New York Giants win Super Bowl, 21-17
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New York Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw (44) rushes for a touchdown in front of New England Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo (51) during the second half of the NFL Super Bowl XLVI football game, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
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INDIANAPOLIS -- The New York Giants thwarted the New England Patriots for the second time in four years with a fourth-quarter comeback to snatch the Super Bowl and history from Tom Brady's hands.
Quarterback Eli Manning led his team to a winning 88-yard touchdown drive in the final minutes as the Giants knocked off the Patriots, 21-17, to capture the franchise's fourth Vince Lombardi Trophy. They again prevented Brady and coach Bill Belichick from tying the Steelers Terry Bradshaw and Chuck Noll as the only coach-quarterback combo to win four Super Bowls.
It came in as dramatic fashion as did the Giants upset of new England in this game four years ago, and New York added an uneccessary hiccup at the end that provided another layer of melodrama at the end.
The Giants reluctantly took the lead with 57 seconds left when Ahmad Bradshaw took a handoff from the six and the Patriots defense opened up like the Red Sea to allow him to score in order to give Brady enough time to come back.
It was obvious that Bradshaw was told to fall down before the goalline, let the Giants run down the clock and kick the winnign field goal. But as Bradshaw tried to stop at the one, his momentum carried him into the end zone for the touchdown.
So with 57 seconds to go, Brady got the ball and fans throughout football know that is often more than enough time for him to work the magic they had all seen so often through the years.
But not on this day.
Brady had one magical throw, escaping a sack on fourth down at his 14 to complete a 29-yard pass. At the end, however, he had to throw a desperation pass from his 49 into the end zone, where it fell incomplete as the clock struck 0:00.
Manning, overshadowed by his big brother Peyton for most of his career, earned his second Super Bowl MVP in four years. That's one more than his brother, both in Super Bowl victories and MVPs, and he did it in the town where Peyton has performed his entire career.
It was the eighth game-winning drive of the 2011 season for Eli Manning.
The Giants took a 9-0 first-quarter lead in a quite surprising way. They had two scores and had run 19 plays to just one for New England, and that one by the Patriots was a costly penalty.
The usually unflappable Patriots looked shaken early on. Tom Brady, taking his first snap from his six yards line, dropped into his own end zone and threw deep down the middle -- to no one. A flag was dropped for intentional grounding and since he threw it from his end zone, by rule that was a safety and a 2-0 New York lead.
First Published February 5, 2012 10:11 pm
