Eli overcomes long shadows to win another Super Bowl MVP award

Giants 21  Patriots 17 | Super Bowl XLVI

The first score of the game was a bizarre safety — New England quarterback Tom Brady called for intentional grounding from his own end zone. It made the difference.

At the other end of the game, with the Giants driving inside the Patriots’ 10 yard line, down two points, and the clock nearing a minute to go before confetti time, New York had to score a touchdown in order to force New England to score their own TD instead of a field goal. The Giants indeed did score that TD, with a bit of the bizarre there, too. But, without that safety, it would have only taken a Pats field goal at the end to force an overtime.

Special teams gaffs lay waste to a Niner night by the Bay

Giants 20  49ers 17 (OT) | NFC Championship

In the modern game of football, you can still make a good living with a suffocating defense. But there has to be a semblance of an offense when it is needed. Such as on third downs to keep drives alive. The New York Giants were 7-for-21 in third-down situations. The San Francisco 49ers were 1-for-13, allowing the Giants to have more of their share of possession.

And when you can’t make first downs, these things tend to happen: