplayed the truly elite Drew Brees at times during the 49ers' playoff victory over New Orleans. The way Harbaugh backed Smith played a role in that performance, in my view.

Back to Crabtree. He has the ability to rank among the most sure-handed receivers in the game. He has not yet earned that status, but now he has little choice, right?

As the chart shows, Crabtree finished the 2011 season with 12.2 receptions per drop, which ranked 28th in the NFL among players targeted at least 100 times. Larry Fitzgerald led the NFL with 80 receptions and only one drop. Those numbers are according to ESPN Stats & Information, which defines drops as "incomplete passes where the receiver should have caught the pass with ordinary effort."

Crabtree suffered six drops last season by that standard, a few too many for the player with the best hands his head coach has ever seen on a wide receiver.

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.

» NFC draft analysis: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South


The only NFC East team that didn't trade up in the first round is the one that just won the Super Bowl. That gives you a sense of how hungry the division's other three teams are to catch the New York Giants and take their shot at the Lombardi Trophy they were holding up in Indianapolis a few months ago.

The Washington Redskins made their trade-up a month early, dealing away three first-round picks and this year's second-rounder in order to secure the man they believe will be their franchise quarterback. The Dallas Cowboys made theirs Thursday night, when they decided it was worth spending their first- and second-round picks this year to secure the best defensive player in the draft. And the Eagles made theirs a short time later, when the defensive tackle they wanted, Fletcher Cox, fell further than they expected him to fall and the price to move up and get him became reasonable.

But after the top half of the first round, the NFC East teams' drafts went very different ways. The Cowboys, in need of 2012 help at various places on the roster, oddly began picking project players and unknown safeties. The Redskins made some head-scratchers in the middle rounds before getting workmanlike about their offensive line late. And the Eagles had one of those drafts where everything seemed to be falling their way. Time will tell, of course, and there's no way right now to know how any of these players will perform. But here are some thoughts on how it looks in the very early post-draft light.

BEST MOVE

Washington's trade to get quarterback Robert Griffin III and Dallas' trade to get Morris Claiborne were the headline-grabbers, and I believe that each team will be happy with its first-round pick. But the four high picks the Redskins gave up and the two high picks the Cowboys gave up keep me from labeling either of these the division's "best move" from this year's draft. Washington doesn't have another first-rounder until 2015. And Dallas, which needed help at multiple positions, spent its first two picks on a position they'd already addressed at great cost in free agency. Not enough value in either deal for it to be called a shrewd move.

So I'm giving this to the Eagles' deal to move up and get Cox. Philadelphia arrived at the draft Thursday convinced Cox was the player they wanted, and they believed they might have to move up to No. 6 or 7 to get him. To do that, they likely would have had to surrender at least one of their second-round picks, and they didn't want to pay either of those or their third. Once Cox fell to No. 12, the Eagles were able to move up by surrendering their first-rounder, a fourth-rounder and a seventh-rounder, securing the player they felt was their top target without giving up the picks they wanted to preserve. So while, yes, of course, I consider Griffin and Claiborne better players, I think the Eagles made the best first-round move of any NFC East team -- getting a player who can make a difference for them in the short-term as well as the long-term without handicapping themselves for the draft's second night.

On Friday, the Eagles converted their two second-round picks into a speedy outside linebacker (Mychal Kendricks) and a pass-rushing defensive end (Vinny Curry) and took the quarterback prospect they wanted (Nick Foles) in the third round. That Day 2 haul, compared with what the Cowboys and Redskins were able to get with their Day 2 picks, is what made the Eagles' trade-up the best overall move of the draft in the NFC East.

RISKIEST MOVE

This is a close contest between the two moves that lost out in the first category. It'd be easy to say Griffin, because he cost so much more. But I'm giving this to the Cowboys' trade-up to get Claiborne. It's a tough call, because I think Claiborne may be the best player any NFC East team got in this draft (barely, if at all, ahead of Griffin) and he cost less than Griffin did. But I'm basing this call on the circumstances specific to each team.

The Redskins are taking a big risk, sure, by picking a kid to be their franchise quarterback and telling him they don't have a first-round pick in either of the next two years with which to build around him. But the Redskins had no choice. Their need for Griffin was overwhelming, and they were right to let it overwhelm their priority list for this draft and the next two. Washington hasn't had a franchise quarterback in 20 years, and once they were convinced Griffin could be one, this was a risk worth taking for them.

