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Michael Strahan (92) and the Giants’ defense were going at Patriots quarterback Tom Brady from all directions during the Super Bowl on Sunday night at University of Phoenix

Giants Win Super Bowl XLII

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Giants were not even supposed to be here, taking an unlikely playoff path through the behemoths of their conference and regarded, once they alighted on Super Bowl XLII, as little more than charming foils for the New England Patriots’ assault on immortality.

Doug Mills/The New York Times

Eli Manning, left, with Michael Strahan. Manning was named the game's most valuable player.

Barton Silverman/The New York Times

But with their defense battering this season’s National Football League’s most valuable player, Tom Brady, and Giants quarterback Eli Manning playing more like Brady than Brady himself, the Giants produced one of the greatest upsets in Super Bowl history Sunday night, beating the previously undefeated Patriots, 17-14.