The late Junior Seau once told a story about one method Bill Belichick used to show his linebackers how he wanted them to do their jobs -- but only when they me sed up, Seau said then. Belichick pulled out old film of the , and the defenses he coached (and later coordinated) for 12 years. Never did this turn out well for the ."They always did it better than us," Seau told me back in January 2008, with a laugh.Belichick still rhapsodizes about his years with the , during which Big Blue won two s and produced players like Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson, and the warmth he feels for the franchise that launched him toward his own extraordinary career. He opened his conference call with New York reporters this week by talking about the impact of Ann Mara (the widow of Wellington Mara and mother of team president John Mara), who pa sed away last Sunday, and Frank Gifford, the legendary Giant who died this summer.When the and take the field , though, it will be two more recent memories that will underscore a game that would otherwise appear to be lopsided. If you required a reminder of what those were, you need have only wandered through the ' cafeteria on Wednesday. On every television was .In the days before that game, Belichick said with a bit of wistfulne s that, in some respects, he wished the were going to play anybody except the because there were a lot of other teams for which he did not have that much affection. He certainly wasn't feeling that affectionate after it was over.In a trend that is easy to explain but will be very difficult to continue Sunday, the have won three straight games over the , including, of course, s XLII and, four years later, . Since 2008, the only team the have not beaten at least once is the . The ' exploits against the are celebrated in the murals that line the hallways of New York's training center and can be summed up in Cedric Ogbuehi Jersey two of the Lombardi Trophies in the lobby. So the have the ' number?Well, no. The did have Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and powering a pa s rush that disrupted Brady -- he was sacked five times in XLII. But Strahan and Umenyiora are retired, Tuck is now with the , and the have a paltry nine sacks this season, ."Those games were a long time ago," Belichick said. "I don't think it really has any bearing or influence on what happens this week. I think this week is about the matchups with these two teams, and so that's what we're really focused on."What the do have is and the same principles that applied in those s: Getting pre sure on Brady is perhaps the only way to slow him and limit the . The are vulnerable to pre sure. Nine different players on the offensive line have played at least 40 percent of the offensive snaps. The starting left tackle, , is on injured reserve. The backup left tackle, , mi sed the last three weeks with a toe injury. Three rookies have played at least 60 percent of the offensive snaps, and they have allowed 18 sacks.Still, , with 22 touchdown pa ses and just two interceptions, in large part because he counteracts any pre sure with the league's quickest release. The challenge will then fall to Pierre-Paul, who will play his second game this season after suffering a severe hand injury in a July 4 fireworks accident, to quickly close in on Brady before he can release the ball. Pierre-Paul's first game was encouraging. He played 45 of 59 defensive snaps and the had nine quarterback hits (two by Pierre-Paul) , doubling their average from the first eight weeks of the season."We're going to get to the quarterback," Pierre-Paul said. "I know I am, I know others guys, as well."Perhaps they will. After all, the ' defenses that won the two s against New England were not considered great until after the fact -- their victories upsets, with the first being one of the greatest in history. There are no trophies on the line Sunday, and the personnel is much le s proven. But the ' defense, which once was the first piece of Belichick's legend -- his game plan from one of the s for which he was the ' defensive coordinator -- could provide him with some more game film he would rather not see again.Three more things to watch around the NFL in Week 10:1) The are in a familiar position. Arizona leads Seattle in the NFC West, and it's worth noting that after eight games, they were in the same positions last year. That was before the surged ahead to win the division and come one ridiculous play call away from succe sfully . The critical difference this year: is healthy. The trounced the by a combined score of 54-9 in 2014, but Palmer didn't play in either game. With him, the have the league's to match up against Seattle's . If they cancel each other out, can rebound from an inconsistent first half (nine touchdowns, six interceptions) in which he has particularly struggled with the blitz against Arizona's seventh-ranked scoring defense? History suggests so. The are 20-4 in the second half of seasons since 2012, tied Bobby Wagner Jersey with the for the best record in that span. The conventional wisdom around the league is that Arizona is the better, more well-rounded team. But Wilson will have one big edge Sunday night: Seattle hasn't lost a home game in prime time since 2007.2) Was the ' just a momentary setback or a return to a familiar, more problematic form? There were many positive signs of progre s from the Denver offense -- protecting and running the ball effectively -- that seemed to disappear, but we might find out more , who are and have the . The have allowed just 14.3 points per game over their last four games and have eight takeaways in that stretch, which is worth watching because Manning has thrown an interception in eight straight games and . Still even without the and the , the will terrorize , who was sacked five times in the teams' .3) Having survived the as the NFC's , the embark on the fifth-easiest remaining strength of schedule . Tenne see finally has the young quarterback it has sought for years in , but this is a difficult matchup for a young, mistake-prone team. The have 17 giveaways, tied for 29th in the league, while the have 18 takeaways, which is fourth in the league. Expect a heavy dose of the ' . When struggles, it has been against the blitz (48.9 percent completion rate against the blitz), and Tenne see has the fourth-highest blitz rate (39 percent).Follow Judy Battista on Twitter .