Super Bowl XLVI: Giants-Patriots Halftime Report

The injury to Rob Gronkowski's ankle became such a story to the point where it was absurd how much attention one player's ankle could get (including the obligatory Gronkowski injured ankle Twitter account).

But for nearly the entire first half of Sunday's game against the Giants, Gronkowski was invisible with zero catches. He seemed winded at times and unable to drive blockers like he usually does. The Patriots started the game keeping him out wide, perhaps as a way to test out the ankle.

Gronkowski finally got on the board when he caught a 20-yard pass from Tom Brady shortly before the two minute warning in the first half. And, to his credit, that catch came on a scoring drive.

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

It was bound to happen sooner or later: the New England Patriots finally got the sort of methodical touchdown drive they've made their trademark throughout the 2011 NFL season, with Tom Brady slicing and dicing the New York Giants and finding Danny Woodhead for a touchdown to cap a 96-yard drive that tied the Super Bowl record for longest drive and gave the Patriots a 10-9 lead heading into halftime.

After being pinned at their own 4 by a great Steve Weatherford punt and backed up their own 2 by a penalty, the Patriots clicked off a brutally efficient drive to take their first lead of the game. Brady completed 10 straight passes on the drive, and snuck a pass to Woodhead to complete it, despite Jason Pierre-Paul's best efforts.

You can see Pierre-Paul, on the left side of the Giants' line, break off his pass rush to drop into coverage. That turned out to be a bad decision.

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

Once again, the New York Giants have driven down the field, but thrown away a great opportunity to score because of penalties. On their last drive, a 12 men in the huddle penalty set them back five yards and ultimately led to a punt. On their most recent drive, Brandon Jacobs picked up a third and one, but a holding penalty brought the Giants back ten yards. They were unable to convert on third and 11 and were forced to punt. With just over four minutes remaining, they still lead the New England Patriots 9-3.

The Giants picked up two first downs on the drive, and almost had a third before the holding penalty. Ahmad Bradshaw was especially effective with three runs and one reception for a total of 24 yards, but the Giants weren't able to convert that into a move into scoring position.

Steve Weatherford gave his team a perfect punt to down inside the ten-yard line on his first punt, and barely had his second slip by a gunner for a touchback. On his most recent punt, he angled it out of bounds perfectly to give the Patriots' terrible field position. Tom Brady will start on his own four-yard line.

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

The New York Giants entered the Super Bowl with few injury questions but they've lost a tight end early in the game. Travis Beckum went down with a torn ACL, according to press box reports. Beckum went down earlier in the game on what seemed like a routine play where he was jammed by a defender but when he started to cut after coming off the block he fell to the ground. Medical personnel came out and helped him limp off the field.

Here is a look of the injury where you can see it seems like a normal play:

The Giants could use him for this game but this injury is a lot more serious than just one game. He'll be out for several months at a minimum, including most of the offseason. This is an automatic season-ender.

The Giants are leading the Patriots, 9-3, midway through the second quarter.

This won't have a significant impact on the game against the Patriots. Beckum only played about 15 percent of the snaps on the season.

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

Early in Super Bowl XLVI, the New England Patriots just can't get untracked. After a first drive that gave the Giants a safety and a second drive that produced just a field goal, the Pats went three and out on their third drive of the evening.

Brady's first pass of the drive was batted down by Jason Pierre-Paul, just like his last pass of the second drive was, and Danny Woodhead only managed a few yards on a second down carry.

Even the first appearance of Chad Ochocinco couldn't help the Patriots. The much-discussed, little-used receiver came onto the field on a third down, but Brady fired to Wes Welker for a reception that was just inches shy of a first down.

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog,Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

The New England Patriots' defense looked a bit shaky yet again, allowing the New York Giants to rip off a couple of nice plays en route to a couple of first downs, but they were able to do enough to force a punt like they did on the first drive. New England is down six points, and can fire themselves back into the lead on their next drive.

