After their win over the Rams in 2001 I’m constitutionally incapable of feeling sorry for the New England Patriots, but their 2012 loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI has to feel a little too similar for comfort to the last time Tom Brady and company loss to Eli Manning—once again the game stayed close all night, just in time for Manning the lesser, with the help of some outstanding catches, pushing the Giants through to a 21-17 win.
Manning, the likely MVP, was 30-for-40 with 296 yards and a touchdown, facilitating an outstanding catch from Mario Manningham down the sideline. It wasn’t quite David Tyree’s helmet-catch, but what is?
Meanwhile, Ahmad Bradshaw’s inability to stop on a dime at the one-yard-line isn’t going to make him persona non grata in New York; now he just scored the game-winning touchdown with less than a minute on the clock, which is a much better story to tell when somebody is buying you free drinks.
For more Super Bowl coverage, follow our liveblog at the SB Nation St. Louis story stream; for a box score and all the stats you could hope for, here’s the NFL.com recap.