I do not think, however, that Dallas' need for Claiborne was nearly as great as Washington's need for Griffin. Yes, the Cowboys' secondary was the obvious weak spot of their team last year -- the main reason they fell one game short of the Giants in the division race. But they'd already spent their big free-agent bucks on Brandon Carr and had Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick at cornerback. Does Claiborne have a good chance to be better than any of them? Yes. Could that happen as early as this year? You betcha. But with needs at safety, linebacker, defensive line and offensive line, the Cowboys should have conserved their picks to address multiple needs. They weren't one great cornerback away from being a championship team in 2012, and by trading their top two picks for Claiborne, and then picking project players and reaches the rest of the way, they decided to operate as though that were the case. It's a big risk, and if lingering weaknesses at those other spots do them in this season, they could regret it.

MOST SURPRISING MOVE

Without a doubt, it was the Redskins' selection of Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins with the seventh pick of the fourth round Saturday. It was Washington's third pick of the draft and the second that had been used on a quarterback. Their reasoning is that quarterback is a vitally important position at which it's impossible to be too deep, and as long as they make it clear to the players involved and to their fan base that Griffin is the starter and Cousins is the backup, it can work. They can develop Cousins in the backup role, have a player they like in reserve in case Griffin gets hurt and perhaps eventually trade him for something of great value in a league in which quarterbacks are the most prized commodities.

FILE IT AWAY

Nobody in this division does the draft better than the Giants, and it'll be worth remembering that the wide receiver (LSU's Rueben Randle) they picked at the end of the second round was a player they considered taking at the end of the first. Randle is a dynamic talent who now gets a chance to develop behind brilliant and selfless starting wideouts Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz and with the help of quarterback Eli Manning, who has an outstanding record of getting the best out of his receiving targets. Randle could not have been drafted into a better spot for his own development, and he could potentially be an immediate asset for the Giants in the passing game, because he can play the outside spot vacated by free-agent defector Mario Manningham and allow Cruz to stay in the slot position from which he exploded onto the scene in 2011. The Giants managed to combine need picks and value picks at almost every turn in this draft, and their second-rounder may turn out to be their biggest prize.

This one's a value pick, though. The New York Giants were considering LSU wide receiver Rueben Randle with their first-round pick Thursday night. They took running back David Wilson instead, and admitted it was a bit of a need pick after Brandon Jacobs left for San Francisco via free agency. But with Randle still there at the end of the second round Friday night, and with Mario Manningham also having left for San Francisco via free agency, the Giants couldn't pass up the chance to take a guy they'd considered a whole round earlier.

Randle goes into the mix for the No. 3 wide receiver spot in New York behind Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz, and with Ramses Barden and Jerel Jernigan as his top competition, he'll have a chance to win it. He didn't have a great scouting combine and he didn't have big-time numbers in college, but LSU didn't have a real quarterback this year, and Giants quarterback Eli Manning has a pretty good record of helping develop and get the best out of his receivers.

So, I say it's a nice move for Randle, who could flourish in three-receiver sets in New York, and not a bad pick for the Giants if they had the guy rated as a first-round talent and they got him in the second. I still don't know what they're going to do about offensive line, but we say this every year with the Giants and they seem to figure it out. They will pick again later tonight, when they have the 32nd pick in the third round.

The catch, in traffic, 38 yards up the left sideline with his toes just in bounds in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl, isn't going anywhere. That's part of New York Giants lore forever, and because of it Mario Manningham won't ever get booed by Giants fans unless he does something to beat their team. But before, during and after that catch, which was such a key part of the Super Bowl victory over the Patriots last month, the Giants and everyone else knew Manningham wasn't going to be on their team in 2012.

He found his new home late Saturday night, agreeing with the San Francisco 49ers on a two-year contract. He becomes the first to defect from the Giants' latest championship team. The cost of doing business in the NFL is that if someone does something to help you win a championship, other teams want him.

In the Giants' case, they knew they'd lose Manningham because they knew the free-agent market for wide receivers would deliver him offers that were higher than what they wanted to pay for their No. 3 wide receiver. They have superstar-caliber players at the position in Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz -- players who will be needing their own new contracts before long -- and with salary-cap concerns and other needs to fill, they've long been prepared to bid farewell to Manningham. The offense functioned very well when he came back healthy at the end of the season and gave Eli Manning another option, but it's not as though Manning had been incapable of functioning without him. He threw for 406 yards in New Orleans, 347 in the regular-season loss to the Packers, and Manningham didn't suit up for those games.

