Super Bowl XLVI: Giants Win 21-17 Squeaker over Patriots

Super Bowl XLVI - Giants 21 Patriots 17

Ahmad Bradshaw's 'excuse me' TD run with 57 seconds remaining lift Giants to 21-17 win over the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.

Ahmad Bradshaw's "excuse me" 6-yard touchdown run with 57 seconds remaining lifted the New York Giants to a 21-17 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI to cap yet another Giants comeback victory engineered by Super Bowl XLVI MVP Eli Manning.

The Giants game winning drive started from the Giants own 12-yard line with 3:46 left in the game.

On the first play of the drive Manning connected with Manningham for a 38-yard pass play to the left to place the Giants at mid-field. Manningham's spectacular reception and ability to keep both feet inbounds before being pushed out by Patriots safety Pat Chung. New England challenged the pass completion, but Manningham's feet were inbounds and the play was upheld. The Manning-to-Manningham connection would wind up being the play of the game.

NBC Analyst Cris Collinsworth on Mario Manningham's Catch:

"Absolutely unbelievable. Will go down as one of the greatest catches in Super Bowl history. And it reminds you just a bit of David Tyree and the last time Eli Manning had the unbelievable drive"

Manning's four subsequent pass completions to Manningham (2) and Hakeem Nicks (2) on the drive followed by Ahmad Bradshaw's 7-yard run up the middle placed the Giants at the New England 11-yard line with less than 2 minutes to play. The Giants ran two more plays before scoring the game-winning TD

The Patriots wanted a final crack at the ball and gave Bradshaw room to to run it in, but the Giants defense stopped Tom Brady and the Patriots one final time to secure their fourth Super Bowl victory.

Super Bowl XLVI MVP Eli Manning

Eli Manning was terrific, as he has been this season in building a potential Hall of Fame career, completing 30 of 40 passes for 296 yards and a touchdown.

Hakeem Nicks had 10 catches for 109 yards and Bradshaw rolled up 72 rushing yards and the score.

Justin Tuck had a pair of sacks to led the Giants defense, while Michael Boley racked up 10 tackles.

Brady was terrific, completing 27 of 41 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns. He did force up one pass that Chase Blackburn outmuscled Rob Gronkowski for to record an interception.

"Had it turned out the other way, with a victory tonight Belichick and Brady would have put themselves at or near the top of the discussion of the greatest coach and quarterback of the Super Bowl era. Instead it turns out that it's Coughlin and Eli Manning who put themselves in the discussion for the Hall of Fame. Because quite simply, in dramatic fashion they have now twice bested the team considered to be the best of it's era in the game that matters most."

-- Bob Costas' Final Thoughts on Super Bowl XLVI

Super Bowl XLVI Game Analysis and Recap

The Patriots won the coin toss but decided to defer.

Starting from their own 23, the Giants moved the ball to the Patriots 33-yard line. However, two Manning sacks and a Bradshaw run for a loss forced the Giants to punt from the Patriots' 42. Weatherford's 36-yard punt pinned the Patriots on their own 6-yard line.

Giants Build 9-0 first quarter Lead

On the ensuing play, the Giants defense forced Tom Brady into an intentional grounding penalty in the end-zone resulting in a safety and a Giants' 2-0 lead. The Giants took possession from their own 22 after the free-kick.

A strong running-game capped by a Manning to Victor Cruz 2 yard TD pass gave the Giants a 9-0 lead. The Giants 9-play drive yielded 78 yards and consumed 11 minutes and 36 seconds of game-clock. On 3rd-and-3 from the Patriots 11-yard line Manning connected with Cruz on a pass short right. Cruz fumbled the ball and New England recovered, but the play was negated by a Patriots penalty for having too many players on the field. Cruz's TD catch came two plays later.

The Giants ability to dominate on both sides of the ball early-on seemed to signal an easy Giants victory, however the Patriots responded. New England, which rolled up 10 straight wins coming in, responded with 17 straight points to take a 17-9 lead as quarterback Tom Brady played much better than the previous week in the AFC title game.

Patriots Roar Back

The Patriots first score came on a Stephen Gostkowski 29-yard field goal to narrow the Giants lead to 9-3 early in the second quarter. After exchanging possession a few times, the Patriots started from their own 4-yard line with 4:03 remaining in the half. But Brady engineered a 14-play 96-yard drive in 3 minutes and 55 seconds capped by a short pass to Running Back Danny Woodhead for the 4-yard touchdown. Gostkowski's extra-point put the Patriots ahead 10-9 with 4 seconds remaining.

Brady Connects with Hernandez

Momentum had definitely swung New England's way.

The Patriots started the second half from their own 21. Brady immediately connected with Chad Ochocinco deep left for a 21-yard gain. Patriots running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis then ripped a 17-yard run to move the ball to the Giants 33-yard line. Five plays later, Brady connected with tight end Aaron Hernandez for a 12-yard TD pass.

