No, its not the Packers. But despite pledges from many Green Bay fans to boycott Sunday' s festivities, many will still tune in. After all, it is the great American game and few things are more entrenched than Super Bowl get-togethers. And while this year certainly will not have the same cache that last year's had in Wisconsin, it is still, after all, the Super Bowl. And while it may not be ideal that our team is not in it, keep in mind that since the advent of the game, our home state team has played in a mere 11 percent of Super Bowl games. That is hardly what one could consider a birthright.

So, what do you need to know?

Three key matchups:

New England offensive line vs. Jason Pierre-Paul and the rest of the New York pass rush. Back in Week 9 of the NFL season, New York won at New England 24-20. And while Brady threw for 342 yards and two touchdowns, he was also harassed all afternoon, sacked twice, and threw a pair of interceptions to match his two touchdowns.

"I was holding the ball too long," Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said of that November game. "They have some blitz schemes that are challenging to handle. As a quarterback, you can't sit back there and think that you're going to have all day to throw the ball."

The Giants forced the issue with Brady in part because if you don't, he'll burn you.

"He can pick our defense. He can throw the ball even if our coverage is very good, Giants all-pro defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul says. "That's scary, but as defensive linemen, we just have to get to him fast enough. Our secondary can cover the guys real quick, and hopefully that will help us out."

Teammate Justin Tuck agrees. "It's always the key when you've got a quarterback like him," Tuck says. "There are a few guys you'd put in that category and I'm sure (the Patriots) are telling their D-line the same thing about Eli (Manning). For us it always remains the same – stop that run and don't give the quarterback those options and get after him."

New England TE Rob Gronkowski vs. his ankle. Gronkowski missed practice Wednesday and was limited his his football activities Thursday. "I think that is something you deal with all year," Patriots head coach Bill Belicheck said Thursday. "There are a lot of times when not every player is out there for every practice or can't participate in every practice. You do what you can do, and we will just see how it goes."

And while Belicheck says that Gronkowski is day-to-day, his return - as limited as it was - seems to make it more likely that he will try to play on Sunday.

Gronkowski's quarterback, Tom Brady, says he hopes his tight end's ankle is better, because he has been putting in the time in film study to get ready to play.

"Yeah, he's really been keeping up mentally with what he needs to do," Brady says. "He's been a part of every meeting and walk-through. He's preparing himself as if he's going to play even though he hasn't been able to practice. We'll see how it goes."

Tom Brady vs. Eli Manning. No, they won't literally face each other. But, Peyton's little brother is the only signal-caller to to ever have beaten Brady in the big game. After all, even though we all know this is a team game, let's be honest: the legacies of both quarterbacks have a lot on the line on Sunday.

"He's a great quarterback," Brady says of his counterpart. "He's obviously a great leader. You hear the comments coming from their players, and obviously they respect him. He's survived in that environment in New York, it's a tough place to play. He answers the critics. He never makes excuses."

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