Super Bowl 2012 Score: Complete Recap of Giants' Victory over Patriots

The New York Giants have done it again. Just as they did four years ago, the G-Men have beaten the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.

As it inevitably would, the game came down to the final moments of the fourth quarter. The Giants got a go-ahead touchdown run from Ahmad Bradshaw, and the Patriots couldn't get lucky enough on a Hail Mary attempt at the end of the game. 

Final score: Giants 21, Patriots 17.

The road to the finish was long and winding. Let's turn back the clock and retrace the steps of these two teams.

First Quarter

The Giants got out to a hot start in their first drive, going 35 yards in 10 plays to make it into New England territory. Their drive stalled, though, leaving them no choice but to punt it away.

Steve Weatherford was able to pin Patriots up against their own end zone, and that ended up paying off. The Patriots' first play from scrimmage saw Tom Brady back into the end zone only to heave the ball deep down the field. Since there was nobody home, it was called intentional grounding.

Intentional grounding in the end zone, by the way, is a safety. That made it 2-0 Giants.

The Giants went right back down the field after taking the free kick following the safety. Ultimately, Eli Manning hit Victor Cruz from two yards out to stretch the Giants' lead to 9-0.

At that point, it looked like the Giants were well on their way to a dominant victory.

Second Quarter

The Patriots got on the board less than two minutes into the second quarter, as Stephen Gostkowski connected on a 29-yard field goal try. That cut the Giants' lead to 9-3.

Both offenses stalled for the rest of the quarter, but the Patriots got the ball with just over four minutes remaining in the half. All they had to do was drive 96 yards to the end zone.

Surprisingly, they did just that, and the drive culminated in a four-yard pass from Brady to Danny Woodhead with just 11 seconds to play.

The extra point made it 10-9 Patriots going into the half.

Third Quarter

The Patriots picked up right where they left off in the third quarter. Their first drive of the half went for 79 yards in eight plays, ending in a 12-yard pass from Brady to Aaron Hernandez.

The extra point pushed the Patriots' lead to 17-9, and suddenly it looked like the Patriots were going to run away with the game.

The Giants held in there, though, and they were able to get two field goals from Lawrence Tynes before the quarter came to a close to cut New England's lead to 17-15.

Fourth Quarter

The fourth quarter quickly became a chess match. The Giants refused to give the Patriots anything, and the Patriots refused to give the Giants anything.

Ultimately, it came down to the Giants needing to make a defensive stop so they could get the ball back with a chance to take the lead. They did just that, forcing an incomplete pass from Brady on third-and-11 with just about four minutes to play.

The Giants took over at their own 12-yard line with less than four minutes to play. Their first play was a deep pass down the left sideline from Manning to Mario Manningham. He just barely got possession of the football and got both feet down. The Patriots challenged, but the play was upheld, resulting in a 38-yard gain.

The Giants marched right down to the Patriots' 6-yard line, where they held the ball with just about a minute to play. The Patriots let Ahmad Bradshaw run right up the middle on a second down play. He tried to stop short of the goal line, but he fell in.

The score gave the Giants a 21-17 lead, but it also gave the Patriots the ball with time to score.

Brady was victimized by a couple key drops after the Patriots took over, but they were able to make it as far as midfield. With just five seconds left on the clock, Brady was forced to heave one up for grabs in the end zone.

The ball fell harmlessly to the ground.

So just like that, the game was over. 

Brady finished with 276 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception on 27-of-41 passing. Manning finished with 296 yards and a touchdown on 30-of-40 passing, and was named the Super Bowl MVP.