Pats' season ends in a Giant upset
THE first moments after recording one of the greatest upsets in Super Bowl history, the New York Giants spent hugging, high-fiving and shaking their heads in disbelief at what they had pulled off.
Clear underdogs going into the game, the Giants scored a last-minute 17-14 victory over the New England Patriots in Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday breaking the American Football Conference champions' seemingly unstoppable momentum.
Eli Manning hit Plaxico Burress on a 13-yard throw with 35 seconds left as the Giants shattered the Patriots' unbeaten season.
The result, the Giants' 11th straight on the road win, was one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history, and the first time the Patriots tasted defeat in more than a year.
New England (18-1) was one play from winning and getting the ultimate revenge for being penalized for illegally taping opponents' defensive signals in the season-opener against the New York Jets.
But its defense couldn't stop a final, frantic 12-play, 83-yard drive that featured a spectacular leaping catch by David Tyree, who had scored New York's first touchdown on the opening drive of the fourth quarter.
"It's the greatest feeling in professional sports," Burress said before bursting into tears.
"That's a position you want to be in," said Manning, who followed older brother Peyton's Most Valuable Player performance last year with one of his own. "You can't write a better script. There were so many big plays on that drive."
The Patriots were done in not so much by the pressure of the first unbeaten season in 35 years as by the pressure of a smothering Giants pass rush. Tom Brady, the league's MVP and winner of his first three Super Bowl, was sacked five times, hurried a dozen more and at one point wound up on his knees, his hands on his hips following one of many poor throws.
Hardly a familiar position for the record-setting Patriots and their megastar quarterback. And a totally strange outcome for a team that seemed destined for historic glory.
"They played well," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "They made some plays. We made some plays. They just made a few more. We played as hard as we could. We just couldn't make enough plays."
Brady led the Patriots on a 12-play, 80-yard TD drive to give them what appeared to be a winning 14-10 lead with 2:42 left.
Brady's six-yard scoring pass to Randy Moss capped off a five-minute, 12-second drive with the rangy wide receiver wide open after cornerback Corey Webster fell down.
But Manning, whose brother Peyton led the Indianapolis Colts to the title last season, took just 2:07 to drive the Giants to their winning TD, though needed a sensational catch from Tyree to keep it going.
The Giants were on third and five at their own 44 when Manning scrambled away from several Patriots and completed a 32-yard pass to an outstretched Tyree, who caught the ball on top of his helmet as he hit the ground at the Pats' 24.
Burress scored the game winner four plays later.
"It was just a great catch by David Tyree," said Manning.
"I don't know that there's ever been a bigger play in the Super Bowl than that play," praised Giants coach Tom Coughlin.
Manning finished with 19 completions in 34 attempts for 255 yards and two fourth-quarter TDs.
New York began the game with the kind of ball-control they needed to upset the Patriots, taking 9:59 off the clock, the longest drive in a Super Bowl, when Lawrence Tynes kicked a 32-yard field goal to open the scoring.
Brady, twice Super Bowl MVP, completed 29 of 48 passes for 266 yards but was continuously harassed by the Giants' defense.
"I probably need some time to reflect on the game and some time to reflect on the season," said Brady. "It is extremely disappointing. This isn't something any of us prepared for."