Super Mario comes up big for NY

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Manningham

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS

Mario Manningham is no longer the New York Giants’ forgotten receiver.

Manningham emerged from the shadow of Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz with a catch that will rival David Tyree’s Super Bowl helmet grab four years ago, helping the Giants knock off the New England Patriots 21-17 in the NFL championship game on Sunday.

Manningham’s catch wasn’t as improbable as Tyree’s grab that led the Giants to a 17-14 win over New England in 2008. It was just as clutch and just as timely, and Tyree was there to see it.

Running a go pattern up the left sideline on a first-and-10 from their own 12 and down 17-15, Manningham made a 38-yard over-the-shoulder catch between two defenders and right in front of Patriots coach Bill Belichick to help set up Ahmad Bradshaw’s game-winning 6-yard run with 57 seconds to go.

Belichick didn’t hesitate to challenge the catch, also contested by Sterling Moore and Patrick Chung. Referee John Parry reviewed it and saw that Manningham had both feet inbounds, putting the Giants at midfield.

Manning went back to Manningham on the next three plays. On the first, the receiver ran the wrong pattern, but he followed that with catches of 16 and 2 yards to move the ball to the 32-yard line.

“We just tried to be patient,” said Manningham, who finished with five catches for 73 yards. “Got to be patient with this game. We knew big plays was going to come, we just had to take advantage of them.”

Two passes to Nicks and a couple of runs by Bradshaw got the ball to the 6-yard line, where the Patriots let Bradshaw score so they had a chance to win the game with a last drive.

Tom Brady wound up 51 yards short when his desperation pass fell incomplete in the end zone with no time left, giving the Giants their second Super Bowl victory in four years.

“It’s been a wild game. It’s been a wild season,” said Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who was named MVP. “We had a great tough bunch of guys. Guys who never quit and have great faith in each other. Proud of our team and the way we dealt with everything all season and came out strong.”

Nicks, who led the Giants’ receivers in the postseason, had a team-high 10 catches for 109 yards, while Cruz had four for 25, including a short touchdown. “I feel good, man,” Nicks said. “Blessed to be part of this team, blessed to be in this situation.”

Meanwhile, Tom Brady’s two long incompletions in the final minutes, and several missed chances throughout the game cost the Patriots.

“We just came up a little bit short,” Brady said. “There were some missed opportunities out there. It was a very hard-fought game. We fought ’til the end. I’m very proud of that.”

With just over four minutes left, Brady tossed a pass to the left side to a wide-open Wes Welker near the Giants 20-yard line. But Brady’s most reliable receiver — and the NFL leader with 122 catches — couldn’t hang on.

After the game, Welker sat at a podium and stared straight ahead. His eyes were red. His hands were folded in his lap.

“It comes to the biggest moment of my life, and [I] don’t come up with it,” Welker said.

Minutes later, the Giants marched for the go-ahead touchdown with 57 seconds remaining.

But Brady had one last chance. He threw a desperation pass half the length of the field into the end zone. Aaron Hernandez went up among three defenders, and the ball was tipped — out of reach of a lunging Rob Gronkowski as the ball fell to the ground and time ran out.

“I felt like I was close,” Gronkowski said. “But close isn’t there.”

There were plenty more wasted chances by a normally disciplined team that prides itself on not making mistakes.

“I thought we played very competitive, had our moments where we moved the ball and stopped them,” coach Bill Belichick said.

The Patriots forced three fumbles, but the Giants kept the ball after each one.

“Those plays like that don’t happen too often in a game and we didn’t capitalize on the opportunities,” Deion Branch said.

The worst of those missed chances came when Brandon Spikes recovered a fumble by Victor Cruz with 4:14 left in the first quarter. But the Patriots were penalized for having 12 men on the field. That gave New York the ball at the New England 6.

Two plays later, Eli Manning hit Cruz for a 2-yard touchdown and a 9-0 lead.

Then Brady got hot, completing a Super Bowl-record 16 straight passes, and the Patriots surged to a 17-15 lead. They had a chance to make it a two-possession game when a mix-up on the Giants defense left Welker alone.

On a second-and-11 at the Patriots 44, the sure-handed receiver had a chance to score. All he had to do was catch the ball and, perhaps, make it to the end zone. Amazingly, the ball went off his hands.

“It’s one of those plays I’ve made 1,000 times,” he said.