NFL Super Bowl Winners

New York Giants (NFC)

VERSUS

New England Patriots (AFC)

Super Bowl XLII played on February 3, 2008 was won by the Champions of the NFC the New York Giants who defeated the AFC Champions the New England Patriots at the University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale Arizona.

The New York Giants had finished 2nd in the 2007 NFC East Division coached by Tom Coughlin with a regular season record of 10-6-0. The Giants point scoring average had been 23.3 points per game which made their offense 14th best of 32 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 21.9 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 17th in the league. The New York Giants had reached the playoffs as a Wild Card team and in their NFC Wild Card Game they had beaten the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by 24 points to 14.

The New York Giants next postseason game was in the NFC Divisional Playoffs in which their opponents were the Dallas Cowboys.

The Dallas Cowboys had finished 1st in the 2007 NFC East Division coached by Wade Phillips with a regular season record of 13-3-0. The Cowboys point scoring average had been 28.4 points per game which made their offense 2nd best of 32 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 20.3 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 13th in the league.

In regular season the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys had played against each other twice when it was the Dallas Cowboys who had won both fixtures. These two games had both been quite high scorelines. 45 - 35 and 31 - 20.

However, it was the New York Giants who certainly seemed to be playing with a mean streak who won a close game by 21 points to 17.

The New York Giants next playoff game was in the NFC Championship and their opponents were the Green Bay Packers.

The Green Bay Packers had finished 1st in the 2007 NFC North Division coached by Mike McCarthy with a regular season record of 13-3-0. The Packers point scoring average had been 27.2 points per game which made their offense 4th best of 32 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 18.2 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 6th in the league.

During regular season the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers had played against each other once when it had been the Packers who had won easily by 35 points to 13.

In the 2007 NFC Championship between the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers it was the Giants who gained their revenge to win by sudden death in overtime. Victory came as a result of a Lawrence Tynes 47 yd field goal. The score was 23 points to 20.

The New York Giants opponents in Super Bowl XLII were the New England Patriots.

The New England Patriots finished 1st in the 2007 AFC East Division coached by Bill Belichick with a regular season record of 16-0-0. The Patriots point scoring average had been 36.8 points per game which made their offense 1st best of 32 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 17.1 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 4th in the league.

The New England Patriots postseason games began with the AFC Divisional Playoffs in which their opponents were the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Jacksonville Jaguars had finished 2nd in the 2007 AFC South Division coached by Jack Del Rio with a regular season record of 11-5-0. The Jaguars point scoring average had been 25.7 points per game which made their offense 6th best of 32 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 19 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 10th in the league. The Jacksonville Jaguars had reached the playoffs as a Wild Card team and in their AFC Wild Card Game they had beaten the Pittsburgh Steelers by 31 points to 29.

In regular season the New England Patriots and the Jacksonville Jaguars had not played against each other but going by averages for points scored and conceded plus regular season win records then the Jaguars had no chance in this game. To put this into perspective, the Patriots had scored an average of 11 points more per game than the Jaguars all season.

The 2007 AFC Divisional Playoff game between the New England Patriots went as anticipated and was won quite comfortably by the Patriots 31 points to 20.

The New England Patriots next playoff game was the AFC Championship where their opponents were the San Diego Chargers.

The San Diego Chargers had finished 1st in the 2007 AFC West Division coached by Norv Turner with a regular season record of 11-5-0. The Chargers point scoring average had been 25.8 points per game which made their offense 5th best of 32 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 17.8 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 5th in the league.

In regular season the New England Patriots and the San Diego Chargers had played against each other once when it was the Patriots who had won easily by 38 points to 14.

Basically, these two teams had similar averages for points conceded but the Patriots stood out a mile for their point scoring average and were not to be opposed.

The 2007 Conference Championship was won by the New England Patriots by 21 points to 12. Strength in offense was key to this game as the Patriots scored 3 touchdowns to the Chargers 0. In addition, the Patriots defense certainly had the measure of the Chargers offense as the only points they scored were through 4 field goals from 23, 24, 26 and 40 yards. A team would need to get closer to the goal line than the Chargers did to be worrying the Patriots!

