Eli Manning and the Giants one-upped Tom Brady and the Patriots again, coming back with a last-minute score to beat New England 21-17 Sunday night for New York’s fourth Super Bowl title.

It was a rematch of the 2008 NFL championship, when Manning led New York past New England to ruin the Patriots’ bid for a perfect season.

This was the first Super Bowl with two starting quarterbacks who previously won the big game’s MVP award — and they took turns being brilliant. Manning became the first QB to open a Super Bowl with nine consecutive completions. Later, Brady put together a run of 16 completions in a row, breaking another Super Bowl mark.

But in the end, it was Manning — who was selected as the MVP — who directed the nine-play, 88-yard drive that put New York ahead.

Ahmad Bradshaw capped the winning drive with a 6-yard run up the middle. He wanted to stop at the 1-yard line but fell backward into the end zone.

Less than a minute later it came down to one last play, when Tom Brady’s long heave into the end zone fell incomplete among a maze of players.

New England had the ball for all of one play in the first 11 1-2 minutes, and that play was an utter failure, a rare poor decision by Brady. After Steve Weatherford’s punt was downed at the New England 6, Brady dropped to pass in the end zone and had time. With everyone covered and Giants defensive end Justin Tuck finally coming free to provide pressure, Brady heaved the ball downfield while still in the pocket.

Only problem: No Patriots receivers were anywhere near the pass. The Giants were awarded a safety for Brady’s grounding in the end zone.

Manning, meanwhile, couldn’t have been more on target early, hitting six receivers in the first period, completing his first nine throws, a Super Bowl record. He also was aided by Ahmad Bradshaw, who hardly looked like a running back with a bad foot. Bradshaw broke a 24-yard run, and New England made another critical mistake by having 12 men on the field on a third-and-3 on which the Giants fumbled.

Instead, New York got a first down at the 6, and two plays later Victor Cruz beat James Ihedigbo on a slant to make it 9-0, prompting Cruz to break into his signature salsa move.
Manning’s first incompletion didn’t come until 1:19 into the second quarter.

At that point, it was 9-3 after Stephen Gostkowski’s 29-yard field goal. The Patriots got to the Giants’ 11, but All-Pro DE Jason Pierre-Paul blocked a third-down pass.

Soon after, when the Patriots had a three-and-out and Pierre-Paul blocked another throw, Belichick and offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien had a quick discussion. Then O’Brien, soon to take over as Penn State coach, went over to the struggling Brady.

The talk must have helped. On the final series of the opening half, Brady was masterful. Starting at his 4, and ignoring the last time the Patriots began a series in the shadow of the end zone, he was vintage Brady.

With New York’s vaunted pass rush disappearing, Brady went 10-for-10 for 98 yards, capping the drive that included two Patriots penalties with Woodhead’s 4-yard TD reception with 8 seconds to go in the half. Hernandez and Woodhead each had four catches on the drive that, stunningly, put New England ahead despite being outplayed for so much of the first 30 minutes.

Brady kept firing — and hitting — in the third quarter, with five more completions. The Giants didn’t come within shouting distance of the record-setting quarterback. He capped a 79-yard drive to open the second half with a 12-yard TD to Hernandez, but then the game turned. Again.

Consecutive field goals by Lawrence Tynes of 38 and 33 yards brought New York within 17-15. Brady then threw deep for his tight end after weaving away from two pass rushers. His throw was short, and Chase Blackburn picked it off early in the fourth quarter.

Although the Giants moved into New England territory again, as they did on every drive to that point, they bogged down and punted.

Source: The Houston Chronicle.

A Super Sequel.

Four years after New York stunned previously undefeated New England in the Arizona desert, the Patriots and Giants are going at it again at the Super Bowl — this time in Indianapolis.

Brady and Belichick. Eli and Coughlin. Both teams rolling through the playoffs.

Yep, here we go again.

New England, which lost to New York 24-20 in early November, opened as a 3-point favorite for the Feb. 5 game. The Patriots have won 10 straight, with their last loss being to — you guessed it — the Giants.

“We know they’re a great team,” Giants quarterback Eli Manning said. “We played them already this year. They’ve been playing great football recently.”

