How will Eagles know when Patriots' Tom Brady is frustrated? Giants great Justin Tuck's Super Bowl blueprint

As Justin Tuck stared at the photo of himself crunching Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, he instantly was transported back to a time six years ago.

"If I got there a half-second quicker ..." Tuck said to a fan at an autograph-signing last week.

Tuck harassed Brady in two Super Bowl wins by the Giants, notching four sacks and forcing the now-pictured intentional grounding penalty in the end zone for a safety to open Super Bowl XLVI.

In other words, Tuck and fellow pass-rushers Osi Umenyiora,Michael Strahan and Jason Pierre-Paul laid out the blueprint the Eagles need to follow Sunday to top Brady in Super Bowl LII.

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"That D-line can definitely do the same type of things we did as far as getting after Tom," Tuck told NJ Advance Media. "He's used to winning, and things going his way. Whenever things doesn't go his way, he gets frustrated. They've got to figure out ways to get him frustrated."

It admittedly is not easy for the Giants' Ring of Honor inductee to credit the Eagles for anything, but the defensive line is worthy of a cap tip. It can run as many as nine players deep.

The Eagles had the top-ranked pass rush during the NFL regular season, generating 38 sacks, 81 hits, 238 quarterback hurries and seven players with at least 20 quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.

When the Giants upset the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, Tuck wasn't a starter. Neither was Jay Alford, who iced the victory with a sack in the final 30 seconds.

"I think this term is used too loosely around the league nowadays, but we really had guys that were dogs," Tuck said. "Me, Osi and Strah, it was more of a competition between ourselves than it was going against (Patriots offensive tackle) Matt Light or whoever the guy was blocking.

"If Osi had a sack and I didn't, I was pissed about it. That drove us to be better and better. With that drive, it also led us to feel like crap if we let each other down. We had some times where we were huffing and puffing, but you looked over at the next guy and you weren't going to let that guy down, so you sucked it up and kept going."

The Patriots surrendered 35 sacks on Brady during the regular season -- the third-highest total since 2002 -- and allowed seven hits on their 40-year-old pocket passer in the AFC Championship Game.

No doubt edge-rushers Chris Long, Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett and Vinny Curry as well as Pro Bowl defensive tackle Fletcher Cox are salivating. One year ago, Brady threw 62 passes in an overtime Super Bowl comeback win against the Falcons.

"You have to rattle him," Tuck said. "There are different ways to do that: You can sack him, you can knock him down, you can have him moving his feet a lot.

"Sometimes we didn't get to him, but we had people falling at his feet. He was never -- or not often -- allowed to be comfortable. That messes with quarterbacks, especially when they are used to being comfortable."

Led by Cox, the Eagles had the No. 1-ranked rushing defense in the league and haven't allowed more than 10 points in four straight games. The Patriots could be looking at a one-dimensional offense reliant on Brady to capture a sixth Super Bowl ring.

"I can take the arguably off of it: I think he is the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. He's earned that right," Tuck said. "The game is different than when Joe (Montana), (Terry) Bradshaw, (Dan) Marino and everybody else you want to name played. But for what he's done, I have no problem saying he's the best quarterback to ever play."

Even the best isn't immune to losing his cool, however.

So what's the telltale sign that the Eagles should be watching?

"When he is cussing out his O-line, he's frustrated," Tuck said. "I'll just that. We could hear it.

"But it also goes to how competitive he is. I know it's almost blasphemy to be a D-end giving credit to a quarterback and double blasphemy to be a Giant giving credit to a Patriot, but quarterbacks like Tom Brady brought the best out of me personally."

Ryan Dunleavy may be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy. Find our Giants coverage on Facebook.

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