How the Giants shocked the Patriots

The New England Patriots were miffed that Plaxico Burress predicted a 23-17 New York Giants' win nearly a week before Sunday night's Super Bowl. Only 17 points for the highest-scoring team in NFL history?

As it turned out, Burress gave them a little too much credit.

In one of the most stunning upsets in Super Bowl history, nearly equaling the New York Jets' historic win over the Baltimore Colts following Joe Namath's famous pregame guarantee, the Giants beat the Patriots, 17-14, to ruin New England's attempt at a perfect season and give the Giants their third Super Bowl victory.

They did it by matching wits with one of the greatest coaches and greatest quarterbacks of all time, using a brilliantly conceived game plan and getting productive performances from a handful of players who hadn't been major contributors. Until the biggest game of their lives.

Here's a breakdown of how they did it:

ELI MANNING'S GAME MANAGEMENT: Who would have expected Manning to beat Tom Brady, former three-time Super Bowl champion? But it was Manning whose game management skills were brilliant throughout the game, earning him MVP honors. He did throw an interception, but it wasn't his fault, because the ball went off Steve Smith's hands. Throughout the game, Manning did a brilliant job of taking what the Patriots were giving him and not forcing the ball into double coverage.

He did a terrific job of seeing the field, something he has mastered since the Giants' final regular-season game against the Patriots. If the Patriots were intent on double covering Burress, then Manning was content to find Smith or Amani Toomer or tight end Kevin Boss.

But the one play that will define this game for Manning was what he did on thrid-and-5 from the Giants' 44 with 1:15 to play. Under a heavy rush by the Patriots, Manning somehow spun out of the grasp of Jarvis Green and Richard Seymour, and saw David Tyree out of the corner of his eye streaking down the middle. He heaved the ball up, and Tyree reached over the outstretched hands of safety Rodney Harrison to make the catch. Manning threw the winning touchdown to Burress four plays later.

Manning was also adept at hanging in the pocket in the face of heavy pressure from the Patriots. The Giants' offensive line had answers for the Patriots' blitzes, and even when blitzers slipped through, Manning managed to either escape or take the sack and move on to the next play.

PRESSURE ON BRADY: It was imperative that the Giants put pressure on Brady to make him hurry his throws, and they didn't do a good job in this area. They did a magnificent job. The Giants produced heavy pressure with their front four, and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo threw in a smattering of blitzes that worked to perfection. Two of those blitzes were by outside linebacker Kawika Mitchell, who came up the middle almost untouched both times.

Brady was sacked five times, two by Justin Tuck and one each by Mitchell, Michael Strahan and rookie Jay Alford. But even when the Giants couldn't bring Brady down, they were in his face the entire game, and leveled several hits on him just as he released passes. Brady was forced to rush a lot of his throws, and it threw his timing off, particularly in the first half.

The Patriots did respond by having Brady use more five-step drops in the second half, as well as shortening the patterns. Brady did a good job in finding his receivers on those shorter routes, particularly Wes Welker, who finished with a game-high 11 catches for 103 yards.

But even when Brady shortened his drops and the routes were adjusted, the Giants were still able to get to him. Brady did drive for the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, using those shorter routes to perfection. But after the Giants went ahead on Manning's eventual game-winning drive, they pressured Brady on the final four plays, sacking him once and forcing three incompletions.

PLAYING IT CLOSE TO THE VEST: Remember the 1991 Super Bowl, when the Giants shocked the favored Buffalo Bills by using a ground-control offense and dominating the time of possession? Well, they did just that for a good portion of Sunday night's game, particularly on the first drive, when they marched 63 yards in 16 plays and took 9:59 off the clock before settling for Lawrence Tynes' 32-yard field goal. It was the longest time of possession on a single drive in Super Bowl history.

The Giants would have preferred to duplicate that blueprint on subsequent drives, but New England responded defensively by clamping down and forcing the Giants into more must-pass situations. But even then, Manning was patient and didn't take any unnecessary chances. The Giants did end up winning the time of possession battle 30:27-29:33, but more importantly, they averaged a healthy 5.4 yards per play, which meant they were able to move the chains and push the Patriots around for a good portion of the game.

WHAT HAPPENED TO PLAXICO: The Patriots came into the game knowing that Burress was the Giants' go-to receiver, but they refused to make the same mistake that the Packers made. Green Bay opted to have Al Harris in single coverage on Burress the entire game, and Burress was brilliant in the open field. The Patriots noticed on video that Green Bay did not roll a safety into the coverage area with Burress, but Sunday night, New England almost always had a safety supplement the coverage by the cornerbacks. The Patriots didn't assign anyone in particular to Burress; by contrast, the Giants had Corey Webster shadow Randy Moss the entire game, with mostly successful results. But New England didn't leave anything to chance, so if it was cornerbacks Randall Gay, Ellis Hobbs or Asante Samuel guarding Burress, there was always a safety nearby.

Except once. When it mattered most. On first down from the Patriots' 13 with 39 seconds left and the Giants trailing 14-10, Hobbs was in single coverage on Burress. The Patriots called a blitz to pressure Manning, but Burress responded by putting an inside fake on Hobbs, then running to the outside to catch Manning's perfectly thrown fade route.

TYREE? STEVE SMITH? KEVIN BOSS? Part of Manning's brilliance during the playoffs was passing where the coverage dictated. In other words, if the opponent was intent on taking Burress out of the game, then he'd look elsewhere. If Amani Toomer was getting the double coverage, then Manning would look him off and throw to another receiver.

With the Patriots intent on containing both Burress and Toomer, it was rookie Smith and seldom-used receiver Tyree who picked up the slack. David Tyree?!?!? He didn't catch a single touchdown pass all season, but he came up with a huge score on an in route with 11:05 to play in the fourth quarter. And he scored it in front of Samuel, widely considered one of the top cornerbacks in the game.

Smith was also a huge factor in the passing game, because he created a viable third option for Manning when Burress and Toomer were double covered. Smith finished with five catches for 50 yards.

And rookie tight end Boss, filling in for the injured Shockey, came up with a huge 45-yard reception on a seam route down the middle on the Giants' touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter.