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INDIANAPOLIS — Reddened eyes and a hushed voice told the story for Wes Welker in Super Bowl XLVI.

The pass he dropped with four minutes remaining was a turning point against New England in the Patriots' 21-17 defeat to the New York Giants. No amount of consoling from teammates could convince him otherwise.

"That is one I'll have to live with," Welker said.

The Patriots led 17-15 with 4:06 remaining when Tom Brady dropped back to pass on second-and-11 from the New York 44-yard line. New England had driven 48 yards in nine plays after taking over possession at its own 8. Brady had Welker wide open to his left and 23 yards downfield. The pass was a bit behind Welker and high, but the receiver turned his body and got both hands on the ball.

"Ninety-nine percent of the time, he makes that grab," fellow receiver Deion Branch said. "It's football. Nobody's perfect."

Welker dropped five passes during the Patriots' first 18 games of the season, none on throws traveling more than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage, according to ESPN Stats & Information. He dropped a league-high 11 passes during the 2010 regular season, with drops defined as passes the receiver should have caught with ordinary effort, and only when the receiver is 100 percent at fault. But he also topped 100 receptions for the third time in five seasons since the Patriots acquired him in 2007.

"I mean, the ball is right there," Welker said. "I just have to make the play. It's a play I've made 1,000 times in practice and everything else."

Welker kept his composure as he spoke. It appeared to be a struggle.

"When it comes to the biggest moment of my life and I don't come up with it, it's discouraging," he said.

Brady might not have thrown the pass if not for a Giants breakdown.

"The man over me was playing a two-high look and the safety went to one-high and that is why it opened up for me like it did," Welker explained.

Giants safety Antrel Rolle said communication problems were at fault. The coverage was supposed to change when the Patriots adjusted their formation. The message didn't make it to everyone on defense.

"We were just on a little different page, but it happens," Rolle said. "You know, one mistake all game, we'll take it."

Will they ever.

"We just couldn't connect," Brady said of the pass for Welker. "He's a hell of a player. I'll keep throwing the ball to him for as long as I possibly can. He's a phenomenal player and teammate, and I love that guy."

Welker caught 122 passes for 1,569 yards and nine touchdowns during the regular season. He caught seven passes for 60 yards on eight targets Sunday.

Welker now has 18 receptions for 163 yards in two Super Bowl appearances for New England, both against the Giants and both in defeat. His drop wasn't the only turning point Sunday.

The Patriots still had the lead after the ball went through Welker's hands. They had a chance to convert on third down as well, but Brady's pass to Branch fell incomplete.

A defensive stand following Welker's drop also could have saved the game and spared Welker from his fate, but instead the Patriots allowed a 38-yard sideline strike from Eli Manning to Mario Manningham on the Giants' next offensive play.

Manning-to-Manningham worked again for 16 yards, and suddenly New York had first down at the New England 34 with 2:52 to play.

The Giants scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:04 left without even trying. Ahmad Bradshaw hoped to stop at the 1, which would have allowed the Giants to run down most of the clock before kicking the winning field goal. But instead they gave Brady one final possession with 57 seconds to play.

Welker would not get another chance.

Brady targeted Aaron Hernandez four times and Branch three times during a final desperation drive that ended with a 51-yard Hail Mary to the end zone that fell incomplete.

"It's one that will take a while to shake off, that's for sure," Welker said.

QUARTERBACK: Eli Manning completed 30 of 40 passes for 296 yards, one touchdown and a 103.8 NFL rating. He did not turn over the ball, which was huge for the Giants during their 21-17 victory. Manning's 38-yard sideline strike to Mario Manningham showed the raw arm talent that made Manning the first player selected in the 2004 NFL draft. Not many quarterbacks can make that throw. Manning made it when the Giants trailed, 17-15, with less than four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Manning completed his first nine attempts for 77 yards and a touchdown, staking the Giants to an early lead as they dominated time of possession to begin the game. Manning made effective use of his running backs and tight ends, executing a mostly conservative game plan. But the Giants settled for field goals too frequently. Both teams had trouble striking on pass plays down the field until Manning found Manningham in the clutch. The two had failed to connect deep down the right sideline earlier in the fourth quarter. Manning's pass was a bit wide. Manningham could have done a better job getting his feet down. Grade: A-minus.

