This photo gallery presents 10 observations from the Giants’ Super Bowl XLVI win over the Patriots in a nutshell. It was one of those games that have joined the “Greatest Super Bowl of All Time” debate. There were few penalties and one turnover, though the Pats having 12 men on the field in the first quarter erased a Victor Cruz fumble, and Henry Hynoski was in the right place at the right time in the third. And with the drama exceeding that of Super Bowl XLII, the number of storylines that emerged from the Giants’ second Super Bowl win in five seasons is abundant.
1) Bradshaw scored too early, or did he?
With the Giants driving down the field down by two and game time approaching one minute, they knew the Patriots defense would part faster than the Red Sea and open the door for a touchdown to provide Tom Brady as much time as possible to work his magic once more. Bradshaw was under orders not to cross the goal line. The idea was to set up a Lawrence Tynes chip shot to put New York ahead by one with roughly 20 seconds to play.
On second down, Eli Manning handed off to Bradshaw and the Pats defense said, “Right this way, sir.” Bradshaw tried to take a knee at the one, except his momentum carried him into the end zone. A failed two-point conversion left the Giants with a four-point lead and Brady 57 seconds to go to work. This sent fans that packed my local sports bar into a tizzy. “Stupid! What were you thinking?” they shouted.
Here’s the caveat: Bradshaw was under orders from Manning and not Tom Coughlin, who accepted blame for not relaying the message. As it turned out it was by design. Coughlin’s thinking was to take the option of a game-winning field goal away from the Patriots and force even the great Brady to drive 80 yards for a touchdown with one time out.
“In the back of my mind always was the touchdown,” Coughlin explained. “I didn’t care how much time was left. We had 35 seconds a few years back and I was worried about that, when that ball went down the field in the seam twice with 35 seconds left, and they only needed a field goal, so the thought about the touchdown was always there.
“Would I have orchestrated it differently? Perhaps, you certainly don’t want to leave that much time on the clock. But anything that would have become as a result of that would have been my fault because I really didn’t instruct the runner not to score. But having scored and having the four-point difference, and the way our defense played at the end, although we certainly kept the drama involved with the fourth-down completion, it turned out the right way.”
Furthermore, stranger things have happened. What was set up for a chip shot could have resulted in a bad or muffed snap (think Tony Romo in Seattle), a block, or Tynes pulling a Billy Cundiff. The Giants got the required points and requisite cushion. Their defense was challenged to stop Brady one more time with under a minute left, and it did.
2) Mario Manningham is clutch
Manningham, relegated to third receiver status by the emergence of Cruz, joined David Tyree in Super Bowl lore. Looking back it was no surprise that Manningham made a spectacular 38-yard reception on the first play of what would be the Giants’ game-winning drive. Whenever the Giants needed a big catch, Manningham delivered. Against the 49ers in the NFC Championship game, Manningham’s first and only catch was a 17-yard touchdown grab with 8:34 left in the fourth quarter. On top of everything, Manningham is a free agent and it will be interesting how much of a play the Giants will make to keep him in New Jersey.
3) Steve Weatherford is money
The upgrade at punter – Weatherford for Matt Dodge – looks pretty darn good. According to The Elias Sports Bureau, Weatherford became the first punter in Super Bowl history to pin an opponent inside the 10 three times in one game. His first landed the Patriots at their own six, which set up Justin Tuck forcing Brady into an intentional grounding in the end zone for the first two points of the game. Not too shabby of a performance for a guy the Jets didn’t re-sign at the recommendation of special teams coach Mike Westhoff.
4) Unsung hero: Hank the Hammer
The hard-nosed play of Hynoski, a rookie fullback, doesn’t show up in box scores, but it contributes to championships. Hynoski made a big 13-yard run to set up the Giants’ first touchdown, yet saved his biggest play for the third quarter. Hakeem Nicks was stripped of the ball at the 30 with the Giants trailing 17-12, but Hynoski was there to make the recovery, keeping alive a drive that ended with a Tynes field goal.
5) Unsung hero: Chase Blackburn
Blackburn wasn’t even on the Giants roster two months ago and was preparing to teach math as a substitute before the team called with a job offer. Blackburn filled a void at linebacker and in the Super Bowl raced 50 yards downfield to cover Rob Gronkowski and intercept Tom Brady. This was the beginning of the Giants’ rally to victory.
6) Giant fortune
Back in Week 14, Romo overthrew an open Miles Austin. A completed pass would have resulted in a Cowboys touchdown and the end of the Giants’ playoff hopes. In the NFC Championship game, Kyle Williams was twice in the wrong place at the wrong time. Without one of those turnovers, the 49ers are probably playing in Super Bowl XLVI.
In a season of parallels, Brady’s poor pass subsequently dropped by Wes Welker prevented a huge Patriots gain – possibly a dagger – with 4:06 left to play.
“The ball’s right there,” Welker said. “I’ve just got to make the play. I’ve made it a thousand times in practice and everything else. It comes to the biggest moment of my life and [I] don’t come up with it. It’s discouraging.”
Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Alas, the great teams capitalize on big breaks.
7) Bill Belichick is a sore loser
No head coach likes to lose, but Bill Belichick is a real sorehead. He apparently refused NBC a postgame interview.
8) Gisele’s sour grapes
Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen stood up her husband, Brady, at the expense of his wide receivers. In addition to Welker’s fourth-quarter muff, Deion Branch and Aaron Hernandez dropped consecutive passes during the Patriots’ final drive. Taunted by Giants fans when leaving Lucas Oil Stadium, Bundchen cut loose.
“You [need] to catch the ball when you're supposed to catch the ball,” she said. “My husband cannot [expletive] throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time. I can't believe they dropped the ball so many times.”
9) Eli Manning is an elite quarterback – period
Eli Manning was laughed at in August when, answering a question, said he believed he was at the level of Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees. He spent the whole season proving people wrong and eliminated any doubt by winning his second ring and second Super Bowl MVP. He opened the game by becoming the first quarterback to complete his first nine attempts in a Super Bowl and with a nine-play, 88-yard TD drive that put New York ahead with 57 seconds left.
“We've had a bunch of them this year. We've had some fourth-quarter comebacks," Manning said. "We'd been in those situations, and we knew that we had no more time left. We had to go down and score, and guys stepped up and made great plays."
In the regular season, Manning threw an NFL-record 15 TD passes in the final period and led the Giants on six game-winning drives when trailing in the fourth quarter. That’s elite and winning football, folks.
10) Jerry Reese has the last laugh
At the end of the lockout NFL teams went on a shopping spree. Reese’s lone signing was center David Baas. In the process, he let popular players Steve Smith, Kevin Bass and Barry Cofield sign elsewhere. That didn’t stop him from believing the Giants were capable of winning a championship. In the end, Reese earned his second Super Bowl ring as Giants general manager.
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