New England Patriots: Ranking the Patriots Super Bowls
#6 Super Bowl XLVI New York Giants 21 New England Patriots 17
Heartbreak #2 instilled by the New York Giants on Patriots Nation lands at #6 on this list. For many Patriots fans, this game is going to stick out about a multitude of ‘what-ifs?’
What if Brady hadn’t taken a safety on their first offensive play of the game?
What if Rob Gronkowski was fully healthy?
What if Wes Welker had held onto the balls OR What if Brady’s throw had been more out in front of Welker?
What if Mario Manningham doesn’t make that catch?
Yes, these are all questions no one will ever be able to answer but ones that will stick with Patriot fans for a generation. Much like their previous meeting earlier in the season, the Giants were able to out-physical New England, pressuring Brady constantly and throwing much of their receiving core off of their game early.
The Giants marched out to a 9-0 lead after Brady’s safety and subsequent touchdown drive that ended with a Victor Cruz salsa dance.
But after that, the Patriots looked almost unstoppable. Surging to 17 unanswered points early in the third quarter, this looked more and more like the team that led the NFL in scoring during the regular season. But they just couldn’t put the Giants away.
And that came back to hurt them.
After the Giants were able to chip away with two field goals to make it 17-15, the Patriots embarked on a game clinching drive. with 4:06 to go in the game and the Patriots facing a 2nd and 11 from the Giants 44 yard line, Brady lofted a deep pass to an uncovered Wes Welker down the left sideline. Welker turned his body and fully extended to get both hands on the football, but was unable to secure the catch as he came to the ground. Had he made the catch, New England would have gotten a critical first down and would have likely been able to run out most of the clock as the Giants only had one timeout left. Instead, the faced third down, which also resulted in an incompletion to Aaron Hernandez, and then a subsequent punt.
The Giants got the ball back with 3:46 to go at their own 12 yard line. On the first play of the drive–and the play for which this Super Bowl will always be remembered–Manning lofted a deep pass down the right sideline to Mario Manningham, who hauled it in for a 38 yard catch and first down. The Patriots challenged the call, but the video replay was more than conclusive: Manningham dragged both feet (toes, really) and had possession of the ball all the way to the ground to give the Giants a massive momentum builder.
From there, the could not be stopped–even when the wanted to be. The Giants scored a touchdown on Ahmad Bradshaw‘s 6 yard run, even though he tried to stop himself at the 1 to provide an opportunity for a game-winning field goal. Instead, he scored with 57 seconds left, giving the Patriots one last shot at a touchdown.
But after Brady took a sack to Justin Tuck on second down, the game was all but sealed. Brady did convert a 4th and 18 play to Deion Branch to move the ball closer to midfield for a last second Hail Mary, but the pass sailed wide of an outstretched Rob Gronkowski and the Patriots lost their second consecutive Super Bowl to the Giants.
Game Watchability: 3
Game Importance: 2
Game Legacy: 2
Total: 7, This game certainly lived up to it’s hype as a rematch of a previous Super Bowl, but the flow of the game was certainly strange: Giants up 9-0, Patriots up 17-9, Giants up 21-17. No team could really establish any dominant play throughout, despite their pockets of strong play during portions of the game.
In any event, the game is always going to be remembered by Giants fans as their place in history as Tom Brady‘s kryptonite in the Super Bowl, while it will always be remembered by Patriots fans as the “what-if” game.
Fun Fact(s): The Giants were the first team since the adoption of the 16-game schedule to win the Super Bowl despite only winning 9 or fewer games in the regular season.