Vince Wilfork is the main key for Patriots defense against Giants

Reporting from Foxborough, Mass. — What the New England Patriots defense must do to stop the New York Giants in the Super Bowl (Feb. 5, 3:30 p.m. PST, Channel 4):

To help counter quarterback Eli Manning, New England needs its mountain in the middle to step up in a big way.

Defensive tackle Vince Wilfork is coming off a tremendous game against Baltimore, and his team needs him to have an encore performance in the Super Bowl. Even if they don’t sack Manning much, the Patriots want to collapse the pocket and not allow him to get comfortable with his protection.

Wilfork is a key to that.

“He leads the way for us on defense — he and Jerod,” said Coach Bill Belichick, referring to Wilfork and linebacker Jerod Mayo. “Vince is obviously our most experienced player, and he’s been a great leader, great captain all year. They’ve set the pace and the rest of the guys have fallen in step. It’s been awesome, certainly a lot better than some other years I can think of.”

That’s not reflected in the statistics, at least not in the regular season, when the Patriots had the 31st-ranked defense. They were particularly susceptible to big plays, giving up an NFL-high 79 plays of 20 yards or longer.

Instead of having a set strategy, the Patriots tend to change what they do defensively from week to week in an effort to exploit personnel mismatches. That might include a 3-4 look one Sunday and a 4-3 the next.

The Giants had a bottom-of-the-barrel running game this season — although it has been better in the playoffs — and three receivers in Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham who have the speed to stretch a defense to its breaking point.

The Patriots have aggressive corners in Kyle Arrington, who tied for the league lead with seven interceptions, and Devin McCourty. They use various defenders over the slot receiver, and one of those defensive backs is Julian Edelman, who played half his snaps against the Ravens at receiver and half at third corner.

New England also could use a big game from linebacker Brandon Spikes. He had a team-high nine tackles against the Ravens, and picked off a pass with one hand in the pivotal fourth quarter.

sam.farmer@latimes.com

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