PLAXICO BURRESS
vs.
ELLIS HOBBS
Hobbs has struggled at times against tall receivers, so the Patriots aren’t going to leave him on an island against Burress. Not with Hobbs giving up seven inches and nearly 40 pounds in this matchup, and especially not after seeing how Burress simply abused the Packers’ Al Harris – who is similar in size to Hobbs – in the NFC Championship game.
Then again, no one expects the Patriots to copy the Packers’ stubbornly dumb gameplan and play mostly man-to-man coverage against Burress, anyway. Sticking with one scheme – especially one with as much risk as man – isn’t Bill Belichick’s style. Belichick is a master at disguising his secondary schemes and alternating between zone and man, although scouts say the Patriots use more zone.
If that’s the case in the Super Bowl, then look for Hobbs to get plenty of help from the Patriots’ safeties against Burress after Burress burned him for four catches (including a 52-yarder) at Giants Stadium in Week 17. Hobbs is considered physical for his size, but speed (especially his ability to jump out routes), resiliency and big-hitting ability are what make him one of the league’s up-and-coming right cornerbacks. Hobbs won’t win many battles at the line of scrimmage against Burress, but he has the quickness to recover in time to make the play.
The knock on Hobbs is that he can be too much of a gambler sometimes, especially for someone who comes up with so few big plays (just three interceptions the past two seasons). So if the Giants can catch him taking chances in single coverage, they can hit Burress for a big play or two just like they did a month ago. But Hobbs rarely finds himself alone like that, and Belichick is just as liable to throw Big Blue a curveball by putting big-play left corner Asante Samuel on Burress instead. With Belichick, you just never know.