Indianapolis

In the second half of Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVI, the New York Giants were having trouble finishing drives with touchdowns.

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Suddenly, this problem became less of an issue for them.

Years from now, Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw will be remembered for scoring the winning touchdown in the last minute of a 21-17 victory over New England at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Yet the accompanying video will show him twisting, turning, stumbling and landing on his backside — all in an unsuccessful effort to keep himself out of the end zone.

"I tried to go down, man," Bradshaw said, laughing as he told the story over and over in the interview area.

Super Bowl history is filled with dramatic plays and defining moments, but this was not necessarily supposed to be one of them. With the ball at the 6-yard line, facing second down with barely more than a minute remaining and the Patriots down to one timeout, the Giants were trailing by two points and were positioned to kick a potential winning field goal in the final seconds.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick chose not to subject himself to that method of defeat. He ordered his defense to let the Giants score the touchdown. Quarterback Eli Manning read Belichick’s mind, only not quite in time. As he handed off the ball, Manning told Bradshaw, "Don’t score, don’t score."

That’s counterintuitive information to a running back, who’s programmed for the end zone. Bradshaw processed his quarterback’s unconventional instructions as he churned toward the goal line. "It clicked right at the 1-yard line," Bradshaw said. "I tried to tap myself down, but I guess [the officials] didn’t recognize it and I fell into the end zone."

So imagine Bradshaw, watching agonizingly from the sideline in the last minute as New England quarterback Tom Brady took possession. Instead of enjoying the feeling of having scored the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl, he was worried about being remembered for a blunder.

"I was nervous; I was shaking," he said. "It’s scary. … You don’t want to leave that ball in Brady’s hand with a minute to go."

Manning blamed himself for not saying something sooner. Coach Tom Coughlin and offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, speaking into the quarterback’s helmet device, also could have intervened. "We tried to take a little more time off the clock, but it didn’t work that way," Coughlin said. "Thank God it worked out."

Green Bay coach Mike Holmgren made a similar defensive decision 15 years ago in the Super Bowl against Denver; that strategy also failed. Belichick made his call on the logic that a field goal from that range has about a 90-percent success rate. Of course, a miss from about the same distance kept Baltimore from forcing overtime against New England in the AFC championship game. Belichick’s choice almost resulted in a Super Bowl miracle finish, but Brady’s final pass from midfield was batted around and fell incomplete in the end zone.

So ended a game in which the Giants marched up and down the field, but scored touchdowns only in the first and fourth quarters. They finished with 396 total yards, but settled for two field goals in the third quarter after falling behind 17-15 and had to punt a few other times after reaching midfield.

"We moved the ball well," Manning said. "We just got to the red zone and had trouble getting in the end zone."

And then Bradshaw had a tough time staying out of there, once the Patriots tried to accommodate him.

When I suggested that as the years go by, all anyone will recognize is that he scored the winning touchdown, Bradshaw laughed again and said, "Right, I guess that’s about it, man. You know, it’s a blessing."