Super Bowl XLVI: Giants have Pats Number again

Super Bowl XLVI was played on February 5, 2012, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The New York Giants, champions of the NFC, faced off against the heavily favored New England Patriots, champions of the AFC.

Tom Coughlin led the Giants to a solid regular season, finishing with a record of 9-7. They won their division and then defeated the Atlanta Falcons, the Green Bay Packers, and the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game to advance to the Super Bowl. Quarterback Eli Manning led the team's offense, completing 359 passes for 4,933 yards and 29 touchdowns, in arguably his best-ever season, and the defense was led by defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who recorded 16.5 sacks that season.

The Patriots were coming off of a successful regular season, finishing with a record of 13-3. They won their division and then defeated the Denver Broncos and the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game to advance to Super Bowl XLVI. Quarterback Tom Brady led the team's offense, completing 402 passes for 5,235 yards and 39 touchdowns, becoming the third player to throw for 5000+ yards (Matt Stafford also threw for 5000 yards for the first time that season). Incredibly, Drew Brees threw for 5476 yards, beating both Brady and Stafford to lead the league in passing, although it was not enough to win the MVP award for any of the three, with Aaron Rodgers setting a single-season QBR rating and taking the award.

Super Bowl XLVI

The game was a close, hard-fought battle, but the Giants were able to pull off an upset victory. The Giants' defense held the Patriots to just 17 points, and the offense led by Manning, who threw for 296 yards and 1 touchdown, and a strong running game, scored 21 points and went on to win by a score of 21-17. Eli Manning was named the Super Bowl MVP after his outstanding performance, throwing for 296 yards and 1 touchdown.

The Giants' historic Super Bowl XLVI victory not only secured their fourth Super Bowl win in the team's history, but also cemented their place in history as the team with the lowest regular season record (9–7, win percentage of 56.3%) to win a Super Bowl.