King Kaufman's Sports Daily

Super Bowl shocker: Giants pass rush and a spectacular throw and catch doom the Patriots and their undefeated season.

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Feb. 4, 2008 | The New England Patriots' inexorable march toward perfection veered into a ditch Sunday, as inexorable marches toward perfection so often do. The New York Giants rode a vicious pass rush and one of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history to stun the Pats 17-14, handing New England its first loss of the season and winning a most unlikely NFL championship.

The Giants followed the blueprint they and others had talked about but couldn't make work in any of New England's first 18 games, all of them wins. They got pressure on quarterback Tom Brady, knocked him down, hurried him and refused to let the Patriots' record-setting offense get into a rhythm.

Except at the beginning and the end. The Patriots drove downfield and scored on their first possession, then didn't get into the end zone again until late.

They took over after a punt at their own 20 with 7:54 remaining in the game, down 10-7. Brady, throwing quickly and relying heavily on Wes Welker and Kevin Faulk as targets, drove the Pats to the New York 7, then hit Randy Moss on third down for the score with 2:42 to go. It was the kind of late drive Brady and the Patriots have crafted time and again during their seven-year run of success, which has included Super Bowl titles after the 2001, '03 and '04 seasons.

And it was the kind of drive Eli Manning and the Giants needed to pull off one of the biggest Super Bowl upsets, one that, point spreads aside, felt bigger than the Patriots' own stunner over the St. Louis Rams six years ago.

They did it.

Starting at the 17, the Giants had moved near midfield and faced a third-and-5 at their 44 with 1:15 left. Manning took the snap in the shotgun and was immediately under pressure from linebacker Adalius Thomas, who had beaten left tackle David Diehl on Manning's blind side.

Manning stepped up to avoid him, right into the teeth of Richard Seymour and Jarvis Green, rushing up the middle. Both men grabbed a handful of the back of Manning's jersey. The quarterback staggered backward, then spun to his right and broke free, sprinting toward the right sideline to buy time. He set himself and heaved the ball downfield as three more blue shirts bore down on him.

That was the first half of the play of the season.

At the other end of the ball's flight, Giants receiver David Tyree outjumped Patriots safety Rodney Harrison for the ball, then somehow held onto it as Harrison grappled with him. He hit the ground on his back, the ball pinned to the top of his helmet with both hands, Harrison pulling and swiping madly.

The Giants hadn't won yet, but all of a sudden it was possible that the Drive would be the one authored by Manning, not Brady.

Next page: You kept waiting for the Patriots to rally. And they did. And it wasn't enough