In this case, the process drew special interest because the league considered holding Super Bowl XLII in New York City or Washington, D.C. as a symbol of the recovery from the September 11 attacks.

NFL owners finally chose University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona as the site for Super Bowl XLII during their October 30, 2003, meeting in Chicago.

The Giants' ground game was led by running back Brandon Jacobs, who at 6'4" (193 cm) and 264 pounds (118 kg), was one of the largest starting halfbacks in the NFL.

Strahan, another veteran from the Giants' last Super Bowl appearance in 2000, had nine sacks, giving him a career total of 141.5 and breaking the franchise record held by Lawrence Taylor.

The Patriots offensive line featured three players selected to the Pro Bowl, guard Logan Mankins, tackle Matt Light, and center Dan Koppen.

The Patriots defensive line was led by nose tackle Vince Wilfork, who was selected to his first Pro Bowl; he was also fined four times during the season for unnecessary roughness.

A report filed by ESPN's Rachel Nichols suggested that the Giants stayed to practice more of their game plan in their home facility before arriving at the Super Bowl.

[49] The Fox NFL Sunday panel hosted the main pre-game show, led by Curt Menefee, joined by Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, and Jimmy Johnson.

Jillian Reynolds served as Weather and entertainment reporter, Frank Caliendo appeared in various comedic skits (including one where he portrayed John Madden and correctly predicted that the Giants would win) and American Idol host Ryan Seacrest provided coverage of celebrity arrivals to the game site.

A Spanish language broadcast was aired on the second audio program with John Laguna as play-by-play announcer and Pepe Mantilla as color analyst.

These numbers were later surpassed by several subsequent games, including 2015's Super Bowl XLIX (which was also hosted by Glendale), which now holds the record with an average of 114 million viewers.

[56] The rock band Eels announced an intent to broadcast a one-second spot during the game (consisting solely of lead singer Mark Oliver Everett saying the letter "U") to promote its compilation album "Useless Trinkets", but later announced that it had backtracked after having learned it could only purchase commercial time in 30-second blocks (and a proposal to recruit 29 other advertisers to air their own one-second ads alongside them could be harmful to viewers with photosensitive epilepsy).

The camera provided millions of Internet users from around the world a chance to peer in on pre- and post-game activities, watching thousands of spectators file into and out of the stadium on Sunday, February 3.

On radio, Westwood One had the national broadcast rights to the game in the United States and Canada; Marv Albert and Boomer Esiason served as the announcing team for that network.

(Because of acrimonious relations at that time between New York City and the state of New Jersey, the team chose not to participate in a Manhattan parade for its Super Bowl XXI championship in 1987, but instead held a "Victory Rally" at Giants Stadium in The Meadowlands.

(In contrast, his predecessor, Rudy Giuliani presided over his first ticker-tape parade just five months after becoming mayor, after the Rangers won the Stanley Cup) Also attending were New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and Senator Chuck Schumer.

But the Patriots halted the drive at their own 14-yard line, forcing the Giants to settle for a 32-yard field goal from kicker Lawrence Tynes that gave New York a 3–0 lead.

On the Giants' first drive of the second quarter, on 3rd-and-7, wide receiver Amani Toomer caught a deep pass from quarterback Eli Manning along the left sideline while dragging his feet in bounds for a 38-yard gain, moving the ball to the Patriots' 19-yard line.

The Patriots' ensuing drive resulted in a three-and-out as on 3rd-and-1 safety James Butler and defensive end Michael Strahan (who was playing in his final game) tackled Maroney for a 2-yard loss and New England was forced to punt.

Then on the Giants' next drive, running back Ahmad Bradshaw fumbled a hand-off from Manning and linebacker Pierre Woods appeared to recover the ball at the New York 30.

However, after the kick, Patriots' head coach Bill Belichick challenged that New York's defense had 12 players on the field and replay confirmed that was the case as Giants linebacker Chase Blackburn was unable to get to the sidelines as the ball was being snapped.

Following three runs by Bradshaw for 13 yards and a 17-yard reception by Smith on third down, Manning finished the 6-play, 80-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to usually unheralded wide receiver David Tyree, giving New York a 10–7 lead with 11:05 left in the game.

Following two incomplete passes, cornerback Corey Webster slipped while backing into coverage, leaving Moss wide open in the end zone where Brady found him for a 6-yard touchdown to give New England a 14–10 lead with 2:42 left in the game.

[83] On the ensuing kickoff, safety Raymond Ventrone leveled wide receiver Domenik Hixon after a 14-yard return, giving New York the ball on their own 17 with 2:39 left and all three timeouts remaining.

Play-by-play announcer Joe Buck was quick to note Manning’s visible frustration at the apparent miscommunication with Tyree on the play, which stopped the clock with 1:15 remaining.

On the next play, Hobbs was beaten badly to the outside by the 6'6" wide receiver Plaxico Burress on a "slant-and-go" route, allowing Manning more than enough room to find his big-bodied target for the touchdown.

The score capped a 12-play, 83-yard drive to give New York a 17–14 lead and prompted a roar from the fans in Glendale, then a mere 35 seconds from potentially witnessing the first 19–0 perfect season.

[84] The Patriots attempted one last desperate drive to either tie or win the game from their own 26 with 29 seconds remaining and all three of their timeouts, but the Giants' defense did not allow a single yard.

This early departure was later criticized by some sportswriters, but other reporters defended Belichick by noting that he did not snub Coughlin (which would have been surprising anyway because the two coaches were friends from their days working together for Bill Parcells in the 1980s) and that the outcome of the game had been decided.

Justin Tuck and Adalius Thomas were the top defensive performers for the Giants and Patriots, respectively, as each recorded five solo tackles, two sacks, and one forced fumble.