"Some people mistakenly seem to think football is science. It is not, unless you consider hand-to-hand combat science.

In its most genteel form football is a wrestling match, but most of the time it's a cage match. This is particularly true where Sunday's Super Bowl will be decided — along the line of scrimmage.

For all the talk of scheming, game planning and putting people in position to make plays (talk that makes the sport sound like chess), Giants defensive lineman Jason Tuck explained last week the essence of what Super Bowl XLVI will be about.

"The way to kill the snake is to take off his head," Tuck theorized when asked what the Giants must do to defeat the Patriots. He didn't sound like Sir Isaac Newton or Bobby Fischer when explaining his theory of football Darwinism."