OFFENSE: The Giants came to life in the fourth quarter, a theme for them all season. They also avoided turnovers, a huge key. That excused their earlier offensive struggles, but we'll cover them anyway. New York twice committed drive-dooming penalties after crossing midfield. A first-half holding penalty against guard Kevin Boothe on a third-and-1 play proved pivotal. The infraction wasted Brandon Jacobs' 10-yard run, setting up third-and-1. The Giants went from driving toward likely points and a potential 16-3 lead to watching Tom Brady execute a 96-yard touchdown drive as New England pulled in front, 10-9. Then, with the Giants trailing 17-15 in the fourth quarter, a penalty for illegal procedure left the Giants in another third-and-10 situation, leading to another punt. The Giants did enjoy success early in the game. They were fortunate to recover their own fumbles, especially when Ahmad Bradshaw lost the ball deep in Giants territory. Losing tight ends Travis Beckum and Jake Ballard to injuries left New York with only one available tight end, Bear Pascoe. Grade: B

DEFENSE: Justin Tuck's pressure on Brady forced a safety on the Patriots' first offensive play. That was a sensational start for the Giants. Tuck closed out the game with a third-down sack with 39 seconds remaining. The Giants failed to get enough pressure between those plays, allowing Brady to shred their defense for stretches. But Brady averaged only 6.7 yards per attempt. The Giants held the Patriots to 17 points, about two touchdowns below their regular-season average. Jason Pierre-Paul was effective batting down passes. Chase Blackburn made his presence felt with a de-cleater hit on BenJarvus Green-Ellis. He also picked off a deep pass for Rob Gronkowski. The Patriots' quickness in general and Danny Woodhead's in particular gave the Giants problems, especially with Brady having time to operate. The Giants caught a break when Wes Welker got wide open and dropped a pass that would have moved New England into field-goal range while leading with about four minutes left. Grade: B-plus

COACHING: The Giants left 57 seconds on the clock when Bradshaw scored on a run up the middle to take a 21-17 lead. Bradshaw tried to sit down at the 1-yard line, but his momentum carried him into the end zone. The points were nice, but leaving that much time on the clock for Brady carried risk. The offensive plan seemed conservative and without enough play-action passing early. That was to be expected given Tom Coughlin's philosophy. That showed up when Coughlin handed off instead of taking a shot deep down the field on an early second-and-1. Grade: B

SPECIAL TEAMS: Lawrence Tynes made both field-goal attempts. The Giant did not allow a punt return. They forced New England to begin three drives inside their own 10-yard line. The Patriots never started a drive outside their own 29. No complaints here. Grade: A

INDIANAPOLIS — Watch out for offensive holding penalties in Super Bowl XLVI.

Officials have called only eight penalties for holding on offensive plays during the postseason, six of them against the NFC champion New York Giants. Three of the six were against Chris Snee, with two against David Baas and one against David Diehl.

John Parry is the referee for Super Bowl XLVI. His crew ranked third in most penalties for offensive holding during the regular season.

I've put together a chart from ESPN Stats & Information showing where Parry's crew ranked in various penalties during the 2011 season. Parry is working with an all-star crew, not his usual one. That could affect tendencies.

Parry's low ranking for unnecessary roughness appears offset, at least somewhat, by a higher number of calls for generic personal fouls.

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Join our ESPN.com NFL experts for the game we've all been waiting for: Super Bowl XLVI between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants.

Contribute your thoughts and questions at 4 p.m. ET. See you there.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Check this out: jumbo shrimp cocktail at the Super Bowl for $30.

The friendly workers at Lucas Oil Stadium -- are there any other kind in Indy? -- encouraged me to go with the shrimp cocktail, plus $11 beers in 8-ounce souvenir glasses.

The hope here is that no one suspects I took them up on their offer upon reading my copy throughout the day.

