When it comes to the Super Bowl, at least this year, things are not what they seem.

The New England Patriots, despite being the No. 1 seed coming out of the AFC, was not considered a very strong favorite to reach the Super Bowl.

They won the final eight games of the regular season, then dispatched the visiting Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens to enter Super Bowl LXVI — yes, that’s No. 46. It’s not as easy to read as it used to be — on a 10-game winning streak.

However, New England surrendered an average of 411 total yards per game, by far the worst for a Super Bowl finalist.

When the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl following the 2009 season, their defense was ranked 25th.

Had the Green Bay Packers not surrendered 500-plus yards against the Detroit Lions in the regular-season finale, then the Patriots, not the Pack, would have been ranked 32nd in the league.

Instead, the Patriots settled for 31st.

So, if defense wins championships, then the Giants appear to be the favorite. However, the Giants are riding a hot streak themselves.

Having started out at 6-2, the Giants dropped five of six games to fall to 7-7 before bouncing back with victories over the New York Jets (29-14) and the Dallas Cowboys (31-14).

They’ve defeated the Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers and have done so with a strong defense.

Or so you’d think. The team was outscored during the regular season 400-394, the 400 being the most in the division.

The Giants, however, have caught fire as of late, coming in with a five-game winning streak and knocking off the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in consecutive weeks on the road.

But both teams find themselves fortunate to be in the Super Bowl. The Giants needed a 31-yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes in overtime to edge the 49ers, 20-17.

The Patriots saw a dropped touchdown pass by Ravens receiver Lee Evans in the closing minute, then kicker Billy Cundiff miss a 32-yarder that would have forced overtime. Instead, the Pats prevailed 23-20.

Not one to blow my own horn — who am I kidding, yes, I am — I got both games correct. My 6-year-old son stated late that “Baltimore is going to lose” and my wife predicted Cundiff would miss the field goal.

So, that said, I’ll stick with my prediction last week that the Patriots will prevail 31-23, giving Tom Brady his fourth title in five Super Bowl appearances.

I like the Giants defense better, but I won’t count out Brady and believe he’ll get it done one more time.

The Patriots would like to pay back the Giants for ruining their chance at NFL immortality with an undefeated season by Plaxico Burress pulling in an Eli Manning pass with 35 seconds remaining for the 17-14 win four years ago.

Brady’s determined to bounce back from his below-average performance on Sunday and I think he’ll do so.

Sam Tallarico is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.