Super Bowl XLII between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots had brought together two teams with extremely solid form. Although the Patriots looked to be favorite on the strength of their 18 consecutive victories the Giants challenge had gathered significant momentum throughout the playoff games and they were definitely not in Super Bowl XLII just to make up the numbers.

In regular season the New England Patriots and the New York Giants played against each other once when the Patriots had narrowly won by 38 - 35 and a close Super Bowl XLII game could be expected.

In the first quarter of Super Bowl XLII the early exchanges were fairly even but with 5 minutes and 1 second left it was the Giants who opened the scoring with a Lawrence Tynes field goal.

The New York Giants led 3 - 0.

The second quarter saw the New England Patriots get their heads in front following a Laurence Maroney touchdown and a successful kick by Stephen Gostkowski.

The New England Patriots led 7 - 3 at half-time.

The third quarter was very tight with a lot of good defensive work being done and no points were scored by either team.

The score was still 7 - 3.

Into the fourth quarter and Super Bowl XLII looked finely balanced but then came the pivotal point of the game. With 11 minutes and 5 seconds left of the game David Tyree caught an Eli Manning pass and scored touchdown followed by a Lawrence Tynes kick. The Giants had their noses in front by 10 - 7.

Hardly ever knowing when their beaten the Patriots came back and with 2 minutes and 42 seconds left of the game they regained the lead following a Randy Moss touchdown and a successful kick by Stephen Gostkowski. The Patriots now led 14 - 10.

There was to be one more final twist when with only 35 seconds left of the game the Giants scored the Super Bowl XLII winning points with a Plaxico Burress touchdown and a Lawrence Tynes kick.

Time had run out for the New England Patriots and they could not mount another serious attempt at goal.

Super Bowl XLII was won by the New York Giants by 17 points to 14.

Eli Manning the New York Giants Quarterback was named Super Bowl XLII MVP after he completed 19 of 34 passes for 255 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

Team	1	2	3	4	OT / Overtime	T / Total
New York Giants (NFC)	3	0	0	14	-	17
New England Patriots (AFC)	0	7	0	7	-	14

Giants Results 2007

Date	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Stadium
09/09/2007	Dallas Cowboys	45 - 35	New York Giants	Texas Stadium Irving TX
09/16/2007	New York Giants	13 - 35	Green Bay Packers	Giants Stadium East Rutherford NJ
09/23/2007	Washington Redskins	17 - 24	New York Giants	FedEx Field Hyattsville MD
09/30/2007	New York Giants	16 - 3	Philadelphia Eagles	Giants Stadium East Rutherford NJ
10/07/2007	New York Giants	35 - 24	New York Jets	Giants Stadium East Rutherford NJ
10/15/2007	Atlanta Falcons	10 - 31	New York Giants	Georgia Dome Atlanta GA
10/21/2007	New York Giants	33 - 15	San Francisco 49ers	Giants Stadium East Rutherford NJ
10/28/2007	Miami Dolphins	10 - 13	New York Giants	Wembley Stadium London
11/04/2007	Bye Week
11/11/2007	New York Giants	20 - 31	Dallas Cowboys	Giants Stadium East Rutherford NJ
11/18/2007	Detroit Lions	10 - 16	New York Giants	Ford Field Detroit MI
11/25/2007	New York Giants	17 - 41	Minnesota Vikings	Giants Stadium East Rutherford NJ
12/02/2007	Chicago Bears	16 - 21	New York Giants	Soldier Field Chicago IL
12/09/2007	Philadelphia Eagles	13 - 16	New York Giants	Lincoln Financial Field Philadelphia PA
12/16/2007	New York Giants	10 - 22	Washington Redskins	Giants Stadium East Rutherford NJ
12/23/2007	Buffalo Bills	21 - 38	New York Giants	Ralph Wilson Stadium Orchard Park NY
12/29/2007	New York Giants	35 - 38	New England Patriots	Giants Stadium East Rutherford NJ
	Postseason
1/06/2008	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	14 - 24	New York Giants	Raymond James Stadium Tampa FL
1/14/2008	Dallas Cowboys	17 - 21	New York Giants	Texas Stadium Irving TX
1/20/2008	Green Bay Packers	20 - 23	New York Giants	Lambeau Field Green Bay WI

Super Bowl XLII

Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Stadium
2/3/2008	New York Giants	17 - 14	New England Patriots	University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale Arizona