It’s familiar territory for Tom Brady and the Patriots (15-3), who are playing in the Super Bowl for the fifth time in 11 years.

“Being in this situation is a great moment,” Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork said. “You have to cherish this moment.”

It’s the Patriots’ first appearance since Manning and the Giants (12-7) upset New England’s pursuit of perfection in 2008. Back then, New England was a 12-point favorite, but New York’s defense battered Brady, and Manning connected with Plaxico Burress on a late touchdown to win the Giants’ third Super Bowl.

That TD came, of course, a few moments after one of the biggest plays in playoff history: Manning escaped the grasp of a few Patriots defenders and found David Tyree, who put New York in scoring position by pinning the football against his helmet for a jaw-dropping catch.

New England hopes to avoid that sort of drama this time around. Unless it goes in the Patriots’ favor, as it did in the AFC title game.

Brady was unusually subpar in the Patriots’ 23-20 victory over Baltimore, throwing for 239 yards with two interceptions and, for the first time in 36 games, no TD passes. But he got some help from the Patriots’ much-maligned defense, which made some crucial stops down the stretch.

A few mistakes by the Ravens helped greatly, too, as Billy Cundiff shanked a 32-yard field goal attempt with 11 seconds left — soon after Lee Evans had a potential winning touchdown catch ripped out of his hands in the end zone.

“Childlike joy. It’s all about childlike joy,” linebacker Jerod Mayo said. “Last night felt like the day before Christmas for me and I haven’t had that feeling in a long time.”

New England last won the Super Bowl in 2005, a long drought after the Patriots took home Lombardi trophies three times in four years. There are only a handful of players left from that team, with guys like Corey Dillon, Tedy Bruschi and Rodney Harrison replaced by young up-and-comers such as Mayo, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

“It doesn’t even feel right, especially playing with the veterans here,” Gronkowski said. “I watched them go to the Super Bowl as I was growing up, and now I’m part of it? It is an unreal moment.”

The constants, though, are Brady and Bill Belichick. And that’s been a winning combination for New England.

Belichick did perhaps his finest coaching job, piecing together a defense that ranked second-to-last in the league during the regular season. That led to plenty of shootouts, and Brady was more than up to the task, throwing for a career-high 5,235 yards while tossing 39 touchdown passes.

“They’re an amazing team,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft said. “They’re a great brotherhood; they’re a family.”

The Giants appeared on the verge of collapsing with Tom Coughlin’s job status in jeopardy just a month ago, when they fell to 7-7 with an embarrassing loss to the Washington Redskins on Dec. 18.

“We’ve been here before,” linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka said at the time, “and we’ll get back.”

Boy, was he right.

“I’m just proud of the guys, what we’ve overcome this year, what we’ve been through, just never having any doubts, keep believing in our team that we could get hot and start playing our best football,” Manning said.

The Giants were facing elimination the following week against the rival Jets and Rex Ryan, who boldly declared that his group was king of New York. Well, Coughlin’s crew silenced Ryan with a 29-14 victory. The Giants followed that with a 31-14 win over Dallas in the regular-season finale to clinch the NFC East and get to the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

New York dominated Atlanta at home in the opening round. Then came another stunner: a 37-20 victory at Green Bay — knocking out the defending Super Bowl champions.

Manning extended the best season of his career with one more solid performance. Specials teams proved the difference in overtime, as Jacquian Williams forced a fumble on a punt return and Lawrence Tynes kicked the Giants past the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 for the NFC title.

“Hats off to Eli, offense, defense,” Tynes said. “Great win.”

And now, it’s off to Indy. Giants-Patriots, one more time.

Source: The Washington Post.

*Taken from My Fox NY.

Former New York Giants wide receiver David Tyree — best known for making a famous catch against his helmet during Super Bowl XLII — spoke out against gay marriage Wednesday, claiming it is the first step towards “anarchy.”

In an interview with anti-gay group the National Organization for Marriage, Tyree also said two men or two women were incapable of raising a child, TMZ reported.

“You can’t teach something that you don’t have, so two men will never be able to show a woman how to be a woman,” the 31-year-old said.

The issue of same-sex unions is currently under the spotlight in New York, with the state assembly late Wednesday passing a gay marriage bill that will next go before state senators.

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