Did Coughlin learn lseson?

Super. We've got another New York-versus-Boston grudge match in the world of sports. … And we're supposed to care way over here in Montana.

But with things tucked into our back pockets like:

. Spygate,

. Bill Belichick's humorless and aloof personality;

. … his going for fourth downs and running up scores;

. Tom Brady's off-the-chart statistics;

. … his mega-star appearance, complete with supermodel girlfriend;

. Another Manning quarterback;

. The Giants' feel-good, from-out-of-nowhere story;

. 19-0

… We either love them or hate them. And we care. It's the Super Bowl - the king of sporting events - and it's (potentially) history in the making.

So we're going to head over to a Super Bowl party. A place where there's usually more people interested in gossiping than watching the game. A place where there's normally more anticipation for the commercials than the game. A place where there's an 80 percent chance you're not going to get a good seat and you're going to have to crane to get a glimpse of the television.

Don't forget to prepare yourself for the drunk Uncle Larry speech on why he put $100 on the Giants to cover the spread.

But be prepared for the Patriots to cover.

Remember a month ago when Eli and the G-Men had the Patriots on the ropes? It drew unprecedented coverage from three television networks and little did anybody know it served as a preview for Super Bowl XLII.

It will be the 12th time teams have met in the regular season and then played in the Super Bowl. But it will only be the second time teams will rematch in the Bowl after playing in the regular-season finale. The only other time it happened was in 1977, with the Cowboys and Broncos. That '77 precursor was meaningless, though, because both teams had wrapped up home-field advantage.

But a month ago, the Giants and Patriots had everything to play for. The underdog Giants even got a wild card dealt to them with a kick return for a touchdown that helped them stay in the game. It was a great game with each team seemingly attacking with what they felt was the best way to win.

Which begs the question: Did Giants coach Tom Coughlin learn anything?

I saw numerous play-calling blunders by the Giants.

After the Pats scored a touchdown to cut their deficit to 28-23 late in the third quarter, the Giants didn't even try to run the ball with their 265-pound bruiser Brandon Jacobs (who played for I-AA Southern Illinois, by the way). Sometimes I can understand the notion of sticking with something that works. But in back-to-back drives, the Giants passed eight times in nine plays. The result was one first down, two punts and 4 minutes, 47 seconds worth of time of possession.

All the while, the Giants defense had limited the Patriots' short-passing game and its YAC (yards after catch). But in the extra plays Brady got because the Giants kept giving the Patriots the ball right back, he started adjusting and looked deep. The Giants didn't adjust. In fact, in back-to-back plays, Brady went deep to Randy Moss. On the second one, he hit him for a wide-open, 65-yard touchdown and the Patriots took a 31-28 lead.

Ugh.

To pour salt in the wound of all the Patriot haters, the TD pass and reception broke both NFL records - one of which was set by Jerry Rice in a shortened season.

So what do the Giants do in response to losing the lead? They finally decide to run the ball - and they did it on both first and second down.

Ugh.

Granted they were good runs (which I had been waiting for in their previous two drives) but one was called back for holding and set up Eli Manning's interception on the next play.

Game over.

It was only three drives - only eight minutes of play. But it was brutal for the Giants. The Giants didn't adjust to the flow of the game while the Patriots did.

With 9:53 left in the game, the Patriots marched down the field - with five short passes and some YAC - for a touchdown to go up by 10 points, 38-28, with less than 5 minutes in the game.

Manning did drive the G-Men for a TD again to put the game within reach of a recovered onside kick. But the Pats recovered it.

Patriots 38, G-Men 35.

Belichick and Co. are masters of adjusting to the flow of the game. We'll see how much Coughlin and Co. learned.

… And now for some Super Bowl tidbits:

. After throwing 20 interceptions in the regular season, which tied for the league lead, Manning hasn't throw another since. The only two Super Bowl quarterbacks to throw 20 interceptions during the regular season and not throw one in the playoffs were Boomer Esiason in 1990 and Phil Simms in 1986. The Giants' Simms won his Super Bowl; the Bengals' Esiason did not.

. The Giants' 18 NFL title game appearances (dating back to the 1993 NFL Championship) are the most in NFL history.

. The Giants are the only team in NFL history to win 10 straight road games in a season.

. The Patriots led the NFL with 36.8 points per game this season. It is the highest in the Super Bowl era. (Look for more of the same in the nice climate of Arizona after two rough weather playoff games.)

. The Patriots are the 17th team to lead the NFL in scoring and reach the Super Bowl. The previous 16 are a combined 9-7 in the Bowl. The last two (the '05 Seahawks and '01 Rams) lost.

. My prediction: Patriots 38, Giants 24.

. 16 days until pitchers and catchers report.

Carl Hennell is a sports reporter for the Daily Inter Lake. He can be reached at chennell@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4446.