Strangest thing about the Super Bowl so far is all the so-called victory guarantees by the Giants, from Plaxico Burress to Michael Strahan and others.

Frankly, the media makes too much of this, but then we have a lot of space to fill all week. It would deserve headlines, certainly, if the Giants’ players said they expected to lose. I would hope professional athletes are confident enough to think they can win.

And the Patriots are mature enough to know this all means nothing.

“Just words, right?” said Rodney Harrison. “You have to do it on the field. It doesn’t matter what you say, or what he says, or what they say, it doesn’t matter. It is how you execute and who makes the most plays on Sunday.”

I think the Patriots will execute best, make the most plays, and win, and it could be one-sided.

I think the week off will work in New England’s favor. It gives the Patriots a chance to catch their breath, and it slows the momentum the Giants built in their three road playoff victories.

Lots of folks have been jumping on the Giants’ bandwagon lately because of their momentum, because the Patriots didn’t play all that well in December, because Tom Brady has a faulty ankle.

Could happen. History suggests otherwise.

Six teams have won the Super Bowl without first winning a division title. The Giants are trying to become the seventh. But all six won at least 11 regular-season games, which is one more than the Giants won this season.

Further, five of the six beat a division champion whose record was no more than one game better than they were, and the other beat a division champ that was two games better. But that came with an asterisk – 11-5 Pittsburgh over 13-3 Seattle in the 2005 season — because two of the Steelers’ losses came in the four games that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger missed at mid-season due to injury. The Steelers were 9-3 in his starts that year.

None of this, of course, means the Giants have no chance. Far from it. But there’s a reason that a team wins every game, and whether the Patriots have been impressive lately or not, their overall resume is very impressive. So be wary of those Giants’ picks. There’s a lot of emotion after their terrific run through the NFC playoffs.

Further, Bill Belichick reminds me of Bill Walsh in the non-emotional way he turns football into an intellectual exercise. I’m not the only one who believes this; former 49ers’ lineman Randy Cross mentioned it to me this week, too.

And Belichick and his staff, very light on NFL playoff experience but very long on brains, does a great job when the Patriots have two weeks to prepare. His teams have won 10 consecutive games when they had two weeks to prepare.