American Football/ Super Bowl XLII: New York Giants denied New England a place in the history books as they overcame the Patriots 17-14 to win a dramatic Super Bowl XLII.
New England were attempting to emulate the 1972 Miami Dolphins in completing a perfect season but were dramatically edged out by the unfancied Giants at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Quarterback Eli Manning proved the hero for New York as he engineered a 12-play, 83-yard drive late in the fourth quarter before hitting wide receiver Plaxico Burress in the endzone with just 35 seconds left.
The heroics of Manning, who twisted away from an impending sack during the game-winning drive to make a spectacular connection to receiver David Tyree, proved the difference between the two sides.
The Giants put the first points on the board after Scottish-born Lawrence Tynes kicked a 32-yard field goal but New England took the lead on Laurence Maroney's one-yard run at the start of the second quarter.
The Giants edged ahead 10-7 early in the fourth quarter when Manning found Tyree with a five-yard pass over the middle after a play action.
But the Patriots hit back when Tom Brady connected with Randy Moss for a six-yard touchdown with just under three minutes to play.
However, Manning then marched the Giants downfield before locating a wide-open Burress to seal an unlikely victory at the death.
Manning, who was named the game's Most Valuable Player, admitted the scale of the Giants' triumph had yet to sink in. His achievement saw him follow in brother Peyton's footsteps after he won a Super Bowl ring with Indianapolis last year.
"The guys on this team and the run we've made, it's hard to believe - it really is," he said.
"We had a great fight and the defence played outstanding. It was just a great catch by David Tyree. I found a way to get loose and just really threw it up. He made an unbelievable catch and saved the game."
Burress added: "This is the greatest feeling in professional sports. For us to come out here and win a world championship tonight - nobody gave us a shot. Them guys (the defence) were out there playing phenomenal. We just hung in there and kept executing, we never got down on ourselves."
London-born defensive end Osi Umenyiora also felt the Giants had proved a point. "I feel like we have the greatest defensive linemen in the world," he said.
"People underestimated us a little bit, people thought we wouldn't get to Tom Brady. But I think we dominated today.
"We knew they wouldn't be able to do anything 30 or 40 yards down the field if we got in his face.
"(Defensive coordinator Steve) Spagnuolo said we were going to get to Brady, and we did. I think we hit him like 30 times today.
"We knew pressure would be the key. We knew they liked to run that fancy stuff, but they couldn't do it against our pressure."
Tynes, who was born in Greenock, Inverclyde, but moved to the US at the age of 10, said: "That last drive that Eli had was unbelievable," he said.
"The character of this football team - we were down with two minutes to go and he drove us 85 yards. It's just unbelievable."
"We had a great season, we just didn't win the game," Patriots quarterback Brady said after his team failed to push their record to an unprecedented 19-0.
"You have to give those Giants a lot of credit. It is an extremely well coached team. We played them five weeks ago and it was a three-point game, and they made enough changes and really eliminated what we did offensively.
"Our team is extremely disappointed. Coach Belichick is extremely disappointed.
"They are very good on defence," added Brady, who was sacked five times.
"They have some great pressure schemes, obviously some great pass rushers.
"You score 14 points . . . and that got us beat," said Brady, who had set an NFL record for touchdown passes this season in piloting the highest scoring offence in league history.
Belichick was trying to lead New England to their fourth Super Bowl crown in seven years. "Congratulations to the Giants," he said. "They made some plays there at the end and we didn't."
