Plaxico Burress vs. Asante Samuel
Plaxico Burress, the Giants’ top receiver, had a phenomenal game against Green Bay Packers cornerback Al Harris in the NFC Championship. But he’ll have a greater challenge on Super Bowl Sunday because the Patriots’ top cornerback, Asante Samuel, is a better player than Harris, and because the Patriots’ defense uses less man-to-man coverage than the Packers.

Burress needs to use his size advantage to succeed against Samuel. Burress is 6 feet 5 inches and 232 pounds, and Samuel is 5 feet 10 inches and 185 pounds. When asked about Burress this week, Samuel spoke repeatedly about how hard it was to take on such a big, physical receiver. If Eli Manning keeps his passes high — and if the officials allow Burress to get away with some pushing and shoving — Burress will be able to exploit his size.

Burress had a good game the first time he saw New England, catching four passes for 84 yards and two touchdowns. But even that wasn’t good enough to put the Giants atop the Patriots, and for the Giants to win, Burress will need to be even better the second time around.

Randy Moss vs. Aaron Ross
It’s hard to imagine a more challenging assignment for a rookie cornerback than covering football’s best wide receiver in the Super Bowl, but that’s exactly what Aaron Ross, the Giants’ 2007 first-round pick, will do on Sunday.

Which Giants defensive back covers which Patriots wide receiver will vary based on the Patriots’ formation and the Giants’ coverage scheme, but Ross will probably draw Randy Moss more often than any of the Giants’ other cornerbacks. And although Ross is a good athlete and a good-looking rookie with a promising NFL future, his individual battle with Moss will be a mismatch in the Patriots’ favor.

Moss is big and fast, but Patriots coach Bill Belichick says Moss’s greatest asset is his intelligence: He’s one of the best receivers in football history when it comes to reading defenses and recognizing where the ball will be. Ross can’t be expected to completely stop Moss, but he has to at least slow him down if the Giants are going to have any chance of pulling off the upset on Sunday.

Matt Light vs. Osi Umenyiora
The vast majority of the Super Bowl week talk about the Patriots’ passing game has focused on quarterback Tom Brady first, and then the receivers, Moss and Wes Welker. But Matt Light, the player responsible for protecting Brady’s blind side, might have the most important job of any player.

When Brady has time to sit in the pocket and wait for his receivers to get open, he’s lethal. But teams that get to Brady in a hurry can force him to make mistakes. The problem is, few teams can get to Brady in a hurry because the Patriots have one of the NFL’s best offensive lines. That’s why Osi Umenyiora is such an important element of the Giants’ defense. As the Giants’ right defensive end, he’ll go one-on-one with Light for most of the game, and the more often he beats Light and gets to Brady, the more likely it is that the Giants can pull the offense.

Umenyiora is quick out of his stance, and Light will have trouble keeping up with his speed rush. Light, however, is one of the most fundamentally sound linemen in football, and even if Umenyiora gets a jump, Light may be able to push him out of the play. Umenyiora has also implied this week that Light is a dirty player, adding another layer of intrigue to their battle, although he apologized for that yesterday.

As an offensive tackle, Light has no chance of winning the Super Bowl MVP award. But if Brady wins his third MVP, you can bet that Light had a big day.

Ahmad Bradshaw vs. Tedy Bruschi
Tedy Bruschi, the Patriots’ veteran linebacker, seems like a perfect story for Super Bowl week. As a smart, well-spoken veteran who overcame a stroke in 2005 to get back on the field, Bruschi is a media darling.

But while he might still be a good story, the 34-year-old Bruschi is no longer a good player. Bruschi was never particularly fast, but now he’s painfully slow. The Giants need to take advantage of that, and that’s where Ahmad Bradshaw comes in.

A rookie running back who hardly saw the field until December and didn’t play at all when the Giants played the Patriots at the end of the regular season, Bradshaw has great speed and is emerging as a big-play threat. If the Giants can get Bradshaw isolated on Bruschi on pass routes out of the backfield, that’s a huge mismatch in the Giants’ favor.

The Patriots would prefer to take Bruschi off the field and use their nickel package instead of their base 3–4 defense on Super Bowl Sunday, but if the Giants can threaten with the running game, the Patriots will be forced to keep all four starting linebackers on the field. That’s when Bradshaw will be matched up with Bruschi, and that’s when the Giants will have the advantage on offense.