Brandon Jacobs had an impressive 11-yard run early in the drive, while Hakeem Nicks came up with a massive 18-yard reception, but the Giants ultimately prevented themselves from continuing down the field. While on the Patriots' 47-yard line, they picked up a penalty for too many men in the huddle, forcing them into first and 15. Ahmad Bradshaw picked up 11 yards on a third down checkdown play, but he came up short of the sticks.

The Giants couldn't keep this punt out of the end zone like Steve Weatherford's first, and the Patriots will start on their own 20-yard line with ten minutes remaining in the second quarter.

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

Things were not going so well for the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. A safety that resulted from Tom Brady's intentional grounding penalty on their first offensive snap had put the Pats in a 2-0 hole, and the Giants getting a touchdown on the subsequent drive made the score 9-0 in New York's favor. But Brady and the Patriots relied on some old hands on a field goal drive that cut into the Giants' lead and made the score of Super Bowl XLVI 9-3 early in the second quarter.

On their way to field goal range, Brady found Wes Welker and Deion Branch in the passing game, and BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Welker both made plays on the ground. But a third down pass from Brady was batted down, forcing Stephen Gostkowski to come on and make a 29-yard field goal.

Brady has completed four of his six passes for 46 yards.

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog,Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis is underway, with the New England Patriots and the New york Giants duking it out in a rematch of their 2008 big game. Here's a look at results of some of the many, many prop bets on the game. So far through the first quarter, we know the winners on a few of these.

The first play of the game was a run by the Giants.

The first reception of the game was by Jake Ballard on the Giants' opening drive.

The first touchdown of the game was by Giants wideout Victor Cruz. The odds were 12/1 against Cruz being the first player to record a TD.

In other prop bets news, Gisele Bundchen was shown on television just prior to the Patriots being charged with intentional grounding in the end zone on their first possession and the Giants being awarded the safety. The over/under on Gisele being shown on TV was 0.5, so if you took the over, you're already a winner.

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog,Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

The New England Patriots are off to a downright nightmare start in the Super Bowl. The New York Giants have had the play for 19 plays, while the Pats have had it for just one -- a safety. Following the post-safety free kick, the Giants drove down the field with ease for a touchdown, though they were given one gift by the Patriots. The Giants lead by a score of 9-0, thanks to a touchdown by Victor Cruz.

The biggest play on the 10-play, 78-yard drive was a massive run by Ahmad Bradshaw, who ripped off a 24-yard rush to get the Giants well into field goal range. New England almost forced a turnover and prevented a score, but a Cruz fumble on third down in the red zone was undone by a 12 men on the field penalty. That gave the Giants first and goal, and they converted with a TD pass to Cruz.

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

The first score was recorded in Super Bowl XVLI between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. Against some very unlikely odds, the New York Giants picked up the game's first two points on a safety.

On New England's first possession, they were playing on their own goal line as the result of an exceptional punt by the Giants. Brady dropped back into the end zone and threw a long bomb to precisely no one downfield. He was charged with intentional grounding in the end zone and the Giants were awarded the safety.

A safety for the first score of the Super Bowl had 50/1 odds against. If you bet on a safety, great job! Great payoff for an unlikely result.

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog,Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

The New England Patriots' defense got the first stop of the 2012 Super Bowl. But the New York Giants' pass rush got the first points, with Justin Tuck forcing a deep throw by Tom Brady to no one that was flagged for intentional grounding. And, because Brady was in the end zone, that penalty cost the Patriots two points, with the Giants being awarded a safety and a 2-0 lead in the first quarter of Super Bowl XLVI.

Can't believe it? We have video.

Clearly, that's not the way that Brady wanted the Patriots to begin Super Bowl XLVI. It's also the first safety in a Super Bowl since Super Bowl XXV.

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog,Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

The New York Giants got off to a terrific start, driving down the field, but the New England Patriots' defense came up big during the Giants' last set of downs, forcing a punt. Eli Manning found four different receivers on the drive and Hakeem Nicks made one spectacular grab for 19 yards, but the Giants were eventually forced to punt the ball away.

