Giants edge Patriots for Super Bowl title

Eli Manning marched the New York Giants 88 yards for the winning touchdown in the final seconds on Sunday for a 21-17 Super Bowl triumph over New England to finish a fairy-tale NFL title run.
Ahmad Bradshaw ran six yards for the deciding touchdown with 57 seconds remaining to cap the drive and the Giants’ defense denied Patriots star Tom Brady’s desperate throws to the end zone in the dying seconds to seal victory.
“It’s the greatest feeling in my life,” Bradshaw said. “It’s the greatest thing in the world. I’m just hoping we can win another one.”
Before a crowd of 68,658 spectators at the domed stadium where his older brother Peyton stars for the Indianapolis Colts, Manning guided the Giants on a title-winning drive just as he did to beat the Patriots in the 2008 Super Bowl.
“It just feels good to win a Super Bowl no matter where you are or what stadium it is,” Manning said. “It just feels great.”
Manning was named the game’s Most Valuable Player after completing 30-of-40 passes for 296 yards and a touchdown, hitting his first nine passes to set a Super Bowl record for completions to start a game.
It was the fourth Super Bowl triumph for the Giants, who also defeated the Patriots in the 2008 NFL championship spectacle and captured the crown in 1987 and 1991. The club also captured four NFL titles in the pre-Super Bowl era.
“I’m in awe right now,” Giants running back Brandon Jacobs said. “We persevered through all the stress and adversity we had and finished strong.”
The Giants struggled to a 7-7 season start, losing four in a row after a November victory over New England when critics questioned whether coach Tom Coughlin should be fired. They then took six must-win games to claim the crown.
“We stayed in it and kept fighting,” Jacobs said. “I would rather go to war with coach Coughlin than anybody else. And I don’t need to say anything about Eli — 228 countries just saw Eli.”
Coughlin, at 65, became the oldest winning coach in Super Bowl history.
New York’s Hakeem Nicks caught 10 passes for 109 yards while Mario Manningham grabbed five more for 73 yards.
Clinging to a 17-15 lead, the Patriots were undone when Wes Welker dropped a wide-open catch and they had to punt, the Giants taking the ball at their own 12-yard line with 3:46 to play.
Manning completed a 38-yard pass to Manningham that was confirmed on a video replay challenge to put New York at midfield.
“Manningham’s play, that put us over the top,” Nicks said. “It was clutch and we mde it at the right time.”
Five plays later, Bradshaw ran untouched into the end zone to produce the final margin. A two-point conversion run failed, leaving less than a minute for the Patriots to rally.
But the Giants were not to be denied, making certain Brady’s desperate throws at the end fell incomplete.
“We just ran out of time,” Brady said. “We just didn’t make enough plays. I wish we could have done a little bit more.”
Brady completed 27-of-41 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns, including 16 in a row to set a Super Bowl record.
But New England suffered a fourth Super Bowl loss, matching Buffalo, Denver and Minnesota for the most such defeats.
“It’s as tough a loss as I’ve ever had,” said Patriots running back Danny Woodhead.
Brady threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Woodhead with eight seconds to play in the second quarter to give the Patriots a 10-9 half-time lead, the 96-yard drive matching the longest in Super Bowl history.
“At half-time I said we can play better than this. They agreed,” Coughlin said. “We came out energized in the second half and the rest is history.”
Brady followed by flipping a 12-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Aaron Hernandez to put New England ahead 17-9 only 3:40 into the third quarter.
New York answered on field goals of 38 and 33 yards by Lawrence Tynes to pull within 17-15 entering the fourth quarter, setting up the dramatic finish.
New York had opened the scoring 6:08 into the game when Brady was whistled for an intentional grounding penalty while in the end zone on New England’s first offensive play, giving the Giants a safety for a 2-0 edge.
On the ensuing New York possession, New England recovered a fumble but the play was wiped out by a penalty and two plays later, Manning flipped a two-yard touchdown pass to Cruz.
New England also had to settle for a 29-yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal to pull within 9-3 early in the second quarter.