Giants Cap Super Season with Historic Victory

By Kevin Leto

The New York Giants beat the previously undefeated New England Patriots 17-14 in the Super Bowl on Sunday. The Giants finished a season full of drama and injuries on a high note, pulling off one of the biggest upsets in NFL history.

Giants quarterback, Eli Manning, quieted critics with another stellar performance. This one winning him Super Bowl MVP honors. Manning completed 19 of his 34 passes for 255 yards and 2 touchdowns; the second of which gave the Giants the lead for good with 35 seconds left in the game. Manning has only thrown one interception in four playoff games.

The Giants defense, led by Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora, and Antonio Pierce played at a high level and stifled Patriots quarterback Tom Brady the entire game. Brady was sacked five times and was hit on numerous other occasions.

The Patriots were chasing after a perfect season, a feat that was accomplished only one other time in NFL history by the 1972 Miami Dolphins. That team had finished 17-0 and won the Super Bowl.

New England was favored by 12 points at kickoff. Only two other teams were favored by more than double digits in the Super Bowl and lost, but those other teams were not chasing perfection. The Patriots’ offensive unit had shattered nearly every single season record on the books during the regular season.

They set team records for most points scored in a season and the largest total margin of victory over their opponents. Tom Brady broke Peyton Manning’s record by throwing for 50 touchdowns. Wide Receiver Randy Moss broke Jerry Rice’s record by catching 23 touchdown passes.

Sunday was not just about the Super Bowl. The Patriots were caught illegally video-taping the defensive signals of the New York Jets during the first game of the season. Jets coach, Eric Mangini, had worked on Patriots coach, Bill Belichick’s staff prior to becoming a head coach. NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, fined Belichick heavily and revoked New England’s first round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.

The Giants jumped out to an early lead on a 32-yard field goal by kicker Jason Tynes to complete a Super Bowl record 9 minute and 59 second drive. New England answered in the second quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run by Laurence Maroney. The score stayed 7-3 until the fourth quarter.

Eli Manning then found receiver David Tyree in the end-zone to give the lead back to the Giants with just over 11 minutes to play. The Patriots answered back the following drive when Brady found Moss for a 6-yard touchdown.

With just under 3 minutes to play, the Giants needed to go 83 yards to stave off defeat. Manning avoided the Patriots rush just long enough to air a 32-yard pass. David Tyree made possibly the most memorable catch in Giants history by leaping and pinning the ball against his helmet to buy himself time to properly get a handle on it before hitting the ground. Commissioner Goodell called it a play that will go down in history as one of the greatest plays in football during the postgame press conference.

Four plays later Manning found wide receiver Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left for the eventual game-winning score. The lead held and the Giants shattered the Patriots hopes of a perfect season and spoiled Tom Brady’s bid to tie the all time record for most Super Bowl victories by a quarterback.