Super Bowl XLVI, 2012: New York Giants 21 New England 17

Super Bowl XLVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2011 season. The Giants defeated the Patriots by the score of 21–17. The game was played on February 5, 2012, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, the first time that the Super Bowl was played in Indiana.

In addition to winning their fourth Super Bowl in team history, the Giants set a new record for the lowest regular season record (9–7, win percentage of 56.3%) by a Super Bowl champion. The Patriots entered the game with a 13–3 regular season record, and were also seeking their fourth Super Bowl win. This was a rematch of Super Bowl XLII, which New York also won, spoiling New England's run at a perfect 2007 season. The Giants and the Patriots also played in Week 9 a few months earlier, with the Giants winning on the road 24–20.

The Giants jumped to a 9–0 lead in the first quarter of Super Bowl XLVI before the Patriots scored 17 unanswered points to take a 17–9 lead in the third quarter. But the Giants prevented the Patriots from scoring again, and two consecutive New York field goals chipped away New England's lead, 17–15, late in the third quarter. The Giants capped off an 88-yard drive with running back Ahmad Bradshaw's 6-yard game-winning touchdown with 57 seconds left in the game. Eli Manning, who completed 30 of 40 passes for 296 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions, was named Super Bowl MVP for the second time in his career. He became the third consecutive quarterback to win the award after Aaron Rodgers in Super Bowl XLV and Drew Brees in Super Bowl XLIV. He was also the first Giants quarterback to start and win two championship games since Ed Danowski in 1938.

The broadcast of the game on NBC broke the then record for the most-watched program in American television history, previously set during the previous year's Super Bowl. Super Bowl XLVI was watched by an estimated average audience of 111.3 million US viewers and an estimated total audience of 166.8 million, according to Nielsen, meaning that over half of the American population watched at least some of the initial broadcast. The game also set the record for most tweets per second during a sporting event, with 13.7 million tweets from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. (PST).

Game summary
First quarter
The Patriots won the coin toss and deferred. This ended a stretch of 14 consecutive Super Bowls in which the NFC team won the coin toss.

New York opened the game with a drive to the Patriots' 33-yard line, threatening to score first. After giving up a 19-yard reception to Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, New England's defense stepped up to prevent a score: defensive lineman Brandon Deaderick sacked Eli Manning for a 2-yard loss, then Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw was tackled behind the line of scrimmage on a blitz by Patriots cornerback Kyle Arrington. On third down, New England defensive end Mark Anderson sacked Manning, pushing the Giants out of field goal range and forcing a Giants' punt.

New York got a boost from punter Steve Weatherford, whose 36-yard kick pinned the Patriots back at their own 6-yard line. On the Patriots' first offensive play, Tom Brady attempted a play action pass, but a heavy rush from Giants defensive lineman Justin Tuck forced a deep throw into the middle of the field, with no receiver anywhere near it. Brady was flagged for intentional grounding, and since he was in the end zone when he threw the pass the play resulted in a safety, giving New York a 2–0 lead. It was the first safety in a Super Bowl since the Arizona Cardinals scored one in Super Bowl XLIII. After receiving the free kick, New York drove 78 yards in 9 plays—including a key 24-yard run by Ahmad Bradshaw—and increased their lead to 9–0 on Manning's 2-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Victor Cruz.

On the following drive, Brady completed passes to BenJarvus Green-Ellis for 7 yards, Deion Branch for 15, and Wes Welker for 19, moving the ball to the Giants' 31-yard line.

Second quarter
New York managed to stop the drive at their own 11-yard line, but Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 29-yard field goal for New England's first score early in the second quarter.

The Giants punted on the next drive, then held the Patriots to a three-and-out. When New York's next drive stalled, Weatherford's 51-yard punt gave the Patriots possession on their 4-yard line. Brady, however, completed eight consecutive passes for 71 yards, and threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to running back Danny Woodhead, giving the Patriots a 10–9 halftime lead, the same halftime deficit the Giants faced against the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXI. The drive went for 14 plays and covered 96 yards, tying the record for the longest drive in Super Bowl history.

