Super Bowl XLII Special Teams: Who Has the Edge?

Tom Brady, Randy Moss and Eli Manning are the names that have continuously come up for the past two weeks in the sports media. These are the "big guns", the ones that we expect to play their best, the ones that we expect to crown MVP when the final whistle blows. However, there is more to each team than their superstar, as any football fan knows. One or two players cannot carry a team to a championship. It is the team as the whole with the special teams included. They might not make the dazzling plays or score multi-million dollar deals with advertising executives, but they will assist their teams on Sunday night and attempt to be crowned the champions of the NFL.

Starting with the kickers, the Patriots' kicker, Stephen Gostowski, made 21 of 24 regular season field goals. He also successfully made all 74 point-after kicks for a season total of 137 points. The Giants' Lawrence Tynes made 23 of 27 regular season field goals, but missed two extra points. His season total was 109 points. Tynes is recently famous for missing two field goals in the NFC Championship Game in Green Bay, but he did successfully nail the 47 yard field goal in overtime to take the Giants to the Super Bowl in Glendale. Although Gostowski has a higher point average than Tynes, the regular season numbers don't mean anything in the Big Game. The edge goes to the Giants, who have a kicker that can perform under extreme pressure and bounce back from disappointment.

For the punters, the Giants' Jeff Feagles punted 71 times with a 40.4 yard average. The Patriots' punter, Chris Hanson, has punted just 44 times with a 41.4 yard average. Since the averages are so close, the experience factor must be brought up. Feagles is in his 20th season in the NFL. In this case, experience triumphs. The edge goes to the Giants.

Wes Welker has been the Patriots' go-to-guy in recent games. Welker has returned 25 punt returns for an average of 10 yards. He has had no touchdown returns and called for seven fair catches. The Giants' R.W. McQuarters has made 42 returns for an average of 7.6 yards. He has also had no touchdowns and called for 18 fair catches. The edge goes to the Patriots since Welker has less fair catches, which can create a bigger gain for his team in the Super Bowl.

Lastly, there are kick-off returns to analyze. The Patriots' Ellis Hobbs has returned 35 kick-offs for 911 yards with an average of 26 yards per returns. The Giants' Ahmad Bradshaw has returned 38 kick-offs for 921 yards with an average of 24.2 yards per carry. The Giants have also been using recently acquired Dominik Hixon who scored a touchdown against the Patriots in the final game of the regular season. However, the edge goes to the Patriots simply due to the numbers.

As fans, we can analyze and analyze, but as stated earlier, these numbers are numbers in the past. The Super Bowl is about the future about who is going to show up to play on Sunday night in Arizona and who will choke. We can give one team the edge, but it's up to the Football Gods as to who will win Super Bowl XLII.