Super Rematch as Patriots, Giants to Meet Again in Super Bowl XLVI

By Newsroom America Staff at 23 Jan 2012

(Newsroom America)-- It was four years in the making, but after division wins on Sunday the New York Giants and the New England Patriots will face off again, this time in Indianapolis for Super Bowl XLVI Feb. 5.

The Patriots were the first to make it back to the big game following a win at home over the Baltimore Ravens in Game 1 of championship weekend, thanks to a shanked field goal by Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff, who missed a 32-yarder wide left with 11 just seconds to play. The miss gave the Pats a 23-20 victory, despite an average day for quarterback Tom Brady.

"Well, I sucked pretty bad today, but our defense saved us," Brady said, after passing for just 239 yards with two interceptions and, for the first time in 36 games, not a single touchdown. "I'm going to try to go out and do a better job in a couple of weeks, but I'm proud of this team, my teammates."

It will be Brady's fifth trip to the Super Bowl, equaling that of John Elway of the Denver Broncos. The Patriots have won Super Bowls in 2001, 2003 and 2004; a win in two weeks will be Brady's fourth victory.

Following the game, Cundiff said his kick was one he should have made easily.

"It's a kick I've kicked probably a thousand times in my career," he said. "I went out there and didn't convert. That's the way things go. There's really no excuse for it."

In Game 2 in San Francisco, the 49'ers fell in overtime to Eli Manning and the New York Giants, 20-17, after a clutch 31-yard field goal from kicker Lawrence Tynes after the Niners' Kyle Williams fumbled a punt. It was a rare blunder from a special teams unit that played stellar all season long for first-year head coach Jim Harbaugh.

"It will be a tough one. It will take a while to get over," said Harbaugh. "There were a lot of ways in which we played well enough to win. We just didn't come away with it."

Niner's quarterback Alex Smith had a pedestrian day, completing just 12 of 26 passes for 196 yards. Without big-play threats, San Francisco managed just one third-down conversion, which came on the last play of regulation.

The Giants' Manning, meanwhile, threw for 32 of 58 for 316 yards and two touchdowns, taking six sacks in what became his record fifth road playoff victory.

"That was a tough game. We had to fight for every yard that we got," Manning said following the victory. "Defense was outstanding, special teams getting us two turnovers was huge. That led to 10 points."

Manning now faces Brady in a repeat of the 2007 Super Bowl, in which the Giants' 17-14 victory ended a perfect season for the Patriots.

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