Popcorn in jumbo souvenir tubs is fetching $20. I went with the $8 Diet Coke in a souvenir cup.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Five hours before kickoff seemed like a good time to arrive at Lucas Oil Stadium for Super Bowl XLVI.

The city skyline is clearly visible through the giant windows above the end zone with "New York Giants" emblazoned on it. Here's a shot of the field view from my seat on the Terrace Level. I'm in a corner and high enough to see the action, but not too high. My view will be looking over Bill Belichick's right shoulder as he faces midfield from the New England Patriots' sideline.

The natural light entering the stadium adds vibrancy to the yellow "Super Bowl" and "National Football League" signage separating the various stadium levels.

Brian O'Connell from the Seattle Seahawks is working the press area where I'm seating. He's crediting/mocking me for being the first one here, but hey, where else would a guy rather be on Super Sunday? There were no lines when John Clayton and I walked over from the nearby media center at the J.W. Marriott hotel.

The downtown setup has been perfect for a Super Bowl, particularly with the weather cooperating. The league has hard-wired Internet connections available, so our Super Bowl chat beginning two hours before kickoff should be easier to access.

Hope your Super Bowl Sunday is treating you well.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Pro Football Hall of Fame voters are beginning to assemble for a day-long session to determine the 2012 class.

Eddie DeBartolo Jr., Cortez Kennedy, Kevin Greene, Aeneas Williams, Charles Haley, Chris Doleman and Jerome Bettis are among the 15 modern-era finalists with ties to current NFC West organizations. I will be presenting Kennedy's case to the selectors as the representative for the Seattle market.

We will discuss each candidate -- see them all here -- and then hold a series of votes. The first vote will reduce the modern-era finalists from 15 to 10. The second vote will reduce that group from 10 to five. From that group, those with an 80 percent approval rate gain selection.

The NFL Network is scheduled to announce results at 5:30 p.m. ET.

In the meantime, here are our Super Bowl predictions.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Dan Graziano, James Walker and I bluffed our way past ESPN security and sneaked a few minutes on camera Friday.

In an even bigger upset, we didn't mention Peyton Manning during our Super Bowl XLVI roundtable discussion.

A key question raised: Is Tom Brady about to steal the show?

INDIANAPOLIS -- Back in Week 5, the New York Giants trailed the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth quarter when Victor Cruz reached out with one hand to snag a deflected pass for a 68-yard touchdown.

The go-ahead scoring play came under circumstances familiar to Cruz: on third down, and with his team trailing on the scoreboard.

The Giants frequently played from behind this season. Cruz was their dominant threat on third down. The chart, from ESPN Stats & Information, ranks NFL players by third-down receiving yardage when their teams were trailing during the regular season. Such a chart would favor players from losing teams, but the Giants finished 9-7 and won their division.

Cruz's 36-yard reception on third-and-6 against San Francisco sustained an early scoring drive after the Giants fell behind in the NFC Championship Game.

Cruz had a 36-yarder on third-and-7 against the 49ers in Week 10, sustaining a go-ahead scoring drive in the third quarter.

Eli Manning completed 17 of 20 attempts for 455 yards when targeting Cruz on third down when the Giants were trailing during the regular season. We might anticipate more of the same if the Giants fall behind New England in the Super Bowl on Sunday.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The 2005 Seattle Seahawks just missed the cut when Jamison Hensley and I ranked our 10 best Super Bowl losers. Not that making such a list would provide consolation.

Rocky Bernard collected a career-high 8.5 sacks with that Seattle team, only to suffer through a 21-10 defeat to Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XL. He's back on the Super Bowl stage with the New York Giants and intent upon at least partially atoning for what went wrong six years ago.

"I don't want to feel that pain again," Bernard said. "It's something you can't get over. You work so hard to get to that point and we were so confident going into the game, felt like we could win."

Bernard, like quite a few Seahawks fans, still feels as though officiating errors played a significant role in the outcome. Bernard brought up that aspect of the game without prompting.

"We kind of felt like it was taken away from us," Bernard said.

