Vegas opened up the Patriots at four point favorites, however the money all went toward the G-Men early. The spread now sits at 2 and a half points, a one and a half point shift.

There are a few simple principles that allow teams to win football games: score points (duh), don’t turn the ball over and  get some stops on defense. When you break down the Giants offense, you see they have a multitude of wide receivers that can burn you deep and a power running game that has finally come into its own this season. The Pats feature two amazing tight ends in Gronkowski and Hernandez, and a corp of average wide outs lead by former All-Pro Wes Welker. Welker’s touches have been down considerably this year because of the success of their TEs, and the supporting cast of receivers have been spotty at best. Rob Gronkowski also suffered a high ankle sprain in their playoff win over the Ravens and, unless this is a case of gamesmanship, deals a huge blow to the Patriots offense both passing and running the ball.

The Giants defense has been, in a word, remarkable since their late season run into the playoffs. Their “NASCAR” package, whereby they line up 4 defensive ends who can all get after the quarterback, is lethal and should give the Patriots tackles fits. The key for New England is to keep that unit off the field, if possible, so Tom Brady can have a comfortable passing pocket to deliver his strikes. There’s a rumor that Brady has a shoulder injury which might explain his unusually erratic passes against Baltimore in the AFC Championship game.

The much maligned Patriots defense has stepped it up as of late, playing a bend, bend, and bend some more but don’t break. Vince Wilfork has been a stud the past few weeks, causing headaches for teams looking to, well, look around his five hundred pound gut. The Pats D has been opportunistic, forced turnovers and gotten stops when they needed. They also benefitted from some late game buffoonery by Ravens coach John Harbaugh, whereby the down markers were incorrect and their kicker shanked a game tying field goal. But, with every good team comes a little luck.

All of that said, there are three reasons why I don’t think this is going to be a close game.

1. Gronkowski’s ankle.

A high ankle sprain is no joke. It is a sprain that happens in the front of the lower leg that causes a massive amount of pain and takes six weeks to heal. Adrian Peterson, Ben Rothlesberger and Arian Foster all suffered the same injury this year and no amount of Cortizone and physical therapy can rush it back. Without Gronkowski, the Pats not only lose their big play ability on offense but also lose a solid run blocker, when needed. Hernandez is still a stud TE, but only have one TE to match up against is doable vs. taking on the two headed monster.

2. Giants WRs vs New England’s secondary.

Even with a lucky play on the oft-cursed, and now infamously soft-handed Lee Evans to prevent a Ravens win, the Pats secondary isn’t very good. And that’s being nice. The QBs they’ve faced during their victories include Tim Tebow, Matt Moore, Curtis Painter, Rex Grossman, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Mark Sanchez and Matt Cassell while losses came at the hands of Eli, Big Ben and an early season loss against a then-hot Ryan Fitzpatrick, before everyone figured out he can’t throw a deep ball. Bottom line is that they’ve claimed wins against average to below QBS, which Eli is not. Speaking of Eli…

3. Eli.

Yes, the “other” Manning is playing better than any quarterback in the league. Last week he took on the league’s most ferocious defense that stomped every team’s mudholes in during the regular season from coast to coast and prevailed. He was hit twenty times, six of which were sacks. He was poised, accurate and has been backing up his “Elite QB” claim the entire season. He doesn’t get rattled, he’s won it before and is a much better leader and passer than he was in 2008 when he threw up a duck that somehow stuck to David Tyree’s helmet. Sure, you can say the same for Brady, but I seriously doubt Tom can withstand a beating from the Giants front four, play with the loss of his top receiver/TE and rely on his team’s defense to keep it close enough to pull one out. Eli will raise this mutha again and I’m going to have to listen to another year of New Yorkers gloating. But at least it’s not Boston Sports Fan.

Yep, Eli's Raising Superbowl Trophy #2

This is a preemptive strike because I know exactly what he’s going to say.

Why do I care? Well, first off, I’m a die hard Pats fan. Always have been, always will be. I grew up in a time when the Pats were the joke of the league. I remember those one win seasons. I remember how bad Tony Eason was. I remember how Irving Fryar was our only chance of scoring deep, which rarely happened.

I remember.

Over the past 10 years, the tide has changed, as most know. Three Super Bowl wins and one drastic appearance later, and the Patriots are once again, on the big stage looking to be champs.

I love it. Dave, on the other hand, hates it.

He hates it because his team — the Detroit Lions — can’t break through. His other team, the Giants, is the team that the Pats face, of course. Yes, he has two teams because he’s a NYer now — a transplant from Detroit.

He’s a fan of convenience and that bugs the shit out of me.

Anyways, enough of the ranting. Here’s what he’s going to say in his Super Bowl post:

• Pats are luck to be there and had a soft schedule
• The Pats D can’t stop anything
• Gronk is hurt so there goes Brady’s safety net
• The Giants D is going to pummel Brady like they did in ’07
• There’s #NoTitlesInBoston (search on Twitter)

Yadda, yadda, yadda…he’ll go on and on. I won’t read it. I won’t. I don’t need to. I already know what he’s going to say.

