INDIANAPOLIS - Turns out the "new" Bill Belichick looks and sounds an awful lot like the "old" one.

Especially when he gets beat.

During the week leading up to the Super Bowl, there was plenty of buzz about how the dour Patriots coach was a changed man. His players kept hinting that the latest woman in his life was responsible for smoothing out some of the rough edges. Instead of his usual non-answer answers, Belichick actually seemed to be enjoying some of the give-and-take during interview sessions. Instead of dressing like Mike Tyson climbing into the ring — hooded sweat shirt, sleeves cut off at the elbow — Belichick turned up in a natty suit and a violet tie one day and a lilac patterned shirt the next.

Wild and crazy? Not exactly. But he was seen smiling on occasion.

That guy was nowhere to be found Sunday night. Belichick took a calculated gamble with less than a minute left, allowing Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw to roll 6 yards into the end zone for an uncontested touchdown and a 21-17 lead. His Patriots got the ball back for one final drive with more time than they would have had otherwise — 57 seconds left after the kickoff — but couldn't march the length of the field. Their chances at a comeback were batted away when New York safety Kenny Phillips did just that to Tom Brady's last-gasp heave into the end zone as time expired.

Linebacker Jerod Mayo, who handles the defensive calls on the field, said the decision to surrender the final score right away, rather than make a goal-line stand, or force the Giants to attempt a field goal, was "situational … the only choice."

"I didn't realize it at the time," New York guard Chris Snee said. "But when it (the New England defense) parted like the Red Sea, I saw it was their strategy. But right away? No, I didn't know."

"I was fine with the way we handled it. My only regret," said Pats lineman Gerard Warren, "is that he didn't fall over sooner."

"It killed me," linebacker Brandon Spikes said. When the call came in to let them score, I was kind of like, 'What? I'm here to do my job and it's my job to play defense and let them score?'

In this same building in December, 2009, ahead by six points against the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning in a regular-season game, the Patriots faced a fourth-and-2 at their own 28-yard line with 2:03 left to play. Rather than punt the ball and dare Manning to score, Belichick called a run by Kevin Faulk that came up just short. With a short field, that Manning — just as his little brother, Eli, did Sunday night — won the game. Belichick's genius — almost an article of faith across the NFL before that — was mocked and debated for weeks.

INDIANAPOLIS - Tom Brady was one of the last ones out of the shower, perhaps hoping some extra hot water would help take the sting out of a crushing Super Bowl loss. In a nearly deserted New England Patriots locker-room, he sat, wearily pulling on his boots, the pained look on his face never changing.

A few moments earlier, Joe Montana had walked down the hallway just outside, but there would be no meeting of Super Bowl greats. Nor would Brady join Montana in another way, as a four-time NFL champion — something he seemed destined to be at one point in the fourth quarter.

This was not a night when legacies would be debated. That will have to wait for another time, another place, another Super Bowl. For the second time in the last five Super Bowls, Brady had come up oh-so-short, beaten late once again by the New York Giants and another quarterback starting to make a pretty good name for himself, too.

Brady wasn't going to come out and say it, but he was blaming himself. Had to, because he had the ball in his hand to win the game with 57 seconds left and couldn't deliver the long touchdown drive that Patriots fans and even his teammates thought would be forthcoming.

"It's Tom Brady," said Patriots cornerback Kyle Arrington. "A lot of people were thinking whoever had the ball last was going to win."

Then there was the catch Wes Welker always makes that he failed to make. It came on a Brady pass with 4 minutes left when it appeared the Patriots were ready to drive for a score that might have put the game away.

Not before trying one final desperation pass that was batted down in the end zone, just barely out of the reach of Rob Gronkowski. So close — again.

INDIANAPOLIS - Justin Tuck called together his pals from the New York Giants' defensive line, gathering them in the end zone before the game for an impromptu pep talk and urging them to create some havoc for Tom Brady.

On the first play for the New England Patriots, Tuck took matters — and the star quarterback — into his own hands.

Tuck bounced off two blocks and pressured Brady into an ill-advised toss from the very same end zone that resulted in a safety, setting the tone in the Giants' 21-17 Super Bowl win Sunday night.

Tuck sacked Brady twice, overcame an injury and rallied the Giants, living up to his image as one of their defensive leaders.