Referee Bill Leavy later apologized. The NFL stood by the officiating at the time.

Another NFC West Super Bowl alum, ex-Arizona Cardinal Antrel Rolle, can also offset painful Super Bowl memories if the Giants win. Rolle, whose Cardinals lost to the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII, started all 16 games and picked off two passes for the Giants this season.

"Being here one time before and not coming out on top, it's a feeling you never, ever get rid of," Rolle said. "I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure I'm not on that side of that fence again."

Also: New England Patriots special-teams player Niko Koutouvides was also part of that 2005 Seattle team. He pointed to the camaraderie of the 2005 team as one of the reasons for its success. He said the current Patriots have the same feel to them.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Josh McDaniels spent the last year trying to reinvent himself.

After making few friends as the Denver Broncos' head coach, McDaniels showed himself to be congenial and accommodating as the St. Louis Rams' offensive coordinator, even as the team struggled to a 2-14 record.

It's tough to say who benefits from McDaniels, now the AFC champion New England Patriots' offensive coordinator in waiting, going into stealth mode during Super Bowl week. The Patriots have used McDaniels' vague title — he'll remain merely an "offensive assistant" until he replaces the outgoing Bill O'Brien next season — to shield their highest-profile assistant from the Super Bowl spotlight.

"It's great to have him back," quarterback Tom Brady said.

Everyone from Brady and fellow Patriots legend Bill Belichick to the team's assistant strength coach, Moses Cabrera, has embraced the Super Bowl experience this week. The Patriots made available 53 active players, all eight members of the practice squad and 13 coaches Wednesday. No McDaniels, though.

O'Brien, recently named the next coach at Penn State, sounded perfectly comfortable with McDaniels' presence on the staff. This should be a positive story for all parties.

"Josh is a very close friend of mine," O'Brien said. "He is one of the brightest coaches I've ever been around and he has come in here and done a great job of observing our offense, watching the teams that we're playing (against the New York Giants') defense, helping me out with little bullet points."

The access ban spares McDaniels from answering questions about his failed tenure in Denver and his unusual status as a coach for two teams in the same season.

"He is mostly working with the coaches in the staff meetings," Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins said. "I'm not sure how much input he has right now. You would have to ask one of the coaches."

Done deal.

"He has been a great help on game days up in the press box," O'Brien said, "just by being your eyes in the sky with (personnel director) Nick Caserio and (tight ends coach) Brian Ferentz, just an added set of eyes up there."

Tight end Aaron Hernandez speaks with McDaniels "a lot" and says his future coordinator is "definitely involved" and fitting in.

Backup quarterback Brian Hoyer said he values McDaniels as "an extra guy to go to" for questions about the game plan or the offense in general, particularly if O'Brien is busy.

Brady gave Hoyer and the other quarterbacks a glowing review on McDaniels, who coached the position and coordinated the offense, among other duties, while with New England from 2001-08. In the short term, McDaniels is serving as a resource for players.

"Josh's presence has been good, just having his presence around our locker room and on the field," running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis said. "He's been here before. It's just positive chemistry."

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Super Bowl reunion featuring the Patriots and Giants will spark memories from the 2007 season, when New England suffered one of the greatest upsets in NFL history.

The Patriots don’t need a rematch to remind them of that monumental collapse. Even though only 24 players remain from that New England team, everyone suiting up for this year’s Super Bowl remembers how the 12-point favorite Patriots fell four quarters short of perfection.

This is the ramification when a team goes from the expected coronation among NFL greats to the forever devastation of what might have been.

The 2007 Patriots, 1968 Colts and 2001 Rams have all felt the sting of screwing up their legacies. They aren’t just teams that lost in the Super Bowl, like last year’s Steelers.

These select few rank among the very best Super Bowl losers. They are the ones who dominated week after week, only to leave the game’s biggest stage defeated.

“The overwhelming sense of that year is the failure that is always remembered,” said Tedy Bruschi, a linebacker on that 2007 Patriots team, which lost to the Giants, 17-14.

“I’m proud of the run we made and we were on the cusp of something that had never been done before. But we failed.”