But, revenge is on the docket this year in Indy. Pats win.

#NoTitlesInNYerDetroit…

The spot that has already been well leaked and spread via social media has been Matthew Broderick’s mysterious Ferris Bueller spot. The 10-second teaser clip was released on the web before the weekend and spread quickly.

Since most of the Dads here on EOT are children of the 80s-90s, we wanted to share with you what is a great spot for Honda’s CR-V. Broderick plays himself in true Bueller fashion. Well done and not overdone. Enjoy

Build this easy to make football bar for your party.

If you’re lucky enough to go like me (sorry for the brag!), then you’ll be filled to the gills with parties, food and good times. The reality for most Americans is the throw fun and exciting Super Bowl bashes at home or attend a private party. We’ve all been to great parties, and then we’ve also been to duds.

If you’re hosting the big shindig this year, how do you avoid becoming “that guy” who had a crappy Super Bowl party?

Every Other Thursday turned to Mr. Handyman for some tips. For those of us who really enjoy being the man around the house and completing that never-ending “honey do” list but still lack some of the skill necessary to re-plumb a bathroom or install a ceiling fan, Mr. Handyman has you covered. As someone who didn’t have a father who taught him the ins-and-outs of home repair, I use their site all the time for tips and tricks – which allow me to avoid killing myself or flooding the house. The same experts also have created a pretty cool list of ways to make your party pretty cool.

The company released an easy to follow video to walk you throw some pretty cool – and easy – ways to make your party stand out. They include:

• Turn your dining room table into a football field-themed serving stadium in practically minutes
• Change your coffee table in the living room into a chalkboard playmaking conversation piece
• Build a football-themed bar for the big game
• Take the game outside with a cool project that builds a goalpost out of standard PVC pipe

Check out the embedded video for some great projects to make you the talk of suburbia. We like the approach and so to will your buds as they come over to drink, eat and yell about how annoying Madonna is as the halftime entertainment.

The food and the game (oh, and the BEER) may be the stars of the big Sunday, but using some of these tips and projects could make you the Super Bowl King of the Block in your neck of the woods.

Now, I’ve worked for years in New York City and as such it’s nearly impossible to walk down any street at any time of the day without a cabbie or driver laying on the horn at another driver.

However, New York City residents move out of the city for the promise of a better environment to raise children: a yard with grass and trees, good schools, Costco – you know, the essentials.

It’s with that where I struggle to understand the mindset of people that come out to the ‘burbs for peace and quiet and instead can’t help themselves but to beep at everything. Didn’t make a turn fast enough? Honk. Didn’t accelerate fast enough when the light turned green? Honk. Didn’t let someone complete a “Jersey left”, whereby as soon as the light turns green the person across from you in the left turn lane guns it to cut off traffic? Honk. Honk. And honk.

Seriously, help me readers – is this just Jersey people being assholes or does this happen by you? And when it is acceptable to use the horn?

As I continue to grapple with the fact that I am 42 years old, I am making some pretty important discoveries.

One of those important discoveries is that I have discovered one of the key ingredients to living the life of a happy father. I discovered how you become rich and how that changes and focuses your life on what’s important. I’ve decided I want to gain even more wealth than I have today.

The kicker is for me being rich has nothing to do with money. For the busy father of five kids, the currency most valuable to me is time. Time to spend with my family. Time to talk with my teenage daughter about relationships and growing up. Time to explain to my son cleaning his room and doing chores isn’t a hassle, it’s an education in responsibility. Time to give my 4 & 2 year old a piggy back ride. Time to hold my newborn son and look in his eyes and share goofy grins.

Time. It’s more valuable for me than gold.

The issue with this knowledge is it’s hard to keep time in the bank. When you’re the sole provider for your family, you work and you sacrifice so that those kids can have a nice home, food on the table and whatever else they may need. You travel for business and enjoy your career yet yearn to be home in the middle of the madness.

All of my kids are important and they’re all at vital points of their development. It’s hard to devote the time. I guess my desire to be there as much as possible weighs more on me than it does them. Yet I can’t shake the fact I need more time to spend with them. Who knows how much time we have on this Earth.

I want to win the time lottery. I need more time for my kids and I need more time for my wife.

I’ll do more on my end to create and reserve the time but don’t waste any yourself. You can buy another house, a car, a sweater, an iPad – you can’t buy another day.

Invest in the most valuable currency a man, father and husband can – time with those that you love.

This year’s 1800 Tequila spots still zero in on Patron, but the sentiment of the ads has us thinking that there’s a lot of “What Ever Happened To?” possibilities. With that, we’ve been inspired to continue this meme on Every Other Thursday whereby we’re going to look at how things used to be and compare them today. Today we’re taking on Music.

What ever happened to music? It used to be songs about getting laid, flames and some ripping guitar solos. Now it’s all crying about the girl that got away, holding guitars without actually playing them and Tiger Beat appearances.

