INDIANAPOLIS, Feb 6, (Agencies): Eli Manning led another fourth-quarter touchdown drive and won his second Super Bowl MVP on Sunday night, leading the Giants to a 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots that provided a pulsating finish to a season that started with turmoil and a lockout.
“It’s been a wild game,” said Manning, who now has one more Super Bowl title than his older brother, Peyton. “It’s been a wild season.”
It was also a wild finish, that featured a rare scenario where the Patriots willingly allowed the Giants to score a last-minute touchdown — and New York running back Ahmad Bradshaw almost reluctantly went into the end zone for the decisive score.
The Giants got down to the 6-yard line with just over a minute left and the Patriots down to one timeout. New York could have run the clock down to a few seconds and kicked a field goal.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick did the calculations and decided on a trade-off: Give up a touchdown for some time. New England pulled up and allowed Bradshaw to run the final 6 yards with 57 seconds left.
Once Bradshaw realized what was happening, he tried to stop at the 1-yard line to keep the clock going but ended up falling backward into the end zone.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady would get one last chance with the Giants defense bearing down on him, as it always does.
But the Patriots got only as far as midfield with 5 seconds left. Brady threw a desperation pass into the end zone, where the ball was batted around in a scrum before falling incomplete just beyond the reach of All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski, bringing the spray of confetti from above.
“You come down to one play at the end,” Brady said. “If we make it, we’re world champs. If we don’t, we’re wishing we were.”
A wild finish was certainly fitting.
The Giants finished with a 13-7 record but almost didn’t make the playoffs, needing a lot of help at 7-7 with two games left in the regular season. Their defense finally came together, and Manning gave them a chance in every game with his penchant for comebacks — a league-record 15 touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Of course, his greatest career comeback was in the Super Bowl in 2008, when the Patriots were undefeated and Manning led a late scoring drive that included an enduring moment — the incredible catch David Tyree made by trapping the ball against his helmet.
The Patriots (15-4) had a chance to avoid more such history on Sunday. Brady, trying to match boyhood hero Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw with four Super Bowl titles, had New England in range to put it away late in the fourth quarter.
Wes Welker dropped a pass at the 20-yard line with 4 minutes left, forcing a punt that gave the Giants another chance trailing 17-15.
“It comes to the biggest moment of my life, and (I) don’t come up with it,” a red-eyed Welker said after the match. “It’s one of those plays I’ve made a thousand times.”

Manning’s turn for more Super Bowl magic.
He threw a perfect 38-yard pass down the sideline to Mario Manningham, sending the ball between two defensive backs barreling down on the receiver. Manningham got both feet down before getting smacked out of bounds in front of the Patriots’ bench, a catch that was upheld on replay and reminded the 68,658 fans at Lucas Oil Stadium — one in particular — about that other catch four years earlier. “In those situations, you are always looking to see who is going to be the guy,” Tyree said, from inside the Giants locker room.
Once Manningham came down with it, the Giants sensed things had turned their way, just like four years earlier.
“I think they are both spectacular catches,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “I think with Mario’s earlier tonight, the way he kept his feet inbounds and held onto the ball (while) going out of bounds was a remarkable thing.”

The Patriots were thinking the same thing, too.
“I thought that play they made on our sideline was a phenomenal throw and catch,” Brady said. “That got them going.”
Brady set a Super Bowl record by completing 16 consecutive passes earlier in the game, topping Montana’s record. When he needed several quick completions to get moving in the last minute, he couldn’t do it.
Brady has had a tough time against this Giants defense. During the regular season, it pressured him into mistakes during a 24-20 New York win in Foxborough. The Patriots went on to win their next 10, a streak that ended when Brady faced that same defense on Sunday.
It just seems to have his number. On his first pass of the game, Brady was pressured by defensive end Justin Tuck in the end zone and threw the ball to an open spot downfield to get rid of it, resulting in a safety.
By contrast, Manning didn’t make any big mistakes and, again, was at his best under the last-minute pressure.
“He’s become confident over time, kind of grew into it,” said his father, former New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning. “I always felt like you have to experience those situations before you become confident. He’s certainly had his share.”

