The final score was 21-17. On paper, it looks like a standard, hard-fought football game. But if you were sitting in the stands at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on February 5, 2012, or watching the broadcast on NBC, you know that number doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. It was a game of "almosts," bizarre penalties, and a touchdown that the scorer tried his absolute hardest not to make.
Honestly, the Super Bowl XLVI score is a testament to how Eli Manning somehow became the kryptonite to the greatest dynasty in NFL history. For the second time in four years, the New York Giants stared down Tom Brady and Bill Belichick and didn't blink. While Super Bowl XLII had the "Helmet Catch," this one had the "Sideline Catch" and a literal "Oops" touchdown.
The Weirdness Started Early
Most people remember the ending, but the beginning was just as strange. You don't often see a safety to open the scoring in the biggest game of the year.
Tom Brady, usually the poster child for poise, got rattled early. Under intense pressure from Justin Tuck, Brady retreated into his own end zone and launched a desperation heave down the middle of the field. There wasn't a Patriot within twenty yards of the ball. The refs tossed the flag for intentional grounding. Because he was in the end zone, it was an automatic safety.
Giants 2, Patriots 0.
That little "2" on the scoreboard felt like an omen. The Giants followed that up with a 78-yard drive that ate up more than eleven minutes of clock. When Victor Cruz caught a 2-yard touchdown pass and broke into his signature salsa dance, the Giants were up 9-0. New York was dominating. The Patriots looked lost.
Then, as he always does, Brady woke up.
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A Tale of Two Halves
The Patriots didn't just crawl back; they exploded. Between the end of the first quarter and the middle of the third, New England rattled off 17 unanswered points.
- The 96-yard Drive: Right before halftime, Brady orchestrated a surgical 14-play drive. It ended with a 4-yard touchdown to Danny Woodhead.
- The Lead Change: Coming out of the half, the Patriots marched 79 yards. Brady found Aaron Hernandez for a 12-yard score.
Suddenly, the score was 17-9. The momentum had completely shifted. The Giants' vaunted pass rush seemed to have vanished, and Brady was completing 16 passes in a row—a Super Bowl record at the time. If you were a Giants fan, you were probably staring at your TV thinking, "Here we go again, the Empire is striking back."
But the Giants' defense, led by Jason Pierre-Paul and Antrel Rolle, stiffened. They forced New England into punts and held them scoreless for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, Lawrence Tynes started chipping away with his leg, hitting field goals of 38 and 33 yards to bring the score to 17-15.
The Throw, The Catch, and The "Mistake"
With 3:46 left on the clock, the Giants took over at their own 12-yard line. They needed a field goal to win, but they really wanted six.
On the very first play of the drive, Eli Manning uncorked a ball down the left sideline. It looked like it was heading out of bounds. Mario Manningham, covered tightly by two defenders, somehow tracked it over his shoulder, kept both feet in bounds by a literal inch, and secured the catch for 38 yards. It was a "perfect" throw, the kind of play that makes you realize why Eli is a Hall of Fame candidate despite his regular-season inconsistencies.
The Giants marched down to the New England 6-yard line. This is where it gets truly weird.
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The Patriots had only one timeout left. Bill Belichick realized that if the Giants ran the clock down and kicked a field goal, Brady would have no time left to respond. So, he did the unthinkable: he told his defense to let the Giants score.
Ahmad Bradshaw took the handoff and saw the Red Sea part. He realized halfway through the run that he shouldn't score. He tried to stop. He literally tried to sit down at the one-yard line, but his momentum carried him backward. He fell into the end zone.
"I was yelling to him, 'Don't score, don't score!'" Manning said after the game.
Bradshaw’s "accidental" touchdown put the Giants up 21-17. The two-point conversion failed. Now, Tom Brady had 57 seconds and no timeouts to go 80 yards.
The Final Gasp
Brady got them to midfield. With 5 seconds left, he launched a Hail Mary into a crowded end zone. The ball was tipped—it felt like it hung in the air for an hour. Rob Gronkowski, playing on a bad ankle, dove for it.
He missed by inches.
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The ball hit the turf. The Super Bowl XLVI score was final: Giants 21, Patriots 17. Eli Manning was named MVP again. Tom Coughlin, the coach everyone wanted fired every other year, had his second ring.
Why We Still Talk About This Game
There’s a lot of debate about where this game ranks. It wasn't as flashy as the Rams-Chiefs shootouts, and it wasn't a defensive masterpiece like the 13-3 slog a few years later. But it was tense.
The Giants became the first team to win a Super Bowl after being outscored in the regular season. They finished 9-7. They weren't "supposed" to be there. But that 2011-2012 Giants team had a weird kind of resilience.
| Statistic | New York Giants | New England Patriots |
|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 26 | 21 |
| Total Yards | 396 | 349 |
| Passing Yards | 296 | 276 |
| Rushing Yards | 114 | 83 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 1 |
| Time of Possession | 37:05 | 22:55 |
The Time of Possession is the real story here. The Giants kept Tom Brady off the field for over 37 minutes. You can't score if you don't have the ball. That’s how you beat a juggernaut.
Common Misconceptions
A lot of people think the Patriots "choked." Honestly, that's unfair. Wes Welker dropped a crucial pass late in the fourth quarter that likely would have sealed the game, but the Giants made the plays when they mattered. Manning was 10-for-14 in the fourth quarter. That’s not a choke by the opponent; that’s a clutch performance by the winner.
Also, people forget how good Hakeem Nicks was that night. He had 10 catches for 109 yards. Without him, Manningham never gets the 1-on-1 coverage for that legendary sideline grab.
Actionable Insights for Football Fans
If you're looking back at this game to understand modern NFL strategy, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- The Value of the "Accidental" Score: Belichick’s decision to let Bradshaw score is still studied in coaching clinics. Even though the Patriots lost, it gave them a 10% chance to win instead of a 0% chance if the Giants had just run the clock and kicked.
- Clock Management: The Giants' 11-minute drive in the first quarter is a masterclass in how to neutralize a high-powered offense.
- Post-Season Variance: Never count out a team that gets hot in January. The Giants were 7-7 at one point in the season.
To really appreciate the Super Bowl XLVI score, you have to watch the highlights of that final Giants drive. Pay attention to the offensive line—Chris Snee and David Diehl were absolute warriors that night. You can find the full game archives on NFL+ or condensed versions on the NFL's official YouTube channel to see how the "Salsa King" and Eli Manning dismantled the New England defense one short pass at a time.