The New England Patriots entered the the third quarter the same the way they ended the second quarter, which was shredding the New York Giants defense. Tom Brady led the Patriots on an eight-play 79 yard touchdown drive which was capped on a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Aaron Hernandez.
The Patriots offense is clicking on all cylinders over their past two drives, which happened to lead to touchdowns. On this third quarter drive Brady completed all four of his passes and has now completed 15 straight passes which is a Super Bowl record.
On the Giants fist possession in the second half they had a 34-yard kick off return by Jerrel Jernigan who set up the Giants with good field positoin at the 35-yard line. The Giants offense moved the ball into Patriots territory but they stalled on a 3rd and 10 play where Eli Manning's pass to Mario Manningham was only good for five yards, so they had to settle for a Lawrence Tynes 38-yard field goal to make the score 17-12.
The Giants were able to get more points on the board, but it was another field goal. After having their best field position of the game at the Patriots 48-yard line after a punt. However, the Giants did make it to the red zone at the 15, but that is where the drive stalled. On 3rd and eight Eli Manning was sacked for a loss of six yards. The end result was a 33-yard field goal to make the score 17-15 after three quarters.
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