The New York Giants came from behind to beat the New England Patriots 21-17 with a nail-biting last-minute touchdown. Tom Ritchie reports on Sunday's showdown in Indianapolis.
The New York Giants came from behind to shock the New England Patriots 21-17 in Sunday’s Super Bowl in Indianapolis. Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who led the New York franchise to their fourth Super Bowl on Sunday, picked up the MVP after marching his offense down the field in the closing minutes.
Running back Ahmad Bradshaw’s six yard touchdown put the Giants up by four points with 57 seconds left on the clock leaving Patriots quarterback Tom Brady enough time to stage what would have been a miraculous comeback, but it wasn’t to be.
This is the second time Manning and the Giants have thwarted Brady and the Patriots franchise from winning their fourth Super Bowl, most recently beating the heavily favoured Patriots four years ago in Super Bowl XLII.
The Giants started quickly forcing a safety on the Patriots first play from scrimmage. Brady was forced to intentionally ground the ball in his own end zone putting the Giants up by two. On the Giants ensuing possession Manning drove the ball down the field before completing a 2-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Victor Cruz, giving the Giants a 9-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
New England responded quickly with two masterfully lead drives in the second quarter. Kicker Stephen Gostkowski put the Patriots on the scoreboard with a 29-yard field goal before Danny Woodhead’s 14-yard touchdown catch capped off a 96-yard drive from Brady and his offence.
"This is the second time Manning and the Giants have thwarted Brady and the Patriots franchise from winning their fourth Super Bowl, most recently beating the heavily favoured Patriots four years ago in Super Bowl XLII."
Leading 10-9 at the start of the second half Brady led another methodical drive before ultimately connecting on a touchdown pass to Tight End Aaron Hernandez to put the Patriots up by eight. The much maligned New England Patriots defence was able to hold the Giants offence to two Lawrence Tynes’ field goals to leave the game finely poised at 17-15 going in to the fourth quarter.
Looking to close the game out, Brady’s deep pass was intercepted by Giants Linebacker Chase Blackburn. However, the Giants could not capitalise on the quarterback’s rare mistake leading to the teams exchanging possession through a series of punts.
The Patriots inability to close out the victory gave the Giants offence the ball on their 12 yard line with 3:46 left on the clock. Manning led the Giants down the field with some fantastic throws, in particular a spectacular 38 yard completion to Mario Manningham.
With time running out and the Giants in field goal range, the Patriots allowed Bradshaw to put the Giants four points ahead on a bizarre touchdown play, as they looked to give Brady enough time to produce a comeback for the ages.
However, Brady and the Patriots fell agonisingly short of a fourth Super Bowl with a last second heave for the endzone, falling just short of Tight End Rob Gronkowski’s hands.