New York Giants Defeat New England Patriots, 21-17, to Win Super Bowl 46

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images(INDIANAPOLIS) -- The New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots, 21-17, Sunday night to win Super Bowl 46, the second time in four years that the Giants have beaten New England to win football’s Vince Lombardi Trophy. For the Giants, it was their fourth Super Bowl championship.

It was a nail-biter right down to the end of the game in Indianapolis as the Giants pulled off a long drive to move ahead of the Patriots with just under a minute left in the game.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning was the architect of the 88-yard march down the field with his team down 17-15 at the time.

With 57 seconds left, Pats quarterback Tom Brady tried to pull off a miracle comeback deep in New England territory but a Hail Mary pass with no ticks on the clock missed its mark in the end zone, securing the victory for New York.

For his efforts, Manning was named the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player, an award he captured in 2008 when the Giants beat the Patriots, again on a last minute drive, 17-14.

Manning opened the game with nine straight completions, a Super Bowl record. Not to be undone, Brady, one of the NFL's elite quarterbacks for years, fired 16 consecutive completions of his own, another record for the big game.

The Patriots led at half-time, 10-9, and scored another touchdown in the third quarter to make it 17-9, forcing the Giants' defense to buckle down and keep their nemisis off the scoreboard the rest of the way. It was good enough to enable the Giants to chip away at the lead until Manning worked his magic.

When they get home, the Giants will be saluted with a ticker tape parade Tuesday in New York City's vaunted Canyon of Heroes, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced late Sunday night.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio