Super Bowl XLVI Recap

The Giants trailed the Patriots late in the 4th quarter. Eli Manning led New York to a go-ahead touchdown drive which included a spectacular catch by a wide receiver. New England’s Tom Brady tried to bring his team back but fell short. It was déjà vu in Super Bowl XLVI.

The New York Giants became the first team in NFL history  to win the Super Bowl with 7 or more losses with a 21-17 victory over New England, last night. Ahmad Bradshaw’s  6-yard touchdown run with 1:04 left gave New York and they held on, knocking down a Hail Mary pass by Brady  in the end zone as the clock ran out. Bradshaw seemed to try to stop short of the end zone but fell across the goal line. The Patriots defense backed away from Bradshaw in an attempt to get the ball back to their offense with as much time possible.

The touchdown  was set up by a  36-yard pass from Manning to Mario Manningham on 1st and 10 for the Giants from their own 12-yard line with 3:46 remaining.. Manningham caught the ball along the Patriots sideline and between two defenders . It was redemption for Manningham as he could not stay inbounds on a long catch on the Giants previous drive. Two plays later, Manning and Manningham connected again for 16 yards to the New England 34. Then, on 2nd and 8, from the 32  Manning threw to Hakeem Nicks for 14 yards to the 18-yard line at the 2:00 warning. After the officials timeout, Bradshaw roared straight ahead for 7 yards and Nicks caught a short 4-yard pass but was pushed out of bounds stopping the clock at 1:15 and leaving New England with over a minute left and a timeout to try to score.

The Patriots started at their own 20-yard line with :57 left. Brady threw his first pass deep downfield for Deion Branch but it appeared to be barely tipped away by Kenny Phillips. On 2nd down with :52 left, Brady delivered a short pass that was dropped by Aaron Hernandez. The Patriots needed a big play on offense but the Giants got it on defense as Justin Tuck sacked Brady back at the 14-yard line setting up 4th and 16. After the Patriots last timeout, Brady dropped back on 4th down and looked downfield, he ducked away from a rusher and fired a pass to Branch for 19 yards along the far sideline with :39 left. Then, Brady completed an 11-yard pass to Hernandez and spiked the football to stop the clock thereafter at 17 seconds. From his own 44-yard line, Brady heaved a long pass down the sideline which fell incomplete. The Giants were called for having 12 men on the field giving New England 5 yards but only 9 seconds remained. After a sideline pass to Branch was out of bounds, one play was left. Brady threw a long, high pass into a crowd of Patriots and Giants players before it was knocked to the ground to end the game.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning won his second Most Valuable Player award, going along with February, 2008. It was fitting for Eli as the game was played in Indianapolis where his brother Peyton has starred for many years. Eli completed 30 of 40 passes for 296 yards and a touchdown to Victor Cruz in the 1st quarter. Cruz, who had a big game against San Francisco in the NFC Championship, was very quiet in the game as he was double-covered by the Patriots on most plays. This meant Nicks and Manningham would have to catch more passes and they did with Nicks catching 10 for 109 yards and Manningham catching 5 for 73 yards.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady played well despite playing with a injured left shoulder for most of the 2nd half. In addition, one of his favorite receivers, tight end Rob Gronkowski was ineffective with a high left ankle sprain limiting his movement. Gronkowski only caught 2 passes for 26 yards in the game. Brady, however, had a terrific performance as he completed 27 of 41 passes for 276 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. The touchdowns came on back-to-back drives ending the 1st half and starting the 2nd half.

With New England trailing 9-3 and at their 4 -yard line, they went on a 14-play, 96-yard drive taking up the final four minutes of the 1st half. In fact, the Patriots had to go 98 yards overall after a false start penalty pushed them back to the 2-yard line. After moderate gains to Wes Welker and Danny Woodhead, Brady found Rob Gronkowski over the middle for 20 yards to the 35. After the 2:00 warning, Brady passed to Hernandez twice for a total of 18 yards. Another penalty, holding, forced the Patriots into 2nd and 12 where Brady connected again with Hernandez for 8 and 12 yards, respectively to the New York 33 with 1:05 left. Two plays later, Brady hit Welker for 10 yards and followed with passes to Woodhead for  11 and then 8 yards to the Giants 3 -yard line. After a running play lost yardage, the Patriots faced 3rd and 3 from the 4 . Brady dropped back and could not find a receiver until Woodhead broke open again and caught the touchdown with :15 left.

The Patriots led 10-9 at halftime and appeared to have all of the momentum. They received the 2nd half kickoff, after choosing to defer to New York to start the game. New England drove 79 yards in 8 plays taking only 3:40 off the clock and had a commanding 17-9 lead. Chad Ochocinco, the previously flamboyant, now quiet wide receiver, caught his only pass of the game for 21 yards on the first play. Ochocinco has played on a limited basis this season after many Pro Bowl seasons in Cincinnati. Two plays later, Benjarvus Green-Ellis ran for 17 yards to the New York 33, the best Patriots running play of the night. On 1st down from the 20, Brady hit Welker for 8 yards and then threw a short pass to Hernandez who ran into the end zone from 12 yards away. Hernandez led Patriot receivers with 8 catches for 67 yards and a touchdown. New England’s second straight touchdown gave them an eight-point lead with 11:20 left in the 3rd.

