Brady’s moves didn’t always make sense

A look at some of the questionable decisions that played significant roles in how Super Bowl XLVI played out:

holding penalty that negated a Brandon Jacobs 10- yard run on third- and- 1 on the New England 46. While blocking mammoth defensive tackle Vince Wilfork oneonone is a tall order, risking a holding penalty on a short- yardage play is a no- no. You have to trust a bruiser such as Jacobs will find his way over 36 inches of new real estate.

Instead of potentially making it a twoscore game and keeping Brady on the bench, the Giants punted after Eli Manning couldn’t connect with Mario Manningham on third- and- 10. Brady then led the Patriots on a 14- play, 96- yard TD drive that ate up all but 15 seconds of the first half and turned the game around. uwhat was Brady thinking? Part 2 For a quarterback who was furious at himself for throwing a jump ball deep to Matthew Slater in the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship Game that was intercepted by the Baltimore Ravens, what was Brady doing from the Patriots 43 throwing a lollipop to the banged- up Gronkowski, whowas blanketed by Giants linebacker Chase Blackburn, in the final period?

In both cases, the Patriots had first down, were protecting a slim lead and had solid field position around midfield. The reward simply didn’t come close to matching the risk.

The first turnover of the game gave New York the ball on its 8. The Giants didn’t come away with points on the ensuing drive, but they did advance the ball 51 yards and, after a solid Steve Weatherford punt, made the Patriots begin their next series at their 8. What was Brady thinking? The first points of the game came on the New England Patriots’ first play. And it resulted in two points for the New York Giants. On first- and- 10 from the New England 6- yard line with nine minutes left in the first quarter, Tom Brady drew a flag for intentional grounding when he fired a pass to absolutely no one 40 yards down the middle of the field to avoid a sack in the end zone by defensive end Justin Tuck.

While throwing the ball away was understandable, he could have skied it into the Giants bench on the right sideline and gotten away with it since Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski were in the area. umomentum- killer With the Giants leading 9- 3, dominating the time of possession and inside Patriots territory, left guard Kevin Boothe drew a