Don't mind our shit music, we have perfectly white teeth and well groomed hipster facial hair!

Seriously, none of the most influential artists of the past 40 years would be popular today. Beatles? Forget it. Too many bad teeth. Dylan? Are you kidding me? Simon Cowell even said that Bob Dylan bores him and, let’s be honest, Dylan would never win on Cowell’s former karaoke contest show. Sure, he writes powerful songs with meaning, but is he attractive?

Furthermore, it’s a complete sham that most of the artists today don’t even write their own songs, let alone do more than “sing”, thanks to autotuning. Face it, music today is a farce. It starts with image/looks and at the bottom of the list of criteria is talent.

A friend that runs a record label once said to me that the current criteria for signing bands is whether or not the A&R people found the artists attractive enough to have sex with them. Unfortunately, it’s the rest of us that are getting screwed.

In their first matchup, Alabama had a series of miscues, including missed field goals, that essentially handed the game to LSU. Not to take anything away from the Tigers, but it was a game that I’m sure has been eating at Nick Saban since the loss. The Mad Hatter will have his boys ready to play, and look for the Honey Badger to make an impact – whether it’s an INT, return for a TD, something. Play makers make plays.

That said, I like LSU to come out on top and finish with an undefeated season. I have no justification for this, as I believe it will be a close game, and it will come down to a field goal either way. Take LSU and enjoy the end of the college football season!

What? You want to see your baby too?

It’s being reported that a new Dad was not allowed to see his prematurely born twins at the hospital because hip hop mogul Jay-Z and his diva wife Beyonce asked that the hospital shut down wards of the building to protect their privacy.

“They just used the hospital like it was their own and nobody else mattered,” raged new dad Neil Coulon, whose efforts to see his premature, newborn twins in the NICU were disrupted by the birth of little Blue Ivy Carter.

“They locked us into the NICU and would say, ‘You can’t come out to the hallway for the next 20 minutes.’ When I finally was able to go back out, I went to the waiting room and they’d ushered my family downstairs!”

Sorry, celebs, but if you want privacy you can home birth next time instead of denying other parents access to their babies.

The vaunted Monsters of the Midway of the mid 1980s might have trouble winning in today’s NFL where league rules have changed the game forever. No longer is defense rewarded or toughness matter as much as it used to. Instead, quarterbacks and the high-flying spread and West Coast offenses are the reason you carry the Lombardi trophy home from the Super Bowl.

For the purists out there, you’ll have an objection I am sure. But the numbers are the numbers and two of the three favorites to win the Super Bowl, heading into this first weekend of the NFL playoffs, all are horrible defensive teams.

The season’s top-two seeds, the Green Bay Packers and the New England Patriots, both set the record this year for defensive futility. In fact, both teams rank #1 and #2 as the worst defenses to ever make it to the NFL playoffs. Both the Patriots and Packers give up over 400 yards in offense per game. That’s not only an all-time NFL record, but it underscores the fact the NFL is no longer a league that values the defensive game.

How did we get here? How did the most popular sport in the United States go from a defensive league to a bigger version of Arena Football League?

Over the years the NFL Rules Committee has been doing all it can to change the power of balance to the offensive side of the ball. With the unprecedented growth the NFL has seen over the past 15 years, owners and league officials know the non-stop action and excitement of footballs flying all over the filed sells tickets. It also sells satellite TV packages, jerseys, and other licensed goods. In addition, it keeps television happy. The NFL’s main source of revenue is the obscenely massive television contracts it dolls out and anything the league can do to continue to feed that cash cow is exactly what they’ll do.

Outside of the money, the main reason for this massive switch from a defensive-slanted league to an offensive juggernaut is the NFL Rules Committee.

For example, this season defensive players had to hold back and could not do anything to “endanger” a player by hitting them high. The penalties for even coming close to leading with the helmet or hitting a player high are excessive. Concussions are a big problem but again we have an overreaction. Not only are they excessive, but they’re unrealistic. In essence, its limited the effectiveness of even the best defensive players in the NFL.

Just watch most offensive highlights from this weekend and you’ll see what I mean. Quarterbacks like Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are throwing high to their receivers. That used to be considered suicide but now with the recent rules changes, it benefits the receiver to go high. They’ll either complete the pass or  get the flag. Defenses are, well, defenseless.

There are numerous other examples which have created the state the NFL is currently in. There’s no doubt defenses still are needed to make plays, but the league no longer is based on the defensive games. Team GMs and coaches now have to consider this when stockpiling talent. That’s exactly why the Indianapolis Colts, who have one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game in Peyton Manning, are poised to take Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the first pick in this April’s draft.

To win the in the NFL you don’t need the best middle linebacker, safety or defensive end to win the game. Thanks the the NFL, and the new rules of the game, quarterbacks and offensive skill players are what wins you championships.

The NFL is the quarterback league. Today, the “little guy” behind the center is the focal point of the game. Makes you wonder, how would Ditka and his defense do in the “new” offensive-minded NFL?

I shudder to think.