The Patriot's defense in '07 was still respectable, IIRC, and San Fran's was nothing to sneeze at last season. And the defense of the Giants has been very over-hyped in the last few years. They get a fair amount of sacks, and have three or four very talented pass rushers, but they have been erratic against the run (in the playoff game against Dallas, Romo didn't have to do much in the first half, beyond let Marion Barber move the ball at will to two long TD drives), and the secondary hit its high point between the two Super Bowl seasons. In 2007, it was very on-and-off, with the aging Dolphins reject Sam Madison as the highlight (they spent high picks that year and two of the next three years on DBs, trying to shore it up), and last year was riddled with injuries. The linebackers were even worse (they got so desperate that they signed the starting middle linebacker for that stretch run in week 13 - he had been out of football until he got the call to start at MLB against the defending Super Bowl champions; hardly the mark of a team with deep or capable personnel). Overall, the defense, in both seasons, when they put together a good game, tended to give it up at the end. No Giants fan I know was surprised at the Patriots driving to retake the lead near the end of the 4th quarter - a Jets fan at work commented later at how pessimistic the Giants fans he had watched the game with seemed after the Giants took their penultimate lead. Last season, they got ripped pretty bad in quite a few games, and again played their old trick of giving away a hard-taken lead late. Note how the Cowboys and Packers, in their first meetings with the Giants, both drove almost at will to get into position for a last-second field goal. They put Manning in enough holes that he had to lead six fourth-quarter comebacks (and three that fell short).

His stats are average because his receivers have been average, and his offensive coordinator is notoriously dull & predictable. Give him Sean Peyton and he'd light up the score boards.

As for the average QB's who have won rings, how many won 2?