The Giants will find their No. 3 receiver somewhere, be it in the draft or from a holdover group that includes Ramses Barden, Jerrel Jernigan and Domenik Hixon. The Giants, as much as any other team, always believe the potential solution can be found on their roster. Manningham was a fine player for them, but once Cruz exploded onto the scene he became a luxury. Their offseason priorities at this point are linebacker, offensive line and running back.

As for their own free agents, they've been told go out on the market and see what they can get. If Aaron Ross, Jonathan Goff and even Brandon Jacobs come back and want to sign for the low, low prices the Giants have budgeted for them, they'll be welcomed back. If not, they'll be replaced. But they knew all along that Manningham would find something better than what they had to offer him. They'll wish him well, and thank him for all he did, and then they'll move on without him, just as they'd planned to.

It's a line right out of the free-agent playbook. Mario Manningham says he wants to stay with the New York Giants. Per Ohm:

"I don’t want to go nowhere," Manningham said. "But if it is somewhere else, that is where my path continues. I want to come back. I can't wait to see what is going on, am I going to be here or not. I want to be here."

Sure, but he doesn't mean that. Because staying with the Giants would mean making a heck of a lot less money than he will make if he takes his talents to the open free-agent market and sells them to the highest bidder. And that matters, folks. In a league built on non-guaranteed contracts in which you're one freak injury away from never playing again, you get what you get when you can get it. And for Manningham, this is when he can get it.

This is a partial list of teams that are looking for starting-caliber wide receivers this offseason:

Washington Redskins
Chicago Bears
Minnesota Vikings
New Orleans Saints
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis Rams
New England Patriots
New York Jets
Buffalo Bills
Baltimore Ravens
Cleveland Browns
Jacksonville Jaguars
IndianapolisColts
Denver Broncos
San Diego Chargers

And here's a list of the available, non-franchised free-agent wide receivers who probably rank ahead of Manningham:

Vincent Jackson
Marques Colston
Mike Wallace
Reggie Wayne
Brandon Lloyd

Get the picture? Yeah, first list is a heck of a lot longer than the second list. That means, unless Jackson can figure out a way to clone himself and sign with 11 teams, there are still going to be a lot of teams looking for starting-caliber wide receivers once the top guys sign. Manningham is right there in that next group with guys like Pierre Garcon, Robert Meachem, Braylon Edwards ... guys like that. And he has the advantage of just having played big in the playoffs and the Super Bowl, which ups a guy's value.

Manningham is positioned to cash in — to sign with a team for No. 2 wide receiver money — maybe even for a little bit more than that. The Giants have Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz and no room under the salary cap, and they're not about to pay Manningham No. 2 wide receiver money to stay. If he'd like to stay for No. 3 wide receiver money, I'm sure they'd be happy to talk to him about it. But that wouldn't be the shrewdest career move on Manningham's part.

So, while it's nice that he's saying what he's saying about wanting to stay with the Giants, Manningham doesn't really mean it. It just wouldn't make sense.

Yeah, I saw the story that Randy Moss wants to come out of retirement and play in the NFL again in 2012. And yeah, it's the offseason, so my first reaction was to do a post about whether he'd make sense for any of the teams in the NFC East. I'm not proud. It's content. It's a big name. It hits all four teams. And hey, you're reading it.

However, before we go any further, I must make one thing clear: I do not believe Randy Moss will ever play in the NFL again. The guy washed out with three different teams in 2010, couldn't find a job in 2011 and now, at the age of 35 and in a free-agent market flooded with good wide receivers in their primes, he thinks a team is going to take a chance on him? Agree to disagree, Randy. Agree to disagree.

That said, I have (as many of you are fond of pointing out) been wrong before. And so, if by some chance Moss can prove he still has enough speed to be a legitimate deep threat -- to get separation from defensive backs and perform as a difference-making downfield option for an offense, as he could not do in 2010 for three different teams -- would he make any sense in our division? My team-by-team ultra-fantastical hypothetical answers follow.

Dallas Cowboys: No. Not even a little. The Cowboys need a No. 3, first of all, and that's only if they let Laurent Robinson walk. If Dez Bryant and Miles Austin are healthy, Moss is an upgrade over neither one. And do you really want him around Bryant? No.

