Show and Championship previews previews' Marco Villano Sports Editor The Patriots and Packers blew out their opponents last Saturday the Chargers and Giants were in tight games The Patriots and Packers were the favorites to win their games the Chargers and Giants were the underdogs The Patriots and Packers had first round byes the Chargers and Giants Giants' won the wildcard So who will be the favorites in the two Championship games this weekend Championship The New England Patriots will ill host the San Diego Chargers this Sunday The Patriots will be heavily favored The Patriots smoked the Chargers in inthe inthe inthe the second week of the regular season 38 Dont Don't be so sure that it will happen again Tomlinson only rushed for 43 yards on 18 carries that game He was the leading rusher in the NFL this season with just over 1400 yards and an average of 47 yards per carry This is the one advantage that the Chargers have over the Patriots The Chargers were also missing some key players in their secondary on defense allowing Randy Moss yards receiving and 2 touchdowns Tom Brady threw for yards and 3 touchdowns that game as well The two teams also met last season in the division playoffs The Pats were the underdogs that time around and made a huge comeback outscoring the Chargers 21 7 in the final 31 minutes Since then the Chargers replaced head coach Marty with Norv Turner who got the Bolts over the playoff slump The stats dont don't lie lieThe The Pats are a much better team teamon on paper and they have yet yetto yetto yetto to lose a game this season Because of their loss to the Patriots in hi week two the Chargers have gone 4 12 and are currently on onan onan onan an game eight-game win streak Both teams have momentum on their side and it should be a showdown at Gillette Stadium Championship This game so sounds ds like a storyline from a corny football movie The old ld quarterback looking for that last championship in what may be his final NFL season The young quarterback who overcame adversity from fans and critics finally making to a championship game One team dominant in their then division easily making it to the playoffs and the other fighting their way for a Wild Card spot A team from the big city and another from USA It would be easy to contrast these teams all day but here are some statistics The Giants have arguably the best defensive line in inthe inthe inthe the league e and they rank higher than the Packers in every major defensive statistic The Packers on the other hand have a great offense They rank second Li Liin in offensive r ga game gaeT eT 0 tf with and second in passing yards u The only offensive stat that the Giants have over Green Bay is rushing yards per game but the Packers proved in their last game that they can bang on the ground as well The position in which these two teams are really even is their receiving core Both teams have big weapons in their passing game game it it all depends on which quarterback willbe will willbe willbe be able to step up These two teams met in Week Two and the Giants got spanked 35 13 But with the frozen tu tundra dra at Lambeau this time around anything can happen |