For the second time in just four years, the New England Patriots and New York Giants will be facing off for a shot at Super Bowl glory and the highly coveted Vince Lombardi trophy. Although many of the central pieces remain from that February 2008 duel, including quarterbacks Tom Brady & Eli Manning and coaches Bill Belichick & Tom Coughlin, this time around the script has changed. The Patriots are no longer the undefeated, double-touchdown-favorite, world beaters they once were. In fact, it's the Giants who won this match-up when these two teams faced off in week 9, prevailing 24-20, in a thriller that set the stage for this colossal rematch.

Admittedly, both teams needed a stroke of good fortune to advance on Sunday. For the Patriots it was Billy Cundiff, who missed a 32 yard field goal for the Baltimore Ravens in the closing seconds of regulation, essentially sealing the deal for New England. Had the kick gone in, we would have been looking at overtime. Instead, the Pats won 23-20.

The Giants good fortune came at the expense of Kyle Williams, the second year wide-out for San Francisco. Filling in for the injured Ted Ginn Jr., Williams fumbled on two punt returns, including a crucial drop in overtime that led to the game-winning field goal by Lawrence Tynes. Journey man and special teams expert, Devin Thomas, recovered both fumbles for Big Blue, the game's only turnovers. The latter recovery, coming in overtime, gave the Giants possession at the S.F. 24 yard line, barring eerie similarities to when they intercepted Brett Favre in overtime of the 2008 NFC Championship, setting them up for a game-winning drive at the Packers 34.

With the win, Eli Manning became the winningest road playoff quarterback of all-time, and Tom Coughlin tied former Cowboys coach Tom Landry for most road playoff victories with seven. For the Patriots, it's just more of the same- as this marks their fifth AFC title in a dozen years. However, it's the unfinished business from Super Bowl XLII that still looms heavy over any pre-title celebration.

Things will certainly be different this time around. One example of this is the emergence of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, two deadly tight ends that have helped elevate New England's offense to never before seen heights. For the Giants, their staple of getting a strong four man pass rush remains, it's just the players that have changed, with Jason Pierre-Paul filling the void left by Michael Strahan nicely. And, despite not having David Tyree there to make any game-saving helmet catches, they will have Victor Cruz, and Giants fans are perfectly fine with that.

Dan Chiavetta will be covering the Super Bowl for WOR 710. He is also the editor in chief of the 2 Man Weave.