BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- Giants wideout Plaxico Burress made his prediction come true and New York fans’ wishes come true Sunday night in the Super Bowl, executing a 13-yard fade pass pattern perfectly to haul down the game winning touchdown with only 35 seconds left on the clock as the New York Giants upset the once-perfect New England Patriots 17-14.
New York Giants David Tyree celebrates his touchdown during
the fourth quarter of the NFL’s Super Bowl XLII football
game against the New England Patriots in Glendale, Arizona
Feb. 3, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Just a few days ago, Burress had predicted a 23-17 New York victory. His boastful words had Patriot quarterback Tom Brady in stitches and some teammates snickering.
"We just hung in there on offense, kept executing," said Burress. "It came down to one play and we made it."
In one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history, New York (14-6) shattered New England’s unbeaten season. It was the Giants’11th straight victory on the road and the first time the Patriots felt the agony of defeat in more than a year.
It was the most bitter of losses, too, because 12-point favorite New England (18-1) was one play from winning and getting the ultimate revenge for being penalized for illegally taping opponents’ defensive signals in the season-opener against the New York Jets.
But its defense couldn’t stop a final, frantic 12-play, 83-yard drive that featured a spectacular leaping catch by David Tyree, who had scored New York’s first touchdown on the opening drive of the fourth quarter.
"That’s a position you want to be in," said Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who followed older brother Peyton’s MVP performance last year with one of his own. "You can’t write a better script. There were so many big plays on that drive."
The Patriots were done in not so much by the pressure of the first unbeaten season in 35 years as by the pressure of a smothering Giants pass rush. Tom Brady, the league’s Most Valuable Player and winner of his first three Super Bowl, was sacked five times, hurried a dozen more and at one point wound up on his knees, his hands on his hips following one of many poor throws in New England’s lowest scoring game of the season.
"They played well," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "They made some plays. We made some plays. They just made a few more. We played as hard as we could. We just couldn’t make enough plays."