Third quarter
New England took the second half kickoff and started out strong: Brady completed a 21-yard pass to Chad Johnson (his only reception of the postseason), and two rushes by Green-Ellis gained 25 yards to the New York 33-yard line. Brady eventually finished the 8-play, 79-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass to second-year tight end Aaron Hernandez, increasing New England's lead to 17–9.

Starting the following drive from their own 35-yard line after Jerrel Jernigan's 34-yard kickoff return, New York responded with a drive to Patriots' 20-yard line where Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes converted a 38-yard field goal, cutting the score to 17–12.

On the next drive, New York forced a three-and-out—including a Justin Tuck sack of Brady on third down—and Will Blackmon returned Zoltan Mesko's 43-yard punt 10 yards to the Patriots' 47-yard line. New York subsequently drove back into scoring range on a drive that utilized several different players, including a 12-yard reception by seldom used tight end Bear Pascoe to reach the New England 9-yard line. On third down, however, a sack by New England's Anderson and Rob Ninkovich forced New York to settle for another Tynes field goal, making the score 17–15 with 35 seconds left in the third quarter.

Fourth quarter
On the second play of the fourth quarter, the first turnover of the game occurred when Giants linebacker Chase Blackburn stepped in front of tight end Rob Gronkowski and picked off a deep Brady pass at the New York 8-yard line. New York then drove to the Patriots' 43-yard line, but were stopped there and had to punt. New England took the ball back at their own eight-yard line with less than ten minutes in the fourth quarter. With 4:06 left in the game, New England snapped the ball at the Giants' 44-yard line on 2nd-and-11 and Tom Brady threw to an uncovered Wes Welker. However, Brady's pass was high and Welker was unable to reel it in while falling to the ground, crucially preventing a huge gain. New England's drive stalled on the Giants' 44-yard line and they were forced to punt, after which Brady's wife supermodel Gisele Bündchen famously blamed Welker, saying her husband could not both "Throw and catch the ball." The television footage of the game showed Bill Belichick exhorting his defense to focus on stopping Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks, and to force the Giants to go to secondary options Mario Manningham and Pascoe.

The Giants took possession from their own 12-yard line with 3:46 left in the game and one timeout. On the first play, in what would end up being one of the key plays of the game, Manning completed a deep pass along the left sideline to Manningham for a 38-yard gain to midfield, which would later draw comparisons to his pass to Tyree in Super Bowl XLII. New England coach Bill Belichick challenged the catch, but the call on the field stood and it cost him his team's first timeout. Two more completions from Manning to Manningham gained another 18 yards. Manning then completed a 14-yard pass to Nicks on the New England 18-yard line at the two-minute warning. Two plays later, New England called their second timeout with 1:03 left after Bradshaw's one-yard run gave New York a 2nd down and goal on the six-yard line.

On the second down play, which Sports Illustrated later called "perhaps the strangest play in Super Bowl history", Bradshaw's path to the end zone was clear as the Patriots chose to let him score. Once he realized what was happening, Bradshaw tried to stop running at the one-yard line, but his forward momentum carried him over the goal line and the Giants took the lead on the uncontested touchdown run. The intentionally surrendered touchdown gave the Patriots 57 seconds to score again, and they went into their final drive trailing by a 21–17 count after the Giants failed an attempted two-point conversion.

The game's final drive began on the New England 20-yard line. Brady's first two passes fell incomplete and then he was sacked by Tuck on third down, leaving the Patriots 16 yards from a first down and forcing them to use their final timeout. Facing heavy pressure in the pocket, Brady eluded linebacker Michael Boley and then threw a bullet to Deion Branch. Branch caught the ball and ran out of bounds at the 33-yard line for a first down. An 11-yard completion from Brady to Hernandez advanced the ball to the Patriots' 44, followed by a twelve-men on the field penalty against the Giants, which moved the ball to the Patriots' 49 with 9 seconds left. After an incomplete pass, Brady, on the game's final play, threw a Hail Mary pass intended for Hernandez in the end zone, but the ball was deflected by Giants defenders. Tight end Rob Gronkowski dove with outstretched arms toward the ball but was still a yard away when it hit the ground, ending Super Bowl XLVI and giving the Giants their fourth Super Bowl win in franchise history.

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