Those Patriots entered the Super Bowl with an 18-0 record and outscored their regular-season opponents by 315 points, or 19.7 per game.

That average margin stands as the fattest for any team in the NFL since at least 1940, according to Pro Football Reference. Those Patriots didn’t just win. They won big, until they lost.

“You think you know, until you don’t know,” former Patriots linebacker Chad Brown said. “There was such confidence going through the season, such a sense of belief. But until the final whistle sounds, it’s never over. They found a way to get it done. Hats off to them.”

Before the 2007 Patriots forged their unenviable place in league history, the 1968 Colts actually changed the league’s future with their loss.

In what was the third AFL-NFL championship game, the Colts were heavily favored to bring the title to the NFL for the third straight year.

The previous two Super Bowl games were dominated by the NFL -- the Green Bay Packers won by a combined score of 68-24 -- which put the AFL’s existence in jeopardy.

Despite not having an injured Johnny Unitas, the Colts rolled to a 13-1 record during the regular season and routed the Cleveland Browns, 34-0, in the NFL championship to avenge their only loss.

The Colts heard about Joe Namath guaranteeing a win, but the 18-point favorites never took the Jets seriously.

One year after the Colts’ 16-7 loss, the AFL and NFL merged.

“We went down to Miami with a little different attitude -- that we were just going to win that game,” said Rick Volk, a three-time Pro Bowl safety for that Colts team.

“We were expecting to do it and I don’t think anybody had any question that we weren’t going to win. We went down not focused totally on the game itself.”

Volk suffered a concussion early in the game and doesn’t remember much of it. He had to watch film afterward to see how he played.

Following the loss, he asked quarterback Earl Morrall in the showers whether the Colts had won or lost.

“It was more than a game when we got beat,” Volk said. “It was devastation.”

The 2001 Rams can relate.

Most key players remained in place from their 1999 championship team. They breezed through the regular season with a 14-2 record, outscoring the Patriots by 132 points (503-371). They had scored 84 points in the divisional and conference championship rounds.

“That was a great football team,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “They were No. 1 in the league in defense and one of the most explosive offenses in the history of the NFL, and they were good in the kicking game.”

Marshall Faulk considers the 2001 team better than the 1999 version.

Players had been together longer. They were more proven, more refined. But the Patriots’ defense roughed up Faulk and the St. Louis receivers, taking the Rams out of their game.

The Greatest Show on Turf bogged down.

Faulk used the term “hack-a-Shaq” to describe the plan Belichick put into place that day.

The tactics New England used in that game might not fly as well under current rules. As much as any Super Bowl loser, those Rams would have benefited from new guidelines discouraging the rough-house tactics New England employed against Faulk and the St. Louis receivers.

“When I played, the game was played outside the numbers,” Faulk said. “You didn't challenge people down the middle. Cover 2 was built to put you in the middle of the field.

"Now, people want to see Cover 2 because, one, you can't touch a receiver down the field and, two, you can't separate him from the ball and three, you have to make sure he can see you before you hit him because he is defenseless, and you can't get hit him in the head. It is just a different game.”

The current Patriots are taking full advantage of the differences by targeting tight ends down the middle of the field. They were more of an outside passing team four years ago, when Randy Moss remained a dominant force at wide receiver.

Times change, but losing against the odds lingers. Those 2007 Patriots, like the 2001 Rams and a few others, never could enjoy the exalted places in history they seemed so likely to earn.

“I wish when you lined up to play that the team that was the most talented won the game,” Faulk said. “If that was the case, we wouldn't be so excited about the matchup we're about to see, because it's obvious the Patriots were the better team [in 2007], but the Giants played better that day.”

TOP 10 SUPER BOWL LOSERS

1. 2007 Patriots: The only 16-0 team in regular-season NFL history outscored opponents by 19.7 points per game, a record. Tom Brady's 50 touchdown passes exceeded by one the record Peyton Manning set in 2004. New England scored at least 38 points in half its regular-season games. The Patriots drew fines for illicitly taping opponents' signals and criticism after twice going for it on fourth down while leading Joe Gibbs' Redskins by 38-plus points.

