The two biggest weapons on both teams lie in Cruz and Gronkowski. Cruz, a super quick and slippery wide receiver, has been on an absolute tear since Week 3. Starting with that game against the Eagles, Cruz has had at least 70 yards each game in all but three of them, including the playoffs. He has also collected nine touchdowns. The most dangerous attributes that Cruz possesses are his hands, his ability to get separation, and his big play potential. As the season has gone on, Cruz has rarely dropped a ball and does an excellent job of getting himself open, making things easier on Manning. What you need to watch for in Cruz is if he can get a long touchdown. During the last two games of the regular season, the Giants were in must-win territory. Cruz responded with 9 catches for 342 yards and two touchdowns coming from 99 and 74 yards out.
Gronkowski is a whole new element. As a tight end, he is naturally physical and hard to tackle, but his speed gives him something that most tight ends don’t have. Gronk is pretty much impossible to cover, especially in the red zone. He has broken multiple tight end records this season and has only had four games where he had less than 60 yards. In their previous meeting, both players shined; Cruz has six catches for 91 yards and Gronk recorded eight catches for 101 yards. Both players also have an elite counterpart, Hakeem Nicks for Cruz and Wes Welker for Gronk, that takes some pressure off of them. The Giants and the Patriots both have a weak secondary, so I expect the two players to succeed. However, Cruz is the more dangerous one, because his speed and big play ability can completely change a game with a long touchdown.
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