The only thing standing between unbeaten New England Patriots and NFL immortality is Bermuda's own Antonio Pierce and the New York Giants.

Pierce and his Giants' team-mates defeated Green Bay Packers 23-20 in overtime in Green Bay, Wisconsin last Sunday to set up a February 3 Super Bowl showdown with a Patriots team bidding to become the second NFL franchise behind the 1972 Miami Dolphins to cap off a perfect season with a Super Bowl title.

Sunday's National Football Championship (NFC) match, which was decided by Lawrence Tyne's 47-yard field goal, was competed for in unforgiving, minus 24 degree conditions - conditions former Dolphins running back and another son of the soil Ron Davenport knows all to well.

"It's really tough playing in those conditions and no matter what anybody says being that cold and frigid plays into everything you do. In one mind you are trying to run a play and in the other trying to stay warm and so it's a very difficult thing to do and if you are not playing then it's even worse just standing there (on the sidelines) in all that frigid cold," the former pro footballer explained.

"Everything gets worse; the ball gets slicker and as you saw yesterday (Sunday) both teams didn't throw the ball that deep because there's no way they could. There were a lot of passes that were dropped that guys misjudged because of the cold weather.

"In those conditions your hands and feelings tend to leave you and so if you are going to catch the ball you have to kind of cradle it, as opposed to catching it in your hands because your hands are just not the same anymore."

Twenty-three years ago Pierce and his Dolphins' team-mates came within one win of advancing to the NFL's crown jewel. On Sunday Pierce and the Giants went one better.

"I think it's great to see Antonio doing what he has done with the Giants. He's a young guy and I'm sure he's going to be doing this for sometime and hopefully our young Bermudians are looking at what he is doing and see that they can achieve these same things themselves," Davenport continued.

"In this day in age we all need to consider the fact that even though we are a small island there is talent here, whether it be in cricket, soccer or whatever there is immense talent in Bermuda. I think something like this sends a positive message to kids that if you work hard and strive and put your efforts into things such as sports, as opposed to other things that are not healthy, then they can possibly aspire to be on a stage (Super Bowl) like this one day."

Davenport, who won a divisional title with Miami in 1985, never made it to the big dance himself, but still knows what it takes to get there; blood, sweat and tears - something Pierce and his Giants team-mates have personified all season after getting off to a slow 0-2 start in the regular season.

"The Giants are playing really well; I think they have found their groove and for some strange reason they like playing on the road. They have pretty much won all of their games on the road and then to go and play the way they did against Green Bay, in all that cold weather, was unbelievable," Davenport said.

"I think the Giants are a good team and are going to give New England all they can handle (in the Super Bowl) to be quite honest. Eli Manning is playing some of the best football at that quarterback position - he's been completely consistent.

"The Patriots are at the doorstep of immortality, but at the same time will have to play a lot better than they have been over the last couple of weeks to be able to get to 19-0 and win the Super Bowl."

As a former Dolphin Davenport remains American Football Championship (AFC) to the core. But come Super Bowl XLII the Somerset resident says he will shed a little love for compatriot Pierce, who will go down in history as the first Bermudian to appear in the premier event to be televised live in millions of households across the globe.

"I expect the Giants to give New England all they can handle, but I'm an AFC guy and so I have to stick with my division," he said. "I do think New England are the better team. But on any given Sunday any team can win - and trust me . . . . the Giants do have the talent to win."