2. 1968 Colts: Baltimore had a 13-1 regular-season record, the NFL's top-ranked defense, No. 2 offense and eight Pro Bowl players, including John Mackey and Bubba Smith. After a 34-0 shutout of the Cleveland Browns in the NFL championship, the Colts were touted as "the greatest team in pro football history." That is, until they faced the 18-point underdog Jets and Joe Namath from the AFL.

3. 1969 Vikings: Minnesota had allowed only 10 points per game in winning the NFL title. As feared as the Vikings were for their "Purple People Eaters" defense, their quarterback, Joe Kapp, seemed nearly as tough. Famed oddsmaker Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder called the Vikings' offensive line the best he'd ever seen in making Minnesota a 13-point Super Bowl favorite. But the Chiefs knocked Kapp from the Super Bowl with an injury in rolling to a 23-7 victory.

4. 1983 Redskins: The Washington offense scored a then-NFL record 541 points and featured the Hogs, the Diesel, the Fun Bunch and MVP quarterback Joe Theismann. The defending Super Bowl champions stormed into the Super Bowl on an 11-game winning streak that included a 51-7 demolition of the Rams in the NFC Championship Game. The Redskins, though, were on the other end of the rout in the Super Bowl, losing to the Raiders, 38-9.

5. 1978 Cowboys: Dallas rode an eight-game winning streak into the Super Bowl and had shut out the Los Angeles Rams, 28-0, in the NFC title game. The Cowboys were defending Super Bowl champs and led the league in scoring. Legendary head coach Tom Landry masterminded a "Doomsday Defense" that led the NFL in sacks with 58. Jackie Smith's dropped TD and a disputed pass-interference call against Bennie Barnes proved pivotal in the Cowboys' 35-31 Super Bowl loss.

6. 2001 Rams: The Rams rolled to a 14-2 mark by lighting up the scoreboard with Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt. The "Greatest Show on Turf" outgained opponents by an average of 137 yards per game and outscored them by an average of two TDs. But the 14-point favorite Rams were upset by Bill Belichick's defense and an unknown QB named Tom Brady.

7. 1990 Bills: A 51-3 victory over the Raiders in the AFC title game launched the Bills to the first of four consecutive Super Bowls. They amassed 502 yards against a Raiders defense that had held 12 opponents beneath 290. The Bills put an NFL-best eight players in the Pro Bowl, led by Jim Kelly, who posted a career-best 101.2 NFL passer rating. The Bills were so confident, claiming they would have rather faced the defending champs from San Francisco.

8. 1997 Packers: The defending Super Bowl champions were peaking by winning 10 of their last 11 games. Brett Favre led the NFL with 35 touchdown passes in winning the MVP for a third straight year. But the 11-point favorite Packers ran into an inspired John Elway.

9. 1967 Raiders: These Raiders established owner Al Davis' reputation for building top teams with castoffs. Daryle Lamonica, Hewritt Dixon, Dave Kocourek, Bill Miller and George Blanda were among the players from other franchises assuming prominent roles.

10. 1988 Bengals: One of the more underappreciated Super Bowl teams, Cincinnati tied for the best record in the NFL at 12-4, recorded seven games with a 100-yard rusher and beat the Buffalo Bills, 21-10, in the AFC Championship Game. Only a dramatic Joe Montana touchdown pass with 39 seconds left stopped the Bengals from continuing to do the Ickey Shuffle in the Super Bowl.

FIVE WORST

1. 1979 Rams: The definition of mediocre, the Rams barely outscored their opponents in total points (323-309) and finished the regular season with a 9-7 record. Vince Ferragamo, who replaced an injured Pat Haden, completed fewer than half of his passes and threw twice as many interceptions (10) as touchdowns (five). Los Angeles was outclassed in the Super Bowl.

2. 1985 Patriots: They lost three of their first five games but managed to get into the playoffs despite a third-place finish in the AFC East. Tony Eason struggled in his third NFL season, throwing 12 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Not exactly the quarterback you wanted going against the 15-1 Chicago Bears.

