You couldn't even get 17 points against the New York Giants defense. You couldn't keep from getting sacked five times and hit nine more times while throwing.

Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora hounded and hit Brady from start to finish in limiting the NFL's all-time best offense to just two touchdowns in a stunning 17-14 victory that will go down as one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history.

The 14 points were a season low for a team that was looking for a place in history.

Now it has one.

This stunner came less than a week after Burress created a stir by predicting the Giants (14-6) would end the Patriots' run at perfection after 18 straight wins.

His forecast was 23-17, and it got Brady's attention and drew his ire.

"We're only going to score 17 points?" Brady chuckled at the thought the Giants could shut down an offense that scored 589 points and got a record 50 TD passes from his MVP arm.

"OK. Is Plax playing defense? I wish he had said 45-42 and gave us a little credit for scoring more points."

Credit goes to the Giants and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who refused to back down. They attacked Brady at every opportunity and limited him to two scoring drives.

"I think our defense did a great job of setting the tone," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "They were in the attack mode all the time. They did their job. The defense certainly did an excellent job.

"We did some different things; created some different matchups."

The last big play came in the final minute when rookie tackle Jay Alford took over for a winded Fred Robbins and planted Brady on a second-and-10 from the New England 26 with 19 seconds to go.

Brady threw two more desperation passes. Then the Giants began to celebrate their third Super Bowl title.

Strahan, a seven-time Pro Bowler who opted to return this season after mulling retirement for the entire training camp, knelt on the ground and looked up at the roof at the University of Phoenix Stadium. After 15 years, he had his Super Bowl ring and championship.

"We watched a lot of TV," Strahan said. "We had a lot of free time. I remember somebody saying the Giants have a false sense of confidence from the first time they played. We got confident. My guys are the best in the world."

The Giants held New England to 274 yards in total offense, including just 45 yards rushing.

Brady finished 29-of-48 for 266 yards and one touchdown, a 6-yarder to Randy Moss with 2:42 to play against a defense that was running out of gas. It capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive on which several exhausted defenders limped off the field.

Eli Manning responded with a 12-play, 83-yard scoring drive, which he capped with a 13-yard fade pattern in the corner of the end zone to a wide-open Burress.

The defensive effort came a month after the Patriots ripped the Giants for 38 points in the final game of the regular season. Brady passed for 356 yards and four touchdowns that day.