The Patriots offense -- almost effortlessly -- marched down the field 79-yards this time in 8 plays and consumed only 3 minutes and 40 seconds. The pendulum had swung and it seemed as if the Giants were done. However, the Giants chipped away, getting a pair of Lawrence Tynes field goals -- 38 and 33 yards -- to close out the 3rd quarter and trim the Patriots lead to 17-15.

The Game-Changer

The Patriots were on the march yet again to start the 4th quarter, but Brady's pass deep left intended for Rob Gronkowski was intercepted by Giants linebacker Chase Blackburn at the Giants 8-yard line. 13 plays later the Giants were forced to punt yet again, but Brady's mistake would prove to be the game-changer.

Elite Eli Does It Again

The Giants game winning drive started from the Giants own 12-yard line with 3:46 left in the game.

On the first play of the drive Manning connected with Manningham for a 38-yard pass play to the left to place the Giants at mid-field. Manningham's spectacular reception and ability to keep both feet inbounds before being pushed out by Patriots safety Pat Chung. New England challenged the pass completion, but Manningham's feet were inbounds and the play was upheld. The Manning-to-Manningham connection would wind up being the play of the game.

"Absolutely unbelievable. Will go down as one of the greatest catches in Super Bowl history. And it reminds you just a bit of David Tyree and the last time Eli Manning had the unbelievable drive"

-- NBC Analyst Cris Collinsworth on Mario Manningham's Catch

Eli Manning on if the pass to Manningham was one of the best throws of his career:

"I'm not good at ranking my throws. Obviously, it was a Super Bowl and a tight throw, but I didn't have any questions. I felt the safety was inside. I wasn't worried about whether it would be an interception or a dangerous throw when the ball was released. I saw a window. I felt confident about it. I didn't think much about it. I just saw where Mario was and knew the timing. A lot of those throws are muscle memory. You don't think about how far to throw it or what to do. You see your receiver, you step, you make the throw and hopefully you put it in a good spot where he can catch it. He made a great play."

Manning's four subsequent pass completions to Manningham (2) and Hakeem Nicks (2) on the drive followed by Ahmad Bradshaw's 7-yard run up the middle placed the Giants at the New England 11-yard line with less than 2 minutes to play. The Giants ran two more plays before scoring the game-winning TD

The Patriots wanted a final crack at the ball and gave Bradshaw room to to run it in, but the Giants defense stopped Tom Brady and the Patriots one final time to secure their fourth Super Bowl victory.

The Pats didn't score again, however, and fell to the Giants a third straight time, including a pair of very painful Super Bowl setbacks.

Eli Manning is the fifth player to win the Super Bowl MVP Award at least twice. Joe Montana won it three times; Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw and Tom Brady won it twice.

Ahmad Bradshaw is the fourth player to score the game-winning touchdown in the last minute of a Super Bowl, joining John Taylor (Super Bowl XXIII), Plaxico Burress (Super Bowl XLII) and Santonio Holmes (Super Bowl XLIII).

The Giants won the Super Bowl for the fourth time, tying Green Bay for the fourth-highest total of Super Bowl wins. Pittsburgh has won six; San Francisco and Dallas have won five. The Giants have now won the NFL Championship eight times; only Green Bay (13) and Chicago (9) have won as many.

In each of the Giants' four Super Bowl victories, they had trailed at halftime (10-9 to Denver in Super Bowl XXI, 12-10 to Buffalo in Super Bowl XXV, 7-3 to New England in Super Bowl XLII, and 10-9 to New England in Super Bowl XLVI).

Super Bowl XLVI Scoring Summary

 

Super Bowl XLVI Scoring Plays

Super Bowl Records Set in Super Bowl XLVI

Compiled By Elias Sports Bureau

Oldest Winning Head Coach: 65, Tom Coughlin

Most Consecutive Completions: 16, Tom Brady

Most Consecutive Completions To Start Game: 9, Eli Manning

Most Passing Yards, Career: 1,277, Tom Brady

Most Passes, Career: 197, Tom Brady

Most Completions, Career: 127, Tom Brady

Most Punts Inside 10, Game: 3, Steve Weatherford

Most 1st Downs Passing, Game, Both Teams: 33
(Giants 18, Patriots 15)

Super Bowl Records Tied in Super Bowl XLVI

Compiled By Elias Sports Bureau

Most Games Started: 5, Tom Brady; Matt Light

Longest Touchdown Drive, Team: 96 yards, New England

Fewest Turnovers, Game, Team: 0, N.Y.Giants

Most Safeties, Game, Team: 1, N.Y.Giants

Fewest Touchdowns Rushing, Game, Team: 0, New England

Fewest Passes Had Intercepted, Game, Team: 0, N.Y.Giants

Fewest First Downs By Penalty, Game, Team: 0, New England

Fewest Punt Returns, Game, Team: 0, New England

Fewest Fumbles, Game, Team: 0, New England

Fewest Fumbles Lost, Game, Both Teams: 0 (N.Y.Giants 0, New England 0)

Super Bowl XLVI: Giants vs. Patriots Highlights

 

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