3. 1986 Broncos: It was surprising to see that Denver went as far as it did after finishing with four losses in its final seven regular-season games. As their defense crumbled throughout the season, the Broncos needed "The Drive" to get past the AFC Championship Game but there was no Elway magic left.

4. 2008 Cardinals: Every Super Bowl loser outscored its opponents during the regular season, but the Cardinals did so by only a single point. Kurt Warner made them dangerous in the playoffs, but a 47-7 defeat at New England in Week 16 completed a slide from 7-3 to 8-7. Arizona drew Atlanta Falcons rookie Matt Ryan in the wild-card round, then unexpectedly landed the NFC title game at home when Philadelphia upset the 12-4 Giants in the divisional round.

5. 1994 Chargers: They managed to split their final 10 games in the regular season before edging out the Dolphins (22-21) and Steelers (17-13) in the playoffs. But Stan Humphries was no match for the 49ers' Steve Young, who threw a record six touchdown passes.

INDIANAPOLIS -- For retired defensive tackle Warren Sapp, the pounding Eli Manning withstood at San Francisco in the NFC title game proved the New York Giants' quarterback had fully arrived.

But the six sacks and 12 quarterback hits Manning took did not register atop Sapp's list of all-time QB beatdowns.

"Nah, I saw Andrew Walter take nine sacks in the first half up in Seattle one night," Sapp said Monday at Super Bowl media day, recalling the Seahawks' 16-0 victory over his Walter-led Oakland Raiders in 2006.

Walter actually absorbed seven first-half sacks and nine overall in that game. Sapp had five tackles, one sack and two quarterback hits of his own in that game, but when he called his mother to discuss his performance, she wasn't able to offer much.

"She said, 'If I wanted to watch somebody get killed, I'd turn on Law & Order," Sapp said. "I knew I had to retire right there. They made my mother turn off the TV? Turn off 'Monday Night Football'? I'm getting out of here."

Sapp played one more season before retiring.

I'll pass along an additional thought from Sapp regarding Manning's performance against the 49ers. He was referring to Eli Manning in the context of being the oft-overshadowed younger brother to Peyton Manning:

"I'm the baby boy, too. When you are the baby, you always take a back seat to your brother. Sterling and Shannon [Sharpe] as an example. I was third in my house. I might be the third-best football player in my house when you get my brothers all together. When you look at that little brother, when you come out of that shell, you watch him just operate. You talk about calm.

"I was watching him in San Francisco and they were pounding him. I mean, lighting him up. Some of them flips to Ahmad Bradshaw, to be able to know he's there and to get it to him and to get out of the stuff he was in, I was like, 'Whoa.' I mean, there was no running game for him to bail out on and turn around and hand it off. There was none of that. It's on you, Eli. It's on you and Victor Cruz. And then they took Victor away from him."

Join our ESPN.com NFL experts as they bring you all the color, quotables and craziness from Super Bowl XLVI media day.

We'll start with the New England Patriots' session at 10 a.m. and work our way through the New York Giants' session at noon. Contribute your thoughts and questions and we'll see you there!

INDIANAPOLIS -- Cris Collinsworth famously called the 2008 Arizona Cardinals the worst playoff team in NFL history.

That was before the Cardinals won three consecutive playoff games to reach Super Bowl XLIII. That improbable run forced Collinsworth -- and a lot of other people -- to reassess.

The 2011 New York Giants are taking a similar path. No prominent analysts called them the worst playoff team ever, but with a 9-7 record, the Giants, like the 2008 Cardinals, had to step up their play in the postseason.

Both teams have pulled off unusual feats. They are the only teams in NFL history to reach a Super Bowl after defeating three playoff opponents with superior regular-season records, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

The 2008 Cardinals outscored their regular-season opponents by a single point. The Giants were actually outscored, 400-394. Both gave up at least 400 points during the regular season. The Giants have allowed only 39 points in three postseason games. The Cardinals allowed 24, 13, 25 and 27 points in their postseason games.