Salsa has made its way to the Superbowl! Thanks to a solid performance by Victor Cruz and the combined efforts of a stellar team, The New York Giants are the new Superbowl Champions! Cruz started things off by scoring the first touchdown of the game that eventually led to a 21 – 17 victory over Aaron Hernandez and the favored New England Patriots.

This had to be one of the most exciting Superbowls in recent memory. It literally all came down to the very last play and the very last second. With the Patriots losing and 5 seconds left, Brady threw a pass that if caught would have altered history. Fortunately for New York, it wasn’t. And now the Giants have won more Superbowls than any other team except the Pittsburgh Steelers (6) and Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49rs (5). The Giants also became the first team to finish the regular season 9-7 and win the title.

The game didn’t start out very well for the Patriots. After Steve Weatherford’s punt was downed at the New England 6, Brady dropped to pass in the end zone and had time. With everyone covered and Giants defensive end Justin Tuck finally coming free to provide pressure, Brady heaved the ball downfield while still in the pocket. Without any receivers to catch the ball The Giants were awarded a safety – and their first two points – for Brady’s grounding in the end zone.

Manning, meanwhile, couldn’t have been more on target early, hitting six receivers in the first period. He also was aided by Ahmad Bradshaw who broke a 24-yard run, and New England made another critical mistake 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. The first touchdown of the game and the arrival of an energetic salsa dance to Indianapolis!

The score was followed by the Patriot’s Stephen Gostkowski’s 29-yard field goal and a 9 – 3 score. The first half ended with Patriots leading 10 – 9. After Madonna’s half time show things weren’t looking good as the Patriots increased their lead to 17 – 9. Eventually they managed to turn things around and beat the odds.

“This isn’t about one person,” Manning insisted. “This is about a team coming together.” Just as Manning did four years ago when the Giants ruined New England’s perfect season, he guided them 88 yards to the decisive touchdown, which the Patriots didn’t contest as Ahmad Bradshaw ran 6 yards with 57 seconds left.

“Certainly Eli has had a great season. He made some great throws in the fourth quarter, and they deserved to win,” Brady said.

They got some help from Patriots coach Bill Belichick, whose late-game risk didn’t turn out as he planned. Belichick reasoned the Giants would run the clock down and kick a short field goal, so he gambled by allowing the six points.

The ploy failed.

Manning did everything asked of him in the final minutes, a habit for the eight-year veteran. He’s beaten the Patriots in two thrilling Super Bowls. The Giants (13-7), who stood 7-7 in mid-December, now own the football world, and Manning owns two Super Bowl MVP awards, the same number as Brady.

It was a classic I-can-top-that showdown with the outcome in doubt until the last desperation pass fell to the turf as the last second ticked off the clock. Manning started the game with nine straight completions, a Super Bowl record; Brady hit 16 straight over the second and third quarters, breaking Joe Montana’s Super bowl record of 13.

Manning finished 30 for 40 for 296 yards and one touchdown, while Brady was 27 for 41 for 276 yards with two TDs and one interception.

“It’s been a wild game, a wild season,” Manning said.

Manning led six comeback victories during the season and set an NFL record with 15 fourth-quarter touchdown passes. He showed that brilliance in the clutch on the winning drive, completing five passes, starting with a sensational 38-yard sideline catch by Mario Manningham.

On second down at the Patriots 6 and with only one timeout remaining, Belichick had his defense stand up as Bradshaw took the handoff. Bradshaw thought about stopping short of the end zone, then tumbled in untouched

“I was yelling to him, `Don’t score, don’t score,'” Manning said. “He tried to stop, but he fell into the end zone.”

Brady couldn’t answer in the final 57 seconds, although his heave into the end zone on the final play fell just beyond the grasp of lunging All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski. New England (15-4), winner of 10 straight since a loss to the Giants in November, was done.

Brady headed off with his head bowed, holding his helmet, still one short of the record four Super Bowl victories by Terry Bradshaw for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Montana for the San Francisco 49ers.

“Certainly it wasn’t one play that was the reason we lost,” Brady said. “Everybody feels they could do a little more. I’d rather come to this game and lose than not get here.”

All around him was the wild celebration by the Giants, NFL champions for the eighth — and perhaps most unlikely — time.

It was the fifth trip to a Super Bowl for Brady and Belichick, tying the record. And it looked like a successful one when they stormed back from a 9-0 deficit and led 17-9 in the third quarter. But the Giants, who reached New England territory on every possession except a kneeldown at the end of the first half, got field goals of 38 and 33 yards from Tynes. And it looked like Tynes, who kicked them into the Super Bowl four years ago at Green Bay and again this year at San Francisco, both in overtime, would get called on again.

Then Belichick, known to try just about anything in a game, took a risk that didn’t pay off.

The Giants are the first Super Bowl winner that was outscored during the regular season. They were 6-2 after that 24-20 victory at New England, then lost four straight and five of six.

Coughlin is the oldest coach, at 65, to win a Super Bowl.

With New York’s vaunted pass rush disappearing, Brady went 10-for-10 for 98 yards, capping the drive that included two Patriots penalties with Woodhead’s 4-yard TD reception with 8 seconds to go in the half. Hernandez and Woodhead each had four catches on the drive that, stunningly, put New England ahead despite being outplayed for so much of the first 30 minutes.

Brady kept firing — and hitting — in the third quarter, with five more completions. The Giants didn’t come within shouting distance of the record-setting quarterback. He capped a 79-yard drive to open the second half with a 12-yard TD to Hernandez, but then the game turned. Again.

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. His throw was short, and Chase Blackburn picked it off early in the fourth quarter.

Although the Giants moved into New England territory again, as they did on every drive to that point, they bogged down and punted.

In the end, though, New York made the critical plays, just as it did in 2008. With Manning in the lead.