"They had a great scheme there and they had something going there to stop our rush," Tuck said. "But we changed our coverage, and the secondary did a good job so we could eat up front."

On a night the Giants knew they had to put Brady on the ground, Tuck ruled.

He got the Giants (13-7) off to a fast start, getting the safety on the Pats' first offensive play with an intentional grounding call, and came up big again when the Giants needed him. The Patriots (15-4) felt the pressure.

After taking a 17-9 lead on the opening drive of the second half, New England thought it could put the game with another long scoring march. Tuck and the defense didn't let it happen.

"We were feeling good and we knew we were going to go down and score there," receiver Deon Branch said, referring to the TD drive. "It was just a matter of what we were going to do the next time we had the ball and we went three-and-out and you can't do that. We had a chance to put them away and we didn't do it."

Instead, Tuck and Eli Manning made the Patriots pay dearly for the error.

At that point, the Giants started playing their brand of football—getting linebacker Chase Blackburn to drop deep into coverage to intercept an underthrown pass from Brady. Corey Webster broke up a pass to force another punt and when the Patriots got the ball back the final time, in desperation mode, Tuck nearly closed it out himself with another sack on third-and-10.

INDIANAPOLIS - Move over David Tyree. Mario Manningham is the new star in the Giants' latest version of "The Catch."

Manningham, relegated to No. 3 on the Giants' depth chart because of knee injuries and the emergence of Victor Cruz, had three catches on the nine-play drive capped by Ahmad Bradshaw's uncontested 6-yard touchdown run.

Manningham's big moment came after offensive co-ordinator Kevin Gilbride saw New England's defense playing its two safeties deep and shading them to the right side to cover Cruz and Hakeem Nicks.

Running a go pattern up the left sideline on a first-and-10 from their own 12 and down 17-15, Manningham made the catch between safeties Patrick Chung and Sterling Moore and right in front of Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

Defensive end Osi Umenyiora said he spoke to Manningham before the game, knowing the receiver had not had the best of seasons.

Tom Brady wound up 51 yards short on the Patriots' final drive when his desperation pass fell incomplete in the end zone with no time left, giving the Giants their second Super Bowl victory in four years.

"It's been a wild game. It's been a wild season," said Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who was named MVP. "We had a great tough bunch of guys. Guys who never quit and have great faith in each other. Proud of our team and the way we dealt with everything all season and came out strong."

INDIANAPOLIS - For a moment, no one was bigger than five-foot-eight Danny Woodhead.

The New England running back's four-yard touchdown reception in the final minute of the first half gave the New England Patriots a 10-9 halftime lead in the Super Bowl.

"I was able to get open, and Tom (Brady) did a good job of putting the ball right on me," he said. "I had to do the easy part, and that was to catch it."

But the Patriots lost 21-17 to the New York Giants on Sunday, and Woodhead's moment of glory didn't soothe him in the moments after the game.

"It's as tough of a loss as I think I've ever had," he said. "You get so close, and it doesn't end up the way you'd like it. It's a tough pill to swallow."

It's amazing that the 27-year-old Woodhead was even on football's biggest stage, considering how far he's come to get there.

He starred at North Platte High School in Nebraska, but was overlooked by big schools — his small stature an obvious factor. Woodhead ended up going to Chadron State, a Division II program in the northern part of the Nebraska panhandle.

It's the same school that produced former Buffalo Bills standout Don Beebe, but Woodhead quickly made a name for himself there. He won the Harlon Hill Trophy in 2006 and 2007 as the nation's top Division II player. Woodhead also finished his career with a then-NCAA record 7,962 yards rushing.

But those numbers weren't enough to impress pro scouts, who shied away because of his size. He wasn't even invited to the NFL combine, and went undrafted — but was undeterred from achieving his dream.

The New York Jets signed him as a free agent in 2008, but he missed the season with a knee injury. He played sparingly for the Jets the following year, but was cut at the start of the 2010 season. The Patriots signed him four days later, and he has been a solid contributor — and fan favourite — ever since.

He ran for 547 yards, averaged a team-record 5.6 yards per carry and caught 34 passes for 379 yards last year. This season, he ran for 351 yards, caught 18 passes for 157 yards and returned 20 kickoffs for a 21.9-yard average.