New York Giants: No. Not even a little. Go back and read the Cowboys answer and replace "Laurent Robinson" with "Mario Manningham" and replace "Dez Bryant and Miles Austin" with "Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz." No. Not a Giants kind of thing to do, this.

Philadelphia Eagles: Interesting, but only if they decide to move on from DeSean Jackson, as I believe they might. If Moss shows the deep-threat ability that made him such a weapon with Minnesota and New England at various points in his career, and if Jackson is out of the picture, the must-win-now-or-everyone's-getting-fired Eagles wouldn't be a ridiculous landing spot. Again, lot of "if"s, but don't be surprised to see this connection made again if Jackson isn't back.

Washington Redskins: The 2007-09 version of Moss is exactly what the Redskins need. But (a) this is the 2012 version, and (b) Moss doesn't respond well to being in losing environments. Even if he could flash that 07-09 form, the Redskins would have to be a lot more set at quarterback and offensive line than they are right now. And the quarterback would have to be a veteran like Peyton Manning or Kyle Orton and not a rookie or first-time starter like Robert Griffin III or Matt Flynn.

NFL Films does a wonderful job replaying live sound from the previous week's games. That is why I was interested to hear what players and coaches had to say during Sunday's Super Bowl XLVI between the New England Patriots and New York Giants.

It was an emotional game where momentum swung from New York to New England and back to New York. The Giants won the game, 21-17. But there were two very interesting tidbits I took from New England's perspective.

First, following a fourth-quarter drop by Patriots receiver Wes Welker, NFL referee John Parry said to another official: "That was the game." Keep in mind New England was winning, 17-15, late and was about to punt the ball deep in New York's territory.

It showed even officials involved in the Super Bowl knew that New England's 31st-ranked defense wasn't going to make a big stop to win a championship. The ref's thought process at that moment wasn't any different from the media and fans who closely watched the Patriots all season.

Second, on New York's final drive, Patriots coach Bill Belichick encouraged his defense to let the Giants throw to Mario Manningham, who made the big 38-yard grab to get New York's Super Bowl-winning drive started.

"This is still a [Victor] Cruz and [Hakeem] Nicks game," Belichick said on the sidelines. "I know we're right on them. It's tight but those are still the guys. Make them go to Manningham, make them go to [Bear] Pascoe. Let's make sure we get Cruz and Nicks."

The Patriots were a team this season that thrived and executed under pressure. But these fourth-quarter mishaps by Welker and Belichick/New England's defense were the difference in Super Bowl XLVI.

You're thinking it. I'm thinking it. And so was ESPNChicago.com's Jeff Dickerson. Namely: How nice would Mario Manningham look in a Chicago Bears uniform in 2012?

Manningham, of course, made one of the best catches in Super Bowl history Sunday night, a 38-yard grab down the left sideline that got the New York Giants moving toward their game-winning touchdown. It was a bright ending to a disappointing fourth season in New York for Manningham, who just so happens to be a pending free agent.

Overshadowed by teammates Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks, Manningham managed 39 receptions in 12 games for the Giants in 2011. But we all saw what he is capable of Sunday night, and I don't think you would find many objections to Dickerson's assertion that Manningham would improve the Bears' receiving corps.

Here's how Dickerson put it: "While it's unlikely he would solve all the Bears' issues at receiver, Manningham would certainly upgrade a group that failed to have a single member crack 40 catches or 750 yards last year."

I'm guessing we'll circle back on this discussion once or twice before March 13, when the free agent market opens.

QUARTERBACK: Tom Brady fell short of his fourth game-winning touchdown drive in a Super Bowl. He overcame a ragged start to find his groove. He set a Super Bowl record with 16 straight completions, including 15 straight on two touchdown passes. His first touchdown pass, a 4-yarder to Danny Woodhead, showed his patience to wait for the running back to break free of the linebacker. Brady's second one, a 12-yarder, was quicker recognition to find tight end Aaron Hernandez against the middle linebacker. Brady did get hit on his interception (which turned out to be a long punt) and seemed to hurt his already banged-up left shoulder. He started off the scoring but not the way he intended. His intentional grounding penalty on the Patriots' first play led to a safety, a strange mistake for a quarterback known for such great awareness. Grade: B-plus.

OFFENSE: The Patriots' receivers let Brady down in the fourth quarter with drops from Wes Welker, Deion Branch and Hernandez. The passing game was limited with tight end Rob Gronkowski less than full strength with a high-ankle sprain. He didn't get a catch until three minutes left in the first half. Hernandez picked up the slack with a 12-yard touchdown grab in the third quarter. The offensive line held up quite well against a Giants pass rush that recorded five sacks of Brady in the last Super Bowl matchup. Welker was a hot target in the passing game, although he couldn't pull down a key reception late in the fourth quarter. Grade: C.