And nobody will question anything he says again.
Manning was criticized for insisting before the season that he’s an elite quarterback. Then, with the Giants struggling, he was overshadowed by a different Manning drama.
Peyton Manning and the Colts were hoping to reach a Super Bowl in their stadium. Instead, the quarterback had neck operations and the team came apart, prompting ownership to clean house. The week leading up to the Super Bowl was overshadowed in town by talk about Peyton’s future.
Eli insisted he wasn’t bothered by sharing the spotlight with his brother. In the fourth quarter on Sunday, he had it all to himself.
Manning was 10 of 14 for 118 yards in the final quarter with his seventh game-winning drive of the season. Overall, he completed 30 of 40 for 296 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions, leading the Giants to their fourth Super Bowl championship — two behind Pittsburgh for the record.
In the end, a Manning got to hoist the silver Super Bowl trophy in Indianapolis.
“It just feels good to win a Super Bowl,” Eli Manning said. “Doesn’t matter where you are.”
The NFL season finished on a high after being hit by a 4¬ž-month lockout last year following a breakdown in talks between players and team owners over a new, 10-year collective bargaining agreement. A new deal was eventually ratified by players on Aug. 4.

After a week of attention on his troublesome ankle, New England Patriots wide receiver Rob Gronkowski was left with more pain from his team’s 21-17 loss to the New York Giants than from his injury.
A week after getting off the plane in Indianapolis wearing a protective ankle boot, Gronkowski was able to play in the Super Bowl but quarterback Tom Brady targeted him rarely.
The 22-year-old set National Football League records for a tight end with 1,327 yards receiving and 17 touchdowns during the regular season but there was little sign of that kind of form on Sunday.
Gronkowski had just two receptions for 26 yards and while his limited use was surely down to his ankle, he insisted he was fully fit.
“I was good. I was 100 percent out there doing everything they asked me to do,” he told reporters after the game.
“The trainers did a good job for two weeks, so when it got to the game time, I was ready to go.”
Gronkowski shrugged off a question about how much pain he may have been in due to inflammation and also denied the suggestion that he would now face surgery during the off-season.
“I just have to keep doing treatments. I’m recovering now. It’ll be good to go, so I’m not worried about it at all,” he said.

Instead it was the hurt of defeat that left the tight-end wincing at questions.
“It definitely hurts. Just losing the game hurts so much (with) how much we dedicated ourselves, how much our team mates all went through, just grinding every single day and every single off-day all together. We’ve just got to keep going and hope we can get to this position again.”
Gronkowski could have been the last-gasp hero, however, had he been able to get to a ‘Hail Mary’ pass from Brady at the death.
It was a near-impossible task with so many New York defenders surrounding him but he made every effort to pull off what would have been a dramatic game-winner.
“I was close, but close doesn’t matter. Close isn’t enough. Close doesn’t get it done. It’s either you catch it or you don’t, and that didn’t happen.”
Twitter said Sunday that users were firing off a record 10,000 tweets per second in the final three minutes of the Super Bowl.

Madonna’s half-time performance during the New York Giants 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots also saw a surge in Twitter activity with users tapping out an average of 8,000 tweets per second for five minutes, the San Francisco-based short-messaging service said on its Twitter feed.
The 10,000 tweets per second in the final three minutes of the game, when Giants quarterback Eli Manning guided his team downfield for the game-clinching touchdown, topped the previous record of nearly 9,000 tweets per second set in August with Beyonce’s pregnancy announcement at the MTV Video Music Awards.
The previous record for a sporting event was the 7,196 tweets per second at the final whistle of Japan’s thrilling upset win over the United States in the women’s World Cup final in July.
Twitter’s more than 100 million users sent more than 60 billion tweets last year.
Meanwhile, cheers erupted at Blind Pig, a Manhattan sports bar, late Sunday as soon as the final score of the Super Bowl game became known.
“Let’s go Giants! Let’s go Giants!” chanted the crowd in front of a battery of wide-screen TVs after learning that the New York Giants had just scored a 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 46.