Woodhead finished Sunday's game with four catches for 42 yards and a touchdown and had seven carries for 18 yards, a larger workload than usual. And, it came in the biggest game of his career.

"I approach every week the same, and that is to be ready for whatever can be thrown at me," he said. "No matter how many carries or receptions I may get, I just feel like I need to stay ready all the time."

INDIANAPOLIS - Archie Manning got to see one of his sons win a Super Bowl and MVP in a city special to his family.

It wasn't Peyton, who hoped to lead the Colts to a Super Bowl title in their own stadium but wound up missing the season while recovering from neck operations.

Instead, the younger Eli won his second Super Bowl with the New York Giants, 21-17 on Sunday night in the town that his older brother owns. And Archie Manning got to be the proud papa again.

"I think it's special because of the city here," he said. "This city has meant a lot to our family for 14 years, and I've been here all week. The city did a great job, and this building looked beautiful.

"Yes, it is special."

Not easy at times, though. Peyton's future in Indianapolis overshadowed much of the Super Bowl preparation, especially after a doctor said the quarterback was cleared to play again but Colts owner Jim Irsay responded that he had not passed a physical with the team.

The Colts owe Peyton a US$28-million bonus by next month. They also have the first pick in the draft.

All of that got shunted aside in the final minutes Sunday, when Eli led the Giants on the winning touchdown drive just like he did in New York's Super Bowl victory over New England four years ago.

It was more validation for Eli's suggestion before last season that he's an elite quarterback. His father recoiled when asked Sunday whether it's likely he now has two sons headed for the Hall of Fame.

"I don't know anything about the Hall of Fame," he said. "Eli's in his eighth year and I know one thing: He might have said earlier in the year that he belonged with the elite quarterbacks. He will not be saying that he belongs in the Hall of Fame.

"I know Eli well. He is in his eighth year, and I hope he can stay healthy for a long time."

Archie Manning, a former star NFL quarterback himself, was impressed by how Eli handled himself during the Giants' latest championship comeback.

"He just hung in there," he said. "He was patient, and he had to be patient. He was sacked some early, and it wasn't easy.

"There wasn't anything easy out there. He played like a quarterback needs to play."

NEW YORK, N.Y. - The repeat performance was just as good as the first for New York Giants fans as they watched their team again beat the New England Patriots 21-17 Sunday in the Super Bowl.

In Times Square, fans spilled out of the numerous sports bars in the area yelling "Giants! Giants! Giants!"

As motorists drove by, some people yelled "Giants" out their windows and passers-by roared and waved their Eli Manning jerseys.

INDIANAPOLIS - It was a sight that was so familiar for Colts fans.

A quarterback named Manning got the ball, trailing in the fourth quarter, and he coolly and systematically led his team to victory.

It wasn't Peyton this time, it was Eli. And it wasn't the Colts, either. It was the New York Giants who rallied to a thrilling 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.

A large contingent of Colts fans were still happy at Lucas Oil Stadium, getting to watch Tom Brady and the rival New England Patriots lose. When Brady's deep pass fell to the turf in the end zone as time expired, Giants and Colts fans alike celebrated. That's because Eli is Peyton's younger brother, and many Colts fans have also cheered for the Giants over the years.

JACOBS' SWAN SONG?: Brandon Jacobs knew he was down to his last chance to show the New York Giants he's worth keeping.

The veteran running back didn't do himself any favours Sunday. He finished the game with 37 yards on nine carries. More important, when the game was on the line, Ahmad Bradshaw carried the load. Bradshaw finished with 17 carries for 72 yards and scored the winning touchdown.

THE OTHER TIGHT END: Much of the talk surrounding the Patriots heading into the Super Bowl focused on All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski's high ankle sprain suffered in the AFC title game two weeks earlier.

New England's other guy, Aaron Hernandez, is pretty good, too.

Gronkowski finished Sunday's game with just two catches for 26 yards, and he was the intended receiver when New York linebacker Chase Blackburn intercepted Brady's deep pass with the Patriots up 17-15 early in the fourth quarter.

BREES CALLS IT: Record-setting New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees said the Super Bowl might be more of a defensive struggle than expected.

SAFETY: New England quarterback Tom Brady was called for intentional grounding in the end zone on New England's first play from scrimmage after being pressured by New York's Justin Tuck.

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.

