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Super Bowl: Key plays that doomed the Patriots

AP Photo/Paul Sancya
Tom Brady sits on the bench

Missed opportunities prove costly

In the end, the New England Patriots certainly did not give away Super Bowl XLVI. The New York Giants won a tightly contested game that came down to the very last play.

But it was surely a long plane ride home for the Patriots, whose uncharacteristic miscues throughout the game cost them a chance at a fourth Super Bowl victory.

Complete Coverage: Super Bowl XLVI

Perhaps most surprising was that the team's two biggest offensive stars - Tom Brady and Wes Welker - made crucial mistakes that proved especially costly.

It resulted in their second loss to the New York Giants in the big game in four years, 21-17 on Sunday.

"We just came up a little bit short," Brady said. "There were some missed opportunities out there. It was a very hard-fought game. We fought `til the end. I'm very proud of that."

The Patriots forced three fumbles, but the Giants kept the ball after each one.

"Those plays like that don't happen too often in a game and we didn't capitalize on the opportunities," wide receiver Deion Branch said.

Click the scroll bar above to see the key plays that cost the Patriots a shot at another Super Bowl title.

Super Bowl: Key plays that doomed the Patriots

Getty Images/Ezra Shaw
Tom Brady is pressured

5. Tom Brady's penalty gives Giants a safety

In a game that was only sealed when a Tom Brady Hail Mary pass fell incomplete as the final seconds ticked away, it was Brady's very first pass attempt of Super Bowl XLVI that proved most damaging.

On his first pass of the game, Brady was pressured by Justin Tuck in the end zone and threw the ball to an open spot downfield to get rid of it, resulting in a safety.

Not the way you would expect a two-time Super Bowl MVP to get things started.

It was just the seventh safety in Super Bowl history. The most recent before that was by the Arizona Cardinals - a team safety - in 2009, when Pittsburgh's Justin Hartwig was called for a hold in the end zone.

The last player to get credit for a safety before Tuck was Buffalo's Bruce Smith in 1991 against the New York Giants. He sacked Jeff Hostetler in the end zone to give Buffalo a 12-3 lead, but the Giants eventually rallied and won 20-19.

In a game that came down to the wire, those two points made a big difference.

Super Bowl: Key plays that doomed the Patriots

Getty Images/Jamie Squire
Tom Brady gets sacked by Justin Tuck

4. Justin Tuck's third-quarter sack

Like it has all season, the New England offensive line did a good job of protecting Tom Brady. Nowhere was that more evident than near the end of the first half when Brady connected with Danny Woodhead on a 4-yard touchdown pass to cap a 96-yard drive. Brady had all day in the pocket (well, over 5 seconds) to find his receiver.

But the Giants pass rush broke through in the third quarter - and it would prove to be a turning point. Justin Tuck - the man who pressured Brady into the incompletion that resulted in a first-quarter safety - managed to sack Brady on a third-and-8 about six minutes into the third quarter. The play forced a New England punt - but it also seemed to rattle Brady, who appeared to hurt his left shoulder on the play.

As CBSSports.com's Ryan Wilson notes, Brady's performance plummeted after the sack. Before Tuck's third-quarter takedown, Brady was 20 of 24 for 201 yards and two touchdowns. The Patriots QB was locked in and even set a Super Bowl record for consecutive completions.

After the sack? Brady completed just 7 of 17 passes for 75 yard and an interception (more on that INT on the next page).

The Patriots almost never allow a sack - and this one seemed to change the momentum of the game.

Super Bowl: Key plays that doomed the Patriots

AP Photo/Chris O'Meara

3. Deep pass intercepted in 4th quarter

While Brady played near-flawless football through two and half quarters, things began to unravel for the Patriots superstar in the second half.

Perhaps most emblematic of that slide came early in the fourth quarter. Consecutive field goals by Lawrence Tynes of 38 and 33 yards brought New York within 17-15. Brady then threw deep for his tight end after weaving away from two pass rushers (the QB's escape was eerily reminiscent of when Eli Manning Houdini'd out of a sack in Super Bowl XLII four years ago before miraculously connecting with David Tyree in a play now known in Giants lore as "The Catch.")

But, alas, for Brady this play would turn out quite differently. He hurled the ball 50 yards down the field to All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski. But the pass was underthrown and Gronkowski, hindered by a bad ankle, was unable to pull it down. Amazingly, the Giants' Chase Blackburn was. The linebacker (who was out of the league for most of the season) hustled down the field and made the interception.

Give Blackburn credit for a great play. But Brady rarely throws a ball up for grabs like that and the play would cost the Patriots dearly.

Super Bowl: Key plays that doomed the Patriots

AP Photo/David Duprey

2. Patriots force three fumbles but...

The Patriots forced three fumbles in the Super Bowl, but failed to recover any of them. And the missed chances were costly. Instead of the Giants losing the ball, they would score 10 points on two of the drives and the third fumble would have given New England the ball near the Giants' end zone.

New England made their first critical mistake in the first quarter by having 12 men on the field on a third-and-3 on which the Giants fumbled. Instead, New York got a first down at the 6, and two plays later Victor Cruz beat James Ihedigbo on a slant to make it 9-0.

In the third quarter, the Giants' Hackeem Nicks fumbled after a 17-yard reception. Fullback Henry Hynoski alertly pounced on the ball. A few minutes later, the Giants kicked a field goal.

But perhaps the most glaring missed opportunity on a fumble came in the fourth quarter. Pinned near their own end zone, the Giants' Ahmad Bradshaw rushed the ball over the right end to the 13-yard line, where he coughed up the ball. Despite a sea of blue New England jerseys, Giants' guard Chris Snee recovered the ball. The play surely saved three points and perhaps seven.

Super Bowl: Key plays that doomed the Patriots

AP Photo/Matt Slocum
Wes Welker drops a pass on final drive

1. Wes Welker's dropped pass in 4th quarter

While Brady's safety and post-sack performance didn't help the Pats' cause, it was his favorite receiving target - Wes Welker - who accepted a lot of the blame after the loss.

With just over four minutes left in the game and the Patriots clinging to a 17-15 lead, Brady lofted a pass up the left side to a wide-open Welker at the Giants 20-yard line.

The throw wasn't perfect. Welker had to twist his body to reach it. But he did get two hands on it as he was falling backward and blamed himself for failing in a critical situation.

If Welker pulls down the catch in stride, it's likely a touchdown. Of course that was unlikely considering the throw was a bit off-target. But even if he pulls it in and goes to the ground, the Patriots have a shot at making it a two-possession game with not much time left on the clock.

"The ball is right there," Welker said when asked if he was looking for it on the other shoulder. "I've just got to make the play. It's a play I've made a thousand times in practice and everything else. It comes to the biggest moment of my life and I don't come up with it. It's discouraging."

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