SB Nation Minnesota - Super Bowl XLVI: Giants Defeat Patriots, 21-17

Super Bowl 2013 Odds: Vikings Have 60-1 Odds To Win In 2013

2012-02-06T17:07:48Z

The dust has hardly even settled from this year's exciting Super Bowl matchup, so it's hard to believe that there are 2013 Super Bowl odds already out and going from Las Vegas.

Unsurprisingly, the New England Patriots lead the pack after making the Super Bowl in 2012 and coming quite close to winning it as well, with 5-1 odds to take home the trophy. Right behind them are the Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles with 11-2 and 6-1 odds respectively. The current champion New York Giants slot in fifth overall at 8-1, understandable considering their 9-7 record was the weakest record ever by a Super Bowl team.

If you're someone who likes to bet on a long shot, Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos are the lowest 2012 playoff team in the odds at 50-1. The Detroit Lions at 18-1 are probably another smart money bet for a team that could put it together and put together a run like the Giants did this season. The team with the lowest chance of making the Super Bowl according to the odds are the Jacksonville Jaguars, at a lowly 150-1.

The Minnesota Vikings didn't get much love from the oddsmakers, with a 60-1 shot putting them sixth from the bottom.

For more on the Super Bowl, check out the NFL hub at SB Nation by going to sbnation.com/NF L.

2012 Super Bowl TV Ratings: Giants Vs. Patriots Draws 47.8 Rating

2012-02-06T14:49:53Z

The Super Bowl always trumps the ratings for American television on the big night, and most other networks usually don't even bother trying to put on anything interesting to draw viewers away from the big game. It was no different for this season's Super Bowl between the New York Giants and New England Patriots, though there were no viewership records even though the game was between two huge market teams.

It's being reported that the Super Bowl Sunday night got a very impressive 47.8 rating, which is down a single decimal point from last season's Green Bay - Pittsburgh thriller. Interestingly, the ratings went up all the way as far as 48.3 during the halftime show which featured Madonna, LMFAO and Cee Lo Green among others.

Even if those numbers aren't setting any viewership records you would be hard pressed to find any other television programs that would look at those numbers and not take them in a heartbeat.

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

Super Bowl 2012: Some Of The Best Commercials

2012-02-06T14:47:50Z

Once again it was a great Super Bowl on Sunday night, but once again there were likely an audience of people watching just so they could see the commercials. There were plenty of decent ones, here's a few of the best of the crop from 2012.

In the category for most bizarre commercial for sure is this effort from Pepsi, which features ~~Sir~~ King Elton John, Flavor Flav and possibly some heavy drug use by somebody behind it.

In the 'musicals' category, Hyundai released this advertisement featuring people at work singing the Rocky Theme Song. You know darn well that if you were in a bar and they had the sound on, everyone in there was singing along to this one when they figured out what was going on. There's not that many songs that can do that, except maybe the Rocky Theme, Hey Jude and the William Tell Overture. (Note, I have yet to find a commercial of Hyundai employees singing the William Tell Overture, but have sent them a very nice letter in the hopes that we'll see that for 2013.)

Any advertisement that features John Stamos getting put through trials of pain automatically makes top lists like this. Is it a Yogurt commercial? Who cares? And more importantly, why did John Stamos not receive more punishment for being a Yogurt tease when he deserves it simply for being John Stamos?

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog,Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

Super Bowl Winners: Where Do Eli Manning's Giants Rank?

2012-02-06T13:58:58Z

Eli Manning has now led his New York Giants to two Super Bowl wins since being picked up from the San Diego Chargers after being drafted in 2004. The Giants team in 2012 may have only had nine wins but it was a team that featured a fantastically built defensive corps, a rumbling running game and a quarterback who after winning his second MVP award has to now be in consideration for one of the better QB's of all time.

Of course, the fact that the G-Men have twice now defeated a team with both a coach and quarterback in consideration for the greatest of all time can't hurt their standings in the all time lore of the Super Bowl's history.

Compared to all of the former Super Bowl champions, where do you think that Eli Manning's Giants teams rank in the all time history? Are they better than the Elway-led Denver Broncos teams of the late 90's? The Bradshaw led teams of the 70's? Are the 2012 World Champions the best of the four Giants teams to have won the Super Bowl?

Super Bowl XLVI MVP: Eli Manning Wins Award For Second Time

2012-02-06T03:45:55Z

There were lots of directions the voters could have gone in determining the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XLVI, but in the end, they gave it to a guy that put the New York Giants in the best position to beat the New England Patriots on Sunday night.

Quarterback Eli Manning was named the game's MVP, and he deserved it after completing 30-of-40 passes for 296 yards and a touchdown. More importantly, he had no turnovers on the evening, and put the Giants in position to get their fourth Super Bowl victory.

Manning, who was also named the MVP of Super Bowl XLII, is now one of only five players to win multiple Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Awards. The other four are Bart Starr (Super Bowls I and II), Terry Bradshaw (Super Bowls XIII and XIV), Joe Montana (Super Bowls XVI, XIX, and XXIV) and the quarterback Manning defeated on Sunday night, Tom Brady (Super Bowls XXXVI and XXXVIII).

Congratulations to Eli Manning on winning the award and all the spoils that come with it. And Congratulations to the New York Football Giants on an outstanding season.

