Big Game misery: New England Patriots 5 Super Bowl losses ranked
By Zachary McMahon
Super bowl XLVI: Ahmad Bradshaw touchdown seals upset vs New England Patriots
The 2011 season, was the start of a new streak for the New England Patriots. This was the start of their 8 straight appearances in the AFC Championship.
Earlier in the season, they had lost to the New York Giants in Week 9, 24-20 after a game-winning touchdown by tight end Jake Ballard by Eil Manning, in their first rematch since the Super Bowl loss four years earlier.
The Patriots had to defeat Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos, fresh off the walk-off touchdown to Demaryius Thomas in the first play of overtime in the Wild Card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Then, in the AFC Championship they had to win a nail-biter against the Baltimore Ravens, when Sterling Moore stripped Lee Evans of the game-winning touchdown and Billy Cundiff shanked the game-tying field goal.
The Giants won the NFC East as a 9-7 team and were the No. 4 seed in the NFC Conference playoffs. They crushed the Atlanta Falcons at MetLife Stadium, then went on to win two road games against the 15-1 Packers and San Francisco 49ers in order to reach the big game.
For the second straight time in their Super Bowl appearances, the Pats and the Giants would face each other in the big game.
The Patriots had a disastrous first quarter as Tom Brady was called for an Intentional Grounding in the end zone when he threw it out of pressure from Justin Tuck, which resulted in a Safety for the Giants. Next, Victor Cruz scored the opening touchdown for the Giants, and they led 9-0.
The Pats were able to storm back in the second quarter when, they scored 10 which included a touchdown pass from Brady to Danny Woodhead.
Some of the biggest plays of the game stole the show from the Pats. Wes Welker had a drop which set the Patriots back in danger of losing. Then on the final drive of the game, Mario Manningham had a long sideline catch that advanced for the Giants, and then Ahmad Bradshaw scored the game-winning touchdown sitting down and the Giants stole the Super Bowl from the Patriots for the 2nd time.