It was the fourth Super Bowl triumph for the Giants, who also defeated the Patriots in the 2008 NFL championship spectacle and captured the crown in 1987 and 1991.
Before a crowd of 68,658 spectators at the dome-enclosed stadium where his older brother Peyton stars for the Indianapolis Colts, New York’s Eli Manning guided the Giants on an 88-yard touchdown drive in the closing minutes capped by Bradshaw’s scoring run.
“Man, I’ve already seen this movie,” said 23-year-old student Matthew Ferrara. “They could kill the game, but they didn’t. They let us alive. And here we are. We are the best again!”
In 2008, the Giants won the Super Bowl against the same team in the final seconds of the game.
Bars and restaurants throughout New York on Sunday offered special promotions and menus timed to the game.
At the Blind Pig, in the East Village, over 100 people — almost as many girls as boys — paid $10 each for an opportunity to follow the game on nine flat-screen TVs and have a drink.
“Are you ready for the Superbowl?” a young man in a Giants shirt shouted shortly before kickoff.
“Yeeeeeah!” replied the crowd as patrons raised their beers.
Things started out well for the Giants, and the audience burst into cheers when Victor Cruz scored the first touchdown of the game.
But the atmosphere cooled down when Danny Woodhead put the Patriots ahead near the end of the first half.
Fortunately, the spectacular halftime show featuring Madonna lifted the patrons’ mood again.
Waitresses danced on the bar counter, giving out T-shirts while people sang along with the pop diva.
At the beginning of the second half, the Patriots had some success, but the Giants quickly recovered, and all the people at the bar held their breath in the fourth quarter until Ahmad Bradshaw scored a touchdown with less than a minute before the end of the game, handing victory to the New York team.
“Honestly, at some point of the second half I didn’t believe the guys would win,” said Lisa O’Connell,30, a clothing store clerk.
She said she could not believe her own eyes. “But they did an amazing comeback!”
The jubilation spreading around the city was reflected in an early edition of the New York Post.
The newspaper published on its front page a photo of Giants quarterback Eli Manning with the title: “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants.”
Such was the excitement that the official Giants website announced the team’s victory on Saturday, a day before the game, due to an error that was corrected shortly after.
After the game, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that there will be a ticker-tape parade in honor of the Super Bowl champions on Tuesday.
“Big Blue gave us a game to remember, and on Tuesday we’re going to give them a parade to remember,” the mayor said in a statement.
In Boston, however, the atmosphere was somber. Sports bar quickly emptied out as Patriots fan headed home disappointed by the loss.
Boston Prudential Center, however, was still lit in red, white and blue after the Patriots’s loss.