Super Bowl XLVI Final Score: Giants Win Fourth Super Bowl, 21-17, Over Patriots

2012-02-06T03:11:07Z

The New England Patriots and the New York Giants gave us another classic Super Bowl, but when the dust settled and the smoke cleared, the result was very much the same as it was the last time, as the Giants captured their fourth Super Bowl Championship with a 21-17 victory.

Things got off to a bit of a rough start for the Patriots. On their first offensive play, after getting pinned at their own 6-yard line by a Steve Weatherford punt, Tom Brady threw a pass deep down the middle, and appeared to overshoot all of his receivers by about 15 yards. The officials on the field felt that they had sufficient reason to whistle Brady for an intentional grounding penalty, and the first points of the game came on a safety (since Brady was in the end zone when he threw the "grounded" pass), giving the Giants a quick 2-0 lead.

New York got the ball right back on a free kick, and took advantage of getting the ball back so quickly, going on a nine-play, 78-yard drive that ended with Eli Manning finding Victor Cruz in the end zone for a two yard touchdown pass, pushing the Giants' lead to 9-0.

Undeterred, Brady and company put together a drive that spanned the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second. They didn't quite get the result they wanted, however, as they had to settle for a Steven Gostkowski field goal from 29 yards out to make the score 9-3.

After Weatherford pinned the Patriots deep again with 4:03 left in the first half, the Patriots embarked on a Super Bowl record-tying 96-yard drive that took 14 plays and 3:55. Brady was masterful on the drive, completing all ten of his pass attempts, and Danny Woodhead was a key part of the drive as well, touching the ball seven times on the drive. Those two hooked up for a 4-yard touchdown pass with just 15 seconds left in the first half, giving the Patriots their first lead of the night at 10-9.

New England got the ball first to start the second half, and they kept the momentum going with another long touchdown drive, this one a 79-yarder that took eight plays and concluded with a 12-yard pass from Brady to tight end Aaron Hernandez. The extra point made the score 17-9, and the Patriots looked to be in control. But the Giants continued to chip away at the lead, getting field goals from Lawrence Tynes on two straight possessions, cutting the New England lead to 17-15.

Then, towards the end of regulation, the Giants put together one of their best drives of the season. It started from their own 12-yard line after Patriots' punter Zoltan Mesko pinned them deep, and Eli Manning was brilliant again, hitting Mario Manningham with an incredible pass to move the ball to midfield.

Following that, the Giants continued driving, moving the ball to the Patriots' 6-yard line with 1:04 left in the game. With the Patriots holding just one time out, it appeared as though they were simply going to let the Giants score. Giants' running back Ahmad Bradshaw figured that out. . .unfortunately, he figured it out just a little bit too late.

The gaffe by Bradshaw, which gave the Giants a 21-17 lead (the two-point conversion failed), also gave the Patriots 57 seconds and a time out with which to try to get downfield. The Patriots managed to get to midfield, but Brady's Hail Mary attempt fell incomplete as time expired, and the New York Giants walked out of Lucas Oil Stadium with their fourth Super Bowl championship.

Eli Manning was named the MVP of the game, and with good reason. He completed 30-of-40 passes for 296 yards and a score, and was cool and collected for most of the evening. Brady was brilliant as well, completing 27-of-41 for 276 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception.

Patriots' tight end Rob Gronkowski, whose ankle was the talk of most of this week, was a relative non-factor in this one, catching just one pass for 20 yards while fighting a high ankle sprain.

And, with that, the 2011-12 NFL season has come to an end. We thank you for getting your coverage from us here at SB Nation Minnesota, and we look forward to bringing you more great coverage this off-season as well.

VIDEO: Madonna's Super Bowl Halftime Performance

2012-02-06T02:13:00Z

Earlier on this evening, I told you what I thought of Madonna's Super Bowl Halftime performance. . .it was a much better performance than I had expected, though it wasn't thoroughly amazing or anything like that.

Now, you have the opportunity to judge for yourself, as we have the video of the performance right here for your viewing pleasure. Here it is!

Now, since I'm a bit out of touch with the younger generation's "music" these days, apparently there were cameo appearances during the performance from Nick Minaj (no clue who she is), something called M.I.A. (no idea on that front, either), LMFAO (who I have heard of), and finally Cee-Lo Green (who I'm a fan of).

Again, check out the performance and judge the whole thing for yourself. It will give you something to talk about around the water cooler or coffee pot on Monday morning at work.

Now, with all that said, the game is still on!

Super Bowl XLVI Score Update: Lawrence Tynes Brings Giants Within Two

2012-02-06T02:00:35Z

We're nearly through three quarters of play in Super Bowl XLVI, and while it appears that the New York Giants might be close to recapturing the momentum, the New England Patriots still cling to a two-point lead.

After the Giants forced a Patriots' punt, New York actually started out on the Patriots' side of the field. The Giants caught a bit of a break on one play, when Eli Manning found Hakeem Nicks in the middle of the field. Nicks made a couple of moves, but got the ball stripped away. Fortunately, Giants' fullback Henry Hynoski was in the right place at the right time, and immediately fell on the ball for New York.

A sack of Manning by Nick Minkovich, however, stalled the Giants' efforts, and they had to settle for another field goal from Lawrence Tynes, this one a 33-yarder to make the score 17-15 in favor of the Patriots.

That's where we stand as we go into the fourth quarter of play, folks. Looks like we're in for a fantastic finish in this one!