New York sent to the ground on a couple of occasions to keep the Patriots honest, but it seemed obvious that they were interested in attacking the Patriots' secondary as much as possible. Manning completed four passes for 40 yards on the drive, but his line failed him at the very end of the drive. The Pats' pass rush got to Manning twice, and those two sacks stopped the drive and forced a punt.

Steve Weatherford's punt was a good one, and his coverage team got down the field quickly to prevent a touchback. The Patriots will start their first drive from their own six-yard line.

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

Rob Gronkowski finally came onto the field of the Lucas Oil Stadium for Super Bowl XLVI. Other Patriots players had been on the field stretching and Gronkowski was one of the last to come on the field and it was of course his injured ankle that everyone immediately focused on.

As you can see in the video below, Gronkowski appears to be running fine and without a limp.

Also note his ankle, which is wrapped. He will also likely be given a shot of something to keep the pain down. The adrenaline of playing in the Super Bowl won't hurt either.

SB Nation's Pats Pulpit is at the game and tweets that Gronkowski "appears to be a little slow out of his stance, but is cutting very well which is a good sign for high ankle sprain."

What will be interesting is how he responds after heading to the locker room for a longer than usual halftime and some of that adrenaline wears off.

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog,Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

Super Bowl XLVI is just a few hours away and both teams have released their complete lists of inactive players. These players will not be competing, or be available to compete, in the big game.

Patriots Inactives:

QB Ryan Mallett, RB Kevin Faulk, RB Shane Vereen, OLB/MLB Gary Guyton, G Donald Thomas, C/G Nick McDonald and DT Ron Brace.

Giants Inactives:

WR Ramses Barden, RB Da'Rel Scott, LB Mark Herzlich, C Jim Cordle, DT Jimmy Kennedy, T James Brewer and DE Justin Trattou.

No real surprises on any list, but this is the official final word on what players are out of action.

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog,Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

For those fans who want to tune in to Super Bowl XLVI, but are unable to watch NBC's coverage on television or follow the broadcast that will be streamed online for free at NFL.com and NBCSports,com, there are plenty of options on the radio dial.

Westwood One Radio has the call, with Kevin Harlan doing the play-by-play and Boomer Esiason joining him in the booth as the color analyst. Former NFL wide receiver James Lofton and quarterback Mark Malone will be the field reporters for the radio broadcast.

The game can be heard on Sirius channels 88 (Westwood One), 92 (New York Giants) and 86 (New England Patriots). On XM Radio, the game be heard on channels 88 (Westwood One), 225 (New York Giants) and 226 (New England Patriots). Locally, Giants fans can tune in to WFAN 660 AM for the radio call, while fans in New England can hear the game on 98.5 The Sports Hub.

For the latest Super Bowl updates, be sure to follow this StoryStream. Also be sure to check out Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and Giants blog Big Blue View.

Super Bowl XLVI between the New York Giants and New England Patriots will be shown on NBC, who kick off their broadcast with a "Road to the Super Bowl" program at 12pm ET. NBC's pregame show officially begins at 1pm ET with Bob Costas and Dan Patrick hosting.

The NFL Network will have their "GameDay Morning" pregame show from 9am to 5:30pm ET and ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown" will be on the air from 10am to 2pm ET.

Al Michaels will handle the play-by-play for NBC, with former NFL wide receiver Cris Collinsworth serving as analyst. Michele Tafoya is NBC's lone field reporter for the broadcast, which will also be streamed live online for free on NFL.com and NBCSports.com.

The online streaming broadcast will have additional camera angles, in-game statistics and interactive elements. The Super Bowl commercials will be added to SuperBowl.com at the end of each quarter.

For the latest Super Bowl updates, be sure to follow this StoryStream. Also be sure to check out Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and Giants blog Big Blue View.