Patriots drop another Super Bowl to Giants

What went right for the Patriots …

1. Woodhead — Somebody needed to step up in place of the injured Rob Gronkowski, and Danny Woodhead did his best. Aaron Hernandez, and Wes Welker had a solid three quarters, but the two biggest plays remembered will be their dropped passes late in the fourth quarter — especially Welker’s that could have sealed the game.

2. TD Drive — Pinned deep in their own end zone with just over four minutes to go, Tom Brady led the Patriots on a 14-drive, 96-yard that ended with him finding Danny Woodhead to give the Pats a 10-9 lead — and all the momentum — going into the half.

3. Making stops, kind of — The Patriots defense was nowhere near perfect Sunday — no surprise to many. But they did at least hold the Giants to field goals in the second half, as opposed to giving up touchdowns that would have given the Giants the lead. The Pats offense didn’t do the defense many favors as far as field position and time on the field. There was also the Giants’ final drive of the game where Mario Manningham made an impossible catch along the sidelines and the Patriots wisely allowed the Giants to score a touchdown so that Brady would get one last shot at the New York defense.

What went wrong …

1. It happened again — That last Giants drive was eerily similar to the one that put the Giants ahead in Super Bowl XLII. A remarkable catch by Mario Manningham gave the Giants great field position, and they marched from there. That’s your ballgame. And there goes that elusive fourth Super Bowl ring – again to the Giants.

2. Jitters — An intentional grounding in the end zone gave the Giants a 2-0 lead. Later, what would have been a fumble recovery for the Pats was negated by a “two many men on the field” penalty that eventually led to a Giants TD.

3. INT — Tom Brady’s deep pass intended for Rob Gronkowski was underthrown and picked off by the Giants’ Chase Blackburn in the third quarter. metro/jt