For all the finger pointing over M.I.A.'s obscene gesture during the Super Bowl halftime show, it may have happened so quickly that many viewers didn't notice or think much of it if they did.

The gesture was the talk of Twitter for hours Sunday night and still was to some extent Monday. Still, the digital video recorder maker Tivo said there wasn't an appreciable bump in viewers who played back the moment where M.I.A. extended her middle finger during Madonna's performance of "Give Me All Your Luvin'" on Sunday night's show.

Tivo has 2 million customers in the U.S. Spokeswoman Tara Maitra said the company would check to see if more people play back the moment.

The NFL and NBC both apologized for the incident.

The NFL blamed NBC for being not quick enough to censor the gesture, while NBC noted that the NFL is responsible for the content of the halftime show on TV's most-watched annual show.

This was no wardrobe malfunction, nothing like that glimpse of Janet Jackson's nipple eight years ago that caused an uproar and government scrutiny. Instead, in front of some 110 million viewers on NBC and uncounted others online, she flipped the bird and appeared to sing, "I don't give a (expletive)" at one point, though it was hard to hear her clearly.

"The obscene gesture in the performance was completely inappropriate, very disappointing and we apologize to our fans," said Brian McCarthy, spokesman for the NFL, which produced the show. He said M.I.A. had not done anything similar during rehearsals and the league had no reason to believe she would pull something like that during the actual show.

The screen briefly went blurred after M.I.A.'s gesture in what was a late attempt — by less than a second — to cut out the camera shot.

"The NFL hired the talent and produced the halftime show," NBC spokesman Christopher McCloskey said. "Our system was late to obscure the inappropriate gesture and we apologize to our viewers."

Back in M.I.A.'s native Britain, the London Times noted Monday that while all eyes may have been on Madonna at halftime, "it was the extended middle finger of the British hip-hop star M.I.A. that caused the most controversy."

The Guardian wondered whether anyone would really be outraged.

"You'd be forgiven for not having a coronary over the fact M.I.A. gave Super Bowl viewers the finger during her halftime guest spot with Madonna," the newspaper wrote in its music blog. "For most fans, it was probably more shocking to see M.I.A. performing a rehearsed dance routine than flipping the bird."

Indeed, M.I.A. is provocative and an artist taking advantage of all those TV viewers might not be all that surprising. Still, host Gretchen Carlson on Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends" urged M.I.A. to "get a life" and culture vulture Perez Hilton tweeted: "Think she'll ever be invited on live TV again?"

Jackson's infamous oops during the 2004 halftime show raised a storm of controversy and put CBS in hot water with the Federal Communications Commission amid questions about the responsibility of TV networks to police their airwaves.

Justin Timberlake ripped off Jackson's bustier, exposing her breast for nine-sixteenths of a second, a moment for which CBS was fined $550,000 by the FCC. The network challenged the fine and last fall, a federal appeals court ruled against the FCC despite an order from the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. The three-judge panel reviewed three decades of FCC rulings and concluded the agency was changing its policy, without warning, by fining CBS for fleeting nudity.

This year's game, in which the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots 21-17, had been expected to challenge last year's record of being the most-watched U.S. TV event ever.

M.I.A. is best known for her 2007 hit "Paper Planes," a Grammy nominee for record of the year that memorably features a sample of the Clash song, "Straight to Hell." It was featured on the soundtrack to the movie "Slumdog Millionaire."

Madonna had admittedly been nervous about her performance, hoping to position herself as the queen of a new generation of pop stars with an opulent show and a sharp performance that mixed her new release with more familiar songs. She seemed like Roman royalty when muscle-bound men carried her extravagant throne across the football field to the stage for her opening song, "Vogue."

Guests Cee Lo, Nicki Minaj and dance rockers LMFAO also appeared with Madonna. The singing and dancing on "Vogue" was smartly choreographed, as Madonna moved more deliberately — she is 53 — but still adroitly. She briefly appeared to stumble at one point while trying to make a step on the stage set, but recovered in time.

She let a tightrope walker make the more acrobatic moves during a performance of "Music."

Madonna carried gold pompons for a performance of her frothy new single. Twitter was alight with questions about the vocals being lip synched or augmented by tapes, particularly during this song.

