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January 28, 2008

Super Bowl experience might not be an advantage for the Patriots

This is New England's fourth trip to a Super Bowl in the last seven years. The Patriots are 3-0 in those trips but coach Bill Belichick said that the experience that they have in Super Bowls won't necessarily help them on Sunday.

"It’s the trip you want to be on, I’ll say that," Belichick said. "I don’t think it’s easier because you know you are going up against a great football team. The New York Giants are playing their best football of the year right now and we had a tremendous game with them a month ago. We know how hard it’s going to be and how good they are, how well prepared they are, and how hard they work and how talented they are.

"That’s not easy at all. At the same time, you spend all season working to get to this point -- the mini-camps, the offseason programs, all the two-a-days in training camp, the preseason games, the grueling 16-game regular season schedule in the National Football League, the playoff games, the AFC championship -- it’s all done to be at this game and to be here this week.

"We are proud to be here. We are excited to be here, but at the same time, we know there is a lot of work left to do. We know we are playing a great football team in the New York Giants and we know how hard that will be and how well we will have to play in order to be competitive on Sunday. That’s the balance, but we are glad we are here and glad we have an opportunity to meet that challenge.”

The Patriots beat the Giants, 38-35, in the Week 17 to preserve their undefeated regular season. The Giants have won 10 consecutive road games.

Posted by Rob Lee  at 1:10 PM | Permalink