List of Super Bowl/MVP Winners
Previous winners of the National Football League’s Super Bowl.
Feb 5, 2012 – New York Giants
Feb 6, 2011 – Green Bay
Feb 7, 2010 – New Orleans
Feb 1, 2009 – Pittsburgh
Feb 3, 2008 – New York Giants
Feb 4, 2007 – Indianapolis
Feb 5, 2006 – Pittsburgh
Feb 6, 2005 – New England
Feb 1, 2004 – New England
Jan 26, 2003 – Tampa Bay
Feb 3, 2002 – New England
Jan 28, 2001 – Baltimore
Jan 30, 2000 – St Louis
Jan 31, 1999 – Denver
Jan 25, 1998 – Denver
Jan 26, 1997 – Green Bay
Jan 28, 1996 – Dallas
Jan 29, 1995 – San Francisco
Jan 30, 1994 – Dallas
Jan 31, 1993 – Dallas
Jan 26, 1992 – Washington
Jan 27, 1991 – New York Giants
Jan 28, 1990 – San Francisco
Jan 22, 1989 – San Francisco
Jan 31, 1988 – Washington
Jan 25, 1987 – New York Giants
Jan 26, 1986 – Chicago
Jan 20, 1985 – San Francisco
Jan 22, 1984 – Los Angeles
Jan 30, 1983 – Washington
Jan 24, 1982 – San Francisco
Jan 25, 1981 – Oakland
Jan 20, 1980 – Pittsburgh
Jan 21, 1979 – Pittsburgh
Jan 15, 1978 – Dallas
Jan 9, 1977 – Oakland
Jan 18, 1976 – Pittsburgh
Jan 12, 1975 – Pittsburgh
Jan 13, 1974 – Miami
Jan 14, 1973 – Miami
Jan 16, 1972 – Dallas
Jan 17, 1971 – Baltimore
Jan 11, 1970 – Kansas City
Jan 12, 1969 – New York Jets
Jan 14, 1968 – Green Bay
Jan 15, 1967 – Green Bay
MVP
Feb 5, 2012 — Eli Manning (New York Giants)
Feb 6, 2011 — Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay)
Feb 7, 2010 — Drew Brees (New Orleans)
Feb 1, 2009 — Santonio Holmes (Pittsburgh)
Feb 3, 2008 — Eli Manning (New York Giants)
Feb 4, 2007 — Peyton Manning (Indianapolis)
Feb 5, 2006 — Hines Ward (Pittsburgh)
Feb 6, 2005 — Deion Branch (New England)
Feb 1, 2004 — Tom Brady (New England)
Jan 26, 2003 — Dexter Jackson (Tampa Bay)
Feb 3, 2002 — Tom Brady (New England)
Jan 28, 2001 — Ray Lewis (Baltimore)
Jan 30, 2000 — Kurt Warner (St Louis)
Jan 31, 1999 — John Elway (Denver)
Jan 25, 1998 — Terrell Davis (Denver)
Jan 26, 1997 — Desmond Howard (Green Bay)
Jan 28, 1996 — Larry Brown (Dallas)
Jan 29, 1995 — Steve Young (San Francisco)
Jan 30, 1994 — Emmitt Smith (Dallas)
Jan 31, 1993 — Troy Aikman (Dallas)
Jan 26, 1992 — Mark Rypien (Washington)
Jan 27, 1991 — Ottis Anderson (New York Giants)
Jan 28, 1990 — Joe Montana (San Francisco)
Jan 22, 1989 — Jerry Rice (San Francisco)
Jan 31, 1988 — Doug Williams (Washington)
Jan 25, 1987 — Phil Simms (New York Giants)
Jan 26, 1986 — Richard Dent (Chicago)
Jan 20, 1985 — Joe Montana (San Francisco)
Jan 22, 1984 — Marcus Allen (Los Angeles)
Jan 30, 1983 — John Riggins (Washington)
Jan 24, 1982 — Joe Montana (San Francisco)
Jan 25, 1981 — Jim Plunkett (Oakland)
Jan 20, 1980 — Terry Bradshaw (Pittsburgh)
Jan 21, 1979 — Terry Bradshaw (Pittsburgh)
Jan 15, 1978 — Harvey Martin (Dallas), Randy White (Dallas)
Jan 9, 1977 — Fred Biletnikoff (Oakland)
Jan 18, 1976 — Lynn Swann (Pittsburgh)
Jan 12, 1975 — Franco Harris (Pittsburgh)
Jan 13, 1974 — Larry Csonka (Miami)
Jan 14, 1973 — Jake Scott (Miami)
Jan 16, 1972 — Roger Staubach (Dallas)
Jan 17, 1971 — Chuck Howley (Dallas)
Jan 11, 1970 — Len Dawson (Kansas City)
Jan 12, 1969 — Joe Namath (New York Jets)
Jan 14, 1968 — Bart Starr (Green Bay)
Jan 15, 1967 — Bart Starr (Green Bay)
(RTRS)