Published Monday, 06 February 2012
New York Giants star Eli Manning celebrates his team's Super Bowl win. (© Getty)
The Giants came from behind to snatch the late victory, but MVP Manning insists he never lost faith.
"I'm proud of our team, we stayed positive - we were moving the ball well, but we just couldn't get touchdowns," he said.
"I knew that our defence would get us a turnover eventually and they did and then it was down to a last drive. We made some big plays, and it feels great."
The Patriots had overcome an early deficit to storm back to a 17-9 lead early in the second half, but the New York side fought back to within two points to take the game to the wire.
And in bizarre circumstances, it was actually an accidental touchdown by Ahmad Bradshaw which was enough to secure a fourth Super Bowl title for the Giants.
The winner came about after Manning, with less than four minutes on the clock, threw a massive 38-yard pass to Mario Manningham - who just about got both feet down.
Despite the Patriots' challenge, the completion was good and set the Giants up for the victory.
"I'd like to share this with all the people who helped to get us here," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said.
"We came up against a great team and it was one of the best finishes ever. I said at half-time that we could play better than we had done, we were energised and we came through."
The traditional half-time show saw pop royalty Madonna - who also appeared with guests Cee Lo Green, Nicki Minaj and dance rockers LMFAO - upstaged by British singer MIA.
She courted controversy with a rude hand gesture and barely-disguised expletive which left TV network NBC apologising.
The screen briefly blurred after MIA's gesture in what was a late attempt - by less than a second - to cut out the camera shot.
"We apologise for the inappropriate gesture that aired during half-time," NBC spokesman Christopher McCloskey said. "It was a spontaneous gesture that our delay system caught late."
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy added: "The obscene gesture in the performance was completely inappropriate, very disappointing, and we apologise to our fans."
The Super Bowl routinely draws more than 100m viewers and is the biggest television event of the year.