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."

And while few question Brady's overall Canton credentials, the fact remains that he has not won a Super Bowl in seven years, after winning three in four years early in his career. A win on Sunday and Brady would tie Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw as the only quarterbacks to have won four Super Bowls.

But the last time these two teams played, Manning and the Giants bested Brady and the Patriots. With a New York victory on Sunday, Manning will have beaten Brady head-to-head twice in the Super Bowl, giving Manning two rings to Brady's three. In addition, a New York win would give Eli twice as many championships as his older brother, Peyton (not to mention winning his second title in Peyton's house).

Part of what makes Manning so effective is that he gets hot at the right time. "He gets that peak in the fourth quarter," Giants wide receiver Mario Manningham says. "He knows what he wants to do and knows where to put the ball. That's when he plays his best ball."

Other observations from Super Bowl week in Indianapolis:

One thing that has been noticed this year at the Super Bowl has been something we have never seen from Belicheck before during a championship week. A smile.

"That's different than it normally is? I don't know," Belicheck said Thursday. "I'll leave that to you and to the experts. Look, I'm just down here trying to coach a team in the biggest game of the year. It is a big challenge for us, but we've earned the right to be here. I'm proud of that, and I think the team is proud of that."

Of course, four years ago with New England 18-0 and a heavy favorite in Super Bowl XLII when they got beaten by the Giants 17-14. Earlier that season, New York coach Tom Coughlin was said to be on the hot seat by the New York media, although that was denied this week by team co-owner John Mara. For Coughlin, David slaying Goliath changed many fans perspective of the notorious disciplinarian.

"It's a wonderful thing to have someone hand you that trophy, for sure, following a win," Coughlin admitted on Thursday. "It does have a significant impact on your life and you going forward. You find out pretty quickly that the next offseason and the next season rolls around very quickly. What you try and do is build on that. You build on the confidence, you build on your team, and you challenge them to do that again."

When Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora skipped the mandatory media session on Wednesday because of what he said Thursday was a misunderstanding, in true Super Bowl media moronics, that was seemingly all anyone wanted to talk about the next day. No fewer than 15 questions about missing a media session were asked of Umenyiora.

The Media Center at the JW Marriott Hotel in downtown Indianapolis has been buzzing all week long, but the setup is totally unworkable. Radio Row is merely a name nowadays, because everyone also brings television equipment to show themselves broadcasting a radio show. But aside from that, the massive NFL Network set has taken up half of the ballroom, and for the first time ever, a limited number of fans have been allowed inside to watch the proceedings within a confined area between the center set for the NFL Network and the rest of the radio stations.

I certainly have nothing against fans, but the addition of them in a room about half the size of Radio Row last year in Dallas means that no one trying to work can move at all. If either there were no fans in the room or the facility was as big as it was last year, it wouldn't be an issue. Of course, the NFL would like you to believe that the mania of Radio Row is where all of the excitement is, but it's not. Sure, you get the celebrities and Hall of Famers walking through, but the reason it looks like there are a million people in the room is because they have shrunk the room to the point of it being unworkable for those trying to work. 

That felt good. Granted, there are bigger problems in life, but imagine taking whatever work space you currently have (your office, cubicle, work station etc...) and cut it by two-thirds. Welcome to Radio Row.

Overall, Indianapolis has done very well this week as a Super Bowl host city; far better than Dallas one year ago. Mother Nature has helped out, certainly, but there is a buzz in the city here that there just wasn't in Dallas. Maybe it is because of the skepticism of Indianapolis as a Super Bowl destination, maybe it is because the leaders that have put on this event are obsessed (in a good way) with making sure that tourists have a good time and want to come back. Whatever the case, even in a cold-weather city, Indianapolis has a real shot of hosting another Super Bowl.

The choice of Madonna to play the halftime show has drawn howls from football fans, but kudos from the Real Housewives. If the NFL wanted to have broad appeal and some local flavor, I would submit that John Mellencamp would have been a better choice.