The Giants responded with two separate drives inside the Patriots 20-yard line but only produced Lawrence Tynes field goals of 38 and 33 yards. The two three-pointers cut the lead to 17-15. Continuously, New York would get into New England territory and either kick field goals or punt. It looked like it would hurt the Giants later on. Between the two New York drives, the Patriots got the ball midway through the 3rd quarter looking to score points again.

However, the Giants defense forced New England off the field in only three plays forcing a punt. On 2nd down, Brady’s Super Bowl record streak of completed passes ended at 16 on a pass to Green-Ellis. On the next play, Brady was sacked by Justin Tuck and landed hard on his left shoulder. Brady tried to return feeling into his shoulder by rotating it while on the sideline.

When Brady returned for the Patriots next offensive series, they moved the ball quickly from their 20 to the 43 using a mix of passes and runs as the game moved into the 4th quarter. On the second play of the period, Brady while under pressure threw a deep pass that was intercepted by Chase Blackburn at the Giants 8-yard line. The play was similar to the David Tyree catch in Super Bowl XLII. This time the defense won, making the pick and the Giants were the beneficiaries in both instances. Gronkowski was in front of Blackburn when the pass was thrown, it was a tad short and Blackburn jumped higher than Gronkowski.

The Giants moved the ball from their 8 to the Patriots 38 before facing a 3rd and 5. The play clock was ticking down to zero forcing Manning to call the second Giants timeout of the drive. They used one prior to  a 3rd and 7 from their 11 at the beginning of the drive. After the second TO, the Giants committed a false start penalty pushing them back 5 yards. It made the timeout worse because it was called to avoid a 5-yard penalty which they committed later on. Facing 3rd and 10, Manning threw a pass to the right side for Manningham but he was hit from behind by Sterling Moore. Giants head coach Tom Coughlin yelled for pass interference flag but there was no flag and the Giants punted.

The Patriots started their next-to-last drive of the game at their own 8-yard line. On 3rd down and 5, Brady make a key completion to Woodhead for 19 yards to the 32. A couple of plays followed before they ran a reverse to Welker gaining 11 yards. With 5:22 left, New England faced a 3rd and 3 at the Giants 47 and again converted through the air on a short 4-yard pass to Hernandez. The Patriots then tried a run with Green-Ellis up the middle but he was stopped by Chris Canty after 1 yard.

At that point,  New England faced 2nd and 11 but had a 2-point lead and only four and a half minutes left on the clock. In addition, New York only had one timeout remaining so the Patriots could run the ball at least twice and take 1-2 minutes before punting at the worst. Instead they threw a long pass for Welker near the Giants 20-yard line which was barely incomplete. Welker had his hands on the ball but was turning his body at the same time and could not hang on to the ball. Although Welker caught 7 passes for 60 yards, his missed pass gave the Giants another chance. The clock stopped on the incompletion at 4:00 saving the Giants from possibly using their last timeout. Then on 3rd down, Brady went deep again for Branch, the pass was short and behind Branch forcing a punt. It also stopped the clock once more at 3:53 allowing the Giants nearly four minutes to score either a field goal or touchdown. Following the shoulder injury, Brady completed only 7 of 18 passes.

The Giants lead 9-0 after the 1st quarter. It was thanks to the punting of Steve Weatherford and the Giants coverage team. New York took the opening kickoff and drove from their 23 to the New England 33. The biggest play was a throw from Manning to Nicks for 19 yards. Then, the Patriots sacked Manning, Brandon Deaderick and Mark Anderson, on two of the next three plays. Weatherford punted from the Patriots 42 to the 6 before long snapper Zach DeOssie stopped the ball.

New England’s first offensive play was a deep pass by Brady which fell incomplete 40 yards from where the ball was snapped with no receiver nearby. Brady launched the ball from the end zone and was called for intentional grounding resulting in a safety for two points for the Giants and a 2-0 New York lead. After the safety, the sixth in Super Bowl history and third involving the Giants, New York got possession on a free kick at their 22-yard line. They drove 78 yards in 9 plays for a touchdown, Manning to Cruz from 2 yards. Cruz juggled the ball momentarily before securing the catch. Two plays before, Cruz fumbled after a catch which was recovered by the Patriots. The turnover did not stand as New England was penalized for playing with 12 men on the field. The Patriots offense ran 1 play compared to the Giants 20 to that point. New England switched momentum with a 10-play, 60-yard drive ending in a Stephen Gostkowski 29-yard field goal early in the 2nd quarter.