The best guest was clearly Cee Lo, who joined Madonna for the final song, "Like a Prayer." They were joined by a robed chorus in the show's most soaring performance. With a puff of white smoke, Madonna disappeared down a trapdoor in the stage, and lights on the field spelled out "World Peace."

The performance was also carried live on SiriusXM Radio, giving Madonna the biggest single audience of her career. For all the elaborate choreography and flashy effects, the finger incident is the more likely headline from the event.

Earlier, Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert offered some pregame patriotism. Shelton and Lambert did a twangy duet on "America the Beautiful" and Clarkson, in a simple black dress, sang "The Star Spangled Banner" without a hitch after last year's performer, Christina Aguilera, flubbed a line.

The NFL and a major television network are apologizing for another Super Bowl halftime show.

There was no wardrobe malfunction, nothing like that glimpse of Janet Jackson's nipple eight years ago that caused an uproar and a government scrutiny. Instead, it was an extended middle finger from British singer M.I.A. during Sunday night's performance of Madonna's new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin.'"

In front of some 110 million viewers on NBC and uncounted others online, she flipped the bird and appeared to sing, "I don't give a (expletive)" at one point, though it was hard to hear her clearly.

The NFL and NBC wasted little time in responding.

"The obscene gesture in the performance was completely inappropriate, very disappointing and we apologize to our fans," said Brian McCarthy, spokesman for the NFL, which produced Madonna's halftime show.

The risque moment came during the biggest TV event of the year. The screen briefly went blurred after M.I.A.'s gesture in what was a late attempt — by less than a second — to cut out the camera shot.

"The NFL hired the talent and produced the halftime show," NBC spokesman Christopher McCloskey said. "Our system was late to obscure the inappropriate gesture and we apologize to our viewers."

Jackson's infamous oops during the 2004 halftime show raised a storm of controversy and put CBS in hot water with the Federal Communications Commission amid questions about the responsibility of TV networks to police their airwaves.

Justin Timberlake ripped off Jackson's bustier, exposing her breast for nine-sixteenths of a second, a moment for which CBS was fined $550,000 by the FCC. The network challenged the fine and last fall, a federal appeals court ruled against the FCC despite an order from the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. The three-judge panel reviewed three decades of FCC rulings and concluded the agency was changing its policy, without warning, by fining CBS for fleeting nudity.

This year's game, in which the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots 21-17, is expected to challenge last year's record of being the most-watched U.S. TV event ever.

M.I.A. is best known for her 2007 hit "Paper Planes," a Grammy nominee for record of the year that memorably features a sample of the Clash song, "Straight to Hell." It was featured on the soundtrack to the movie "Slumdog Millionaire."

After the incident, McCarthy said that M.I.A. had not done anything similar during rehearsals and the league had no reason to believe she would pull something like that during the actual show.

Madonna had admittedly been nervous about her performance, hoping to position herself as the queen of a new generation of pop stars with an opulent show and a sharp performance that mixed her new release with more familiar songs. She seemed like Roman royalty when muscle-bound men carried her extravagant throne across the football field to the stage for her opening song, "Vogue."

Guests Cee Lo, Nicki Minaj and dance rockers LMFAO also appeared with Madonna. The singing and dancing on "Vogue" was smartly choreographed, as Madonna moved more deliberately — she is 53 — but still adroitly. She briefly appeared to stumble at one point while trying to make a step on the stage set, but recovered in time.

She let a tightrope walker make the more acrobatic moves during a performance of "Music."

Madonna carried gold pompons for a performance of her frothy new single. Twitter was alight with questions about the vocals being lip synched or augmented by tapes, particularly during this song.

The best guest was clearly Cee Lo, who joined Madonna for the final song, "Like a Prayer." They were joined by a robed chorus in the show's most soaring performance. With a puff of white smoke, Madonna disappeared down a trapdoor in the stage, and lights on the field spelled out "World Peace."

The performance was also carried live on SiriusXM Radio, giving Madonna the biggest single audience of her career. For all the elaborate choreography and flashy effects, the finger incident is the more likely headline from the event.

Earlier, Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert offered some pre-game patriotism. Shelton and Lambert did a twangy duet on "America the Beautiful" and Clarkson, in a simple black dress, sang "The Star Spangled Banner" without a hitch after last year's performer, Christina Aguilera, flubbed a line.