Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis is now set as the New England Patriots beat the Baltimore Ravens 23-20 in the AFC Championship game earlier in the day and the New York Giants beat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in the late NFC Championship game. It now sets up a rematch of Super Bowl XLII that the Giants won 17-14 in Glendale, Arizona.
Both championship games were very entertaining and each were decided basically by one play. In New England, Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal with 15 seconds left in the game to give the Patriots the win. The Ravens took possession of the ball for the their final drive with 1:44 left in the game at their own 21 yard-line and drove 65 yards in 9 plays to set up the game tying field goal attempt. On the 7th play of the drive Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco hit wide receiver Lee Evans with a pass in the endzone only to have Patriots defensive back Sterling Moore knock it out of hands before Evans established possession for the go ahead touchdown. Moore also made a nice play on the 3rd down play that followed as he broke up a pass intended for tight end Dennis Pitta on about the 5-yard line, forcing the Ravens to settle for the missed field goal attempt.
In San Francisco, the game went to sudden death overtime and was basically decided on a fumbled punt by 49ers punt returner Kyle Williams. The Giants had just finished their second possession and Williams fumbled the punt on the 49ers own 24 yard-line following a 5 yard return. The ball was knocked out by Giants rookie Jacquian Williams and recovered by Devin Thomas. Four plays later the Giants had moved the ball down to the 49ers 8 yard-line and after a delay of game penalty in field goal formation, Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes knocked home the game winner from 31 yards out. The gaff by Williams was his second of the game as he also allowed a 4th quarter punt to bounce off of his knee that was also recovered by Thomas of the Giants. The Giants turned that into 7 points as quarterback Eli Manning hit wide receiver Mario Manningham for a 1`7 yard touchdown just 6 plays later that gave the Giants a 17-14 lead.
The Super Bowl will take place on Sunday February 5th, 2012 and the kickoff time is scheduled for 6:30EST / 5:30 CST on NBC. The betting line opened with Patriots as 3 point favorites over the Giants. The over-under was set at 53 points for the game.
