FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Tom Brady felt the power of the New York Giants' pass rushers when he was sacked five times in their first Super Bowl confrontation.
Four years later, the New England Patriots' offensive linemen expect another fierce attack on their quarterback in the rematch on Feb. 5. The Giants indeed will have plenty of strong, speedy pass rushers zeroing in on Brady.
"This year, they're definitely the best defensive line in football," Patriots right guard Brian Waters said Friday. "The wave of good football players they throw at you definitely makes them a difficult task."
There's Jason Pierre-Paul with 16.5 sacks, Osi Umenyiora with nine and Justin Tuck with five. Chris Canty and Mathias Kiwanuka also can put pressure on the quarterback.
"They've got good pass rushers across the board," left guard Logan Mankins said, "and when their backups come in they're good, too. So you're going to always have four guys that are very good pass rushers in the game."
At least Brady has Super Bowl experience against an aggressive Giants pass rush.
The Patriots' quest for a perfect 19-0 season ended with a 17-14 loss in Super Bowl XLII. After the Giants scored the decisive touchdown with 35 seconds left, Brady was sacked for the fifth and final time.
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Mankins didn't care to discuss his memories of the Giants' pass rush on that day.
"That was four years ago," he said Friday. "Next question."
But Umenyiora thinks the Patriots view the upcoming game as a chance to get even.
"Of course," he said. "I mean, if I were them, that's what I would be doing. Great players -- Mankins, (Matt) Light, the (Sebastian) Vollmer kid. They have some very good football players. They were embarrassed about that last game and they are going to do everything in their power not to allow that to happen."
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press