DEFENSE: The Patriots' much-maligned defense came up big in the biggest game of the season. Playing both safeties deep to defend against the deep pass, the Patriots made it tough for Eli Manning and forced him to throw into tight windows. The New England run defense got pushed around early (70 yards rushing allowed in the first half), but fared better in the second half. The Patriots played more physical after they were sparked by Patrick Chung's hit on Hakeem Nicks along the sideline. The Patriots then allowed Ahmad Bradshaw to score a 6-yard touchdown with 40 seconds left, so they could get the ball back into the hands of Brady. Grade: B-minus.

COACHING: Bill Belichick lost his second straight Super Bowl. The Patriots had a great game plan defensively and were running an efficient offense. But it was questionable to throw on second-and-11 in the fourth quarter — which resulted in an incompletion to Welker and stopped the clock with four minutes left in the game. Then, the challenge on the Mario Manningham catch on the Giants' final drive cost the Patriots a timeout. Belichick prides himself on precision and discipline, which is why having 12 men on the field for defense was so surprising. That penalty negated a recovered fumble for the New England defense and led to the Giants' first touchdown (a Victor Cruz 2-yard catch in the first quarter). Grade: B.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 29-yard field goal. The kickoff coverage team allowed a 34-yard return early in the third quarter. The Patriots' return game was virtually non-existent. Punter Zoltan Mesko was outplayed by Steve Weatherford, averaging 38 yards per punt. Grade: C.

» Super Bowl XLVI Final Word: Patriots | Giants

Five nuggets of knowledge about Super Bowl XLVI:

Home sweet road: The New York Giants have won six straight playoff games on the road or at neutral sites dating to 2007, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Eli Manning has been the quarterback for all six of them, and his six career postseason wins away from home tie him for the record with four other quarterbacks, including the New England Patriots' Tom Brady. (The others are Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach and Joe Montana, so not a bad list.) Manning's ability to remain cool under all kinds of pressure has been well documented, but his record in hostile or neutral environments in postseason games offers yet another example.

You again? Manning and Brady are the third pair of quarterbacks to face off in multiple Super Bowls. The Cowboys' Troy Aikman and the Bills' Jim Kelly met in Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII. Aikman won both. The Steelers' Bradshaw faced the Cowboys' Staubach in Super Bowls X and XIII. Bradshaw won both. Brady's hoping to buck history and pull off a split with Manning, who beat him in Super Bowl XLII.

Hot at the right time: The Giants are the third team in history to reach the Super Bowl after failing to win at least 10 games in the regular season (not counting strike-shortened seasons). The previous two were the 2008 Arizona Cardinals and the 1979 Rams. Each of those teams lost its Super Bowl, so a Giants win would make them the first Super Bowl champion to enter the playoffs with fewer than 10 wins. They are also the first team to reach the Super Bowl after being outscored by their opponents in the regular season. The Giants scored 394 points and allowed 400 on their way to their 9-7 regular-season record. Those 2008 Cardinals (plus 1) and 1979 Rams (plus 14) were the teams with the worst point differential in Super Bowl history until this year.

Peyton's place: Eli Manning is playing the Super Bowl at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, where his brother Peyton Manning has established himself as an all-time great quarterback with the Colts. Peyton had a head start on Eli and has fashioned a brilliant Hall of Fame career, but little brother's playoff numbers stack up with big brother's. Peyton Manning is 9-10 all time in postseason games with a 63.1 completion percentage and a 29-19 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Eli Manning is 7-3 in the postseason with a completion percentage of 59.8 and a TD-INT ratio of 16-8. If Eli throws three touchdowns on Sunday, it would give him 11 touchdown passes this postseason, which would tie the record for a single postseason set by Montana in 1989 and equaled by Kurt Warner in 2008.

Tough guys: According to ESPN Stats & Information's "Next Level" stats, the pass-catchers in this game are very difficult to tackle after they catch the ball. The stat they use is "yards after contact," which differs from "yards after catch." Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who's been struggling with an ankle injury since the AFC Championship Game, led the league with 290 yards after first post-catch contact. Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz was second with 245. Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker was third with 242 yards, and Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was fourth with 231.