Plaxico Burress predicted Giants would win 23 to 16

An article from NY Daily News reports that Plaxico Burress predicted Giants would win 23 to 16.  How the Patriots responded was interesting:

Patriots defensive end Richard Seymour added, "It's not going to make us play any harder."

That may be what Seymour says, but you can believe a prediction like that - with the score in it - will drive the Patriots even harder, especially with them trying to make history. Belichick, Mr. Motivator, will blow up Burress' prediction to blimp size and drum the slight into his players' heads all week. The Patriots, and Belichick, have proven that they have a long memory. Ask Jets coach Eric Mangini.

The Patriots seem to have adopted Belichick's non-inflammatory form of communication with reporters.

Samuel said they spend 30 minutes each day during the team meeting talking about what to say and what not to say to the media. He called those sessions being "served humble pie." He does not recall anyone ever being disciplined or fined for saying something that Belichick thought was out of line.

If someone were to make a guarantee about a game, "practice would be pushed back by at least 30 minutes and we'd have to eat a lot of humble pie," Samuel said.

The Patriots obviously don't like the taste of humble pie. I wouldn't expect them to offer any return predictions to counter what Burress said.

"We're a veteran football team," Wilfork said. "We know what and what not to say. We do our talking on Sunday. Whatever I say in front of this microphone today is not going to win the game on Sunday."