Maybe Plaxico Burress was onto something after all.

A week after predicting the Giants would outscore the New England Patriots 23-17 in Super Bowl XLII, New York came awfully close to fulfilling Burress’ forecast as the Giants continued their dominance of teams on the road with a very convincing 17-14 win over the heavily favored Patriots.  

The win spoils the Patriots’ hope for a 19-0 record and moreover puts to rest the numerous questions about the abilities of head coach Tom Coughlin and his staff and the leadership abilities of QB Eli Manning, named Super Bowl XLII MVP.

Just how good were the Giants? The held New England’s prolific passer Tom Brady to just 266 yards (29 of 48) for a mere mortal quarterback rating of 82.5. The Giants defense sacked Brady five times, and it held the dangerous Randy Moss to five catches for 62 yards and the equally dangerous Wes Welker for 11 catches for 103 yards while limiting the Patriots’ yards after the catch statistic.

The Giants grabbed control of the game right from the get-go. Following their winning of the coin toss, New York held onto the ball for 9:59 on the opening drive, a drive which not only was the  longest in super Bowl history, but which also cumulated in a 32 yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes.

On that opening drive, the Giants converted four big third down plays of five, six one and seven yards respectively, three of which were passing plays and one of which was a rushing play.

The Patriots responded with a touchdown drive of their own on their first possession of the game. Following a 43-yard kickoff return, Grady marched his team all the way down to the Giants’ 17, where after two straight incompletions, New England was facing a third and ten. However, Brady’s pass intended for tight end Benjamin Watson drew a blatant pass interference call against Giants’ MLB Antonio Pierce, who was defending Watson in the end zone.

So with first and goal from the Giants one, it took the Patriots two plays to get the ball into the end zone, which they did on the first play of the second quarter, to take a 7-3  lead.

Although neither team would score again until the fourth quarter, there were some interesting moments along the way. For example, on their ensuing possession following the Patriots’ first touchdown, Manning’s pass intended for receiver Steve Smith hit Smith in the hands and was picked off by Ellis Hobbs at his own 33.  

However the Patriots came up empty on the drive following the turnover as on third and one from their own 42, RB Laurence Maroney was stuffed on a run by Michael Strahan, which forced the Patriots to punt.

Two possessions later, Manning nearly threw another interception on a third and 14, a ball also intended for Smith on a play jut before the two-minute warning. But New England couldn’t hold onto the ball and the Giants punted it away.

Then the Giants defense went to work as New England managed to get to its own 44 yard line on its last possession of the half. However, Justin Tuck sacked Brady and stripped the ball loose, which was recovered by DE Osi Umenyiora at the Patriots’ 49. Although the Giants weren’t able to convert the turnover into points, it was a huge drive-killer play.

In the third quarter, both sides came up empty, but again, there were a few interesting moments. Following New England’s first possession, the punted the ball to the Giants,; however, New England head coach Bill Belichick alertly noted that Giants linebacker Chase Blackburn was late getting off the field, so he challenged the play and the Giants were penalized for the infraction, which gave the Patriots a fresh set of downs.

But the defense was having none of it as after getting all the way down to the Giants’ 35, Strahan came up with another sack of Brady, this one for minus six yards. That forced a fourth and 13, which the Patriots decided to try. However, Brady’s pass intended for receiver Jabar Gaffney went incomplete and the Patriots came up empty inside of the red zone.
 
The Giants took the lead 10-7 on their first drive of the fourth quarter. Manning hit tight end Kevin Boss on a 45-yard reception down the seam, a play which Boss said offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride dialed up despite the fact that the Giants hadn’t practiced it all week.

“Coach Gilbride saw (New England safety Rodney) Harrison was cheating up, and the backside safety was staying over in cover two and we just drew it up on the side line there and it worked out perfectly. It was just a seam route. They sent me in peel motion to get me a cleaner release because (linebacker Mike) Vrabel was trying to get hands on me the whole game, jamming me on the line. The motion worked and I was able to get open.”

Following runs of four and six yards by Ahmad Bradshaw, Manning then connected with Smith for a 17-yard gain which took the ball down to the Patriots’ 12. Bradshaw then picked up another seven yards on the ground before Manning hit David Tyree for the  five-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass, the first touchdown allowed by the Patriots defense in ten quarters of play.

The Patriots would score their final points of the game on a 12-play, 80-yard drive cumulating in a six-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Mo9ss on a third-and six.

On the drive, New England finally managed to slow down the Giants’ pass rush by going to more three-step drops, which enabled Brady to complete a number of quick throws to his receivers. The biggest gainers were receptions of 13 and 20 yards, both to Welker, wh9o had four receptions for 42 yards on that drive, most of it coming against Giants safety James Butler.
With 2:39 left in the game, the Giants and Manning went to work on what will probably be a drive people will be talking about for years to come, as Manning completed three critical third down plays and one fourth down conversion attempt to extend the drive.

It was the second third down attempt that will likely stand out in people’s minds as on third and five from the Patriots’ 44, Manning found his jersey being grasped at by several Patriots, but he somehow managed to get pout of their grasp, find some space and buy some time in order to find Tyree for a huge 20 yard gain.

Three plays later, facing a third and 11 from the New England 25 and needing seven to win, Manning again remained calm under pressure as he found Smith for a 12-yard pickup along the sideline which stopped the clock.

The on the ensuing play, Manning connected with Burress for a 13-yard, game-winning touchdown to make the score 17-14.

“It was an amazing drive in that we’d make a first down and then we’d stall for a few plays,” said head coach Tom Coughlin. “Before I say anything about that, the escape by Eli and the throw that is caught by David Tyree, that ball was challenged. That wasn’t like he just jumped up in the air and caught the ball. That was challenged, you had two people, ripping for the ball and he brings it down. That might be one of the great plays of all time in the Super Bowl.”

“That’s really what it comes down to is making the play,” said Tyree of his big reception. “Eli [Manning] did an unbelievable job. I honestly don’t know how he got out of it. And when the ball is in the air you have to go get it. That’s the job.”

With 35 seconds left in the game, the Patriots tried desperately to at least get within field goal range to have a chance to tie it. But the Giants defense was having none of it as Brady’s first pass of the drive, intended for Gaffney fell incomplete. He was then sacked for minus ten yards by Jay Alford, and his next two passes were broken up by Corey Webster and Gibril Wilson respectively as the Giants sealed the deal in ruining New England’s perfect season.