Blitz or not to blitz? In the postseason, the New York Giants have effectively stopped blitzing the quarterback. In their three playoff games, the Giants blitzed Matt Ryan, Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith just 17 percent of the time -- nearly half their regular-season rate.

And they gave up just 29 combined postseason points -- fewer than 10 points a game. So, will the Giants have to blitz Tom Brady and the Patriots' record-setting offense to prevail on Sunday?

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Michael Ivins/US PresswireBlitzing Tom Brady produced favorable results for the Giants in the regular-season matchup.

"We don't have to get to Brady to win the game, but we have to put pressure on him any way we can to make him think about getting hit," said defensive end Osi Umenyiora.

In the Week 9 win in Foxborough, the Giants' defense did blitz Brady -- but mostly on third down. In that game, Brady dropped back to pass 11 times on third down. The Giants brought the blitz six times -- or 55 percent of the time, nearly three times higher than their normal blitz rate. And how did Brady do? Not so good. Brady completed just three of nine passes and was sacked twice.

One of those sacks -- by linebacker Michael Boley -- led to a fumble. The Giants recovered, and on the next play running back Brandon Jacobs scored the Giants' first touchdown of the game.

So, although the Giants are not blitzing very often this postseason, they will pick their spots and take calculated risks when attacking Brady in the pocket on Sunday.

Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, in his first Super Bowl, said the Giants can rattle and get to Brady. "He's not God," Pierre-Paul said. Asked if this will provide bulletin board material for the Patriots, Umenyiora said: "I don't think so. I like Jason's confidence. He's right, Tom Brady is not God. He may be Jesus. But he's not God."

Giants vs. Patriots: 10 things to watch

1. Deal with all the big-game hype: Both the conference championship games should have gone to overtime. Only one did, but needless to say both these teams had serious battles on their hands to advance this far. This is Bill Belichick and Tom Brady's fifth Super Bowl appearance -- and that head coach/quarterback pairing has the most postseason wins of any in history. Brady is chasing his fourth Super Bowl ring. Don't expect either franchise to flinch under the white-hot lights of the Super Bowl. The Patriots have not lost since Week 9, which just happened to be against the Giants. Meanwhile, New York has won five straight elimination games and is clearly peaking in all facets at the right time.

2. Get to Brady: This is what everyone will be talking about most for this game. Can the Giants' fantastic defensive line dominate the game and derail New England's fantastic passing attack? New England features a pair of Pro Bowl guards and is talented at tackle. Plus, Brady moves very well in the pocket, gets the ball out quickly and anticipates the rush extremely well. But Brady's biggest weakness might be dealing with a very strong interior pass rush. Don't expect the Giants to blitz much at all in this game, because their front four should be explosive and all that New England can handle on a fast surface in a controlled environment. New York has a fine group of defensive tackles, but it is the ends who are truly special -- and could be the difference. It will be interesting to see what offensive personnel packages the Patriots employ, because if they go too pass-oriented, they will often have to deal with the Giants' Four Aces package of four great defensive ends on the line. Also, when these teams met in Week 9, the Pats often used extra offensive linemen, which is a tactic they could employ again.