NFL

Final TD decision debated

INDIANAPOLIS — Ahmad Bradshaw heard Eli Manning’s voice the second the ball was in his arms.

“Go down, Ahmad!” Manning screeched. “Get down! Don’t score!”

The Giants running back tried to stop. Tried to stand on the brakes. Tried to fall at the goal line. But by the time he could, his feet were already on the white stripe, he had broken the fabled plane, and all he could do was fall forward.

UPDATES FROM OUR GIANTS BLOG

PHOTOS: GIANTS WIN SUPER BOWL

PHOTOS: GIANTS FANS

COMPLETE GIANTS SUPER BOWL COVERAGE

“Momentum,” Bradshaw said with a laugh. “That’s usually a good thing.”

Bradshaw’s touchdown gave the Giants the lead, 21-17, over the Patriots i nthe final minute of Super Bowl XLVI, and that, too, is usually a good thing.

Bill Belichick conceded that was his intention. Asked if he allowed the Giants to score, he said, “Right.”

Asked to expand on that, he said, “The ball was inside the 10-yard line, that’s a 90-percent field-goal conversion rate.”

Not all of the Patriots agreed with his decision, however.

“It killed me,” linebacker Brandon Spikes said. “When the call came in to let them score, I was kind of like, ‘What? I’m here to do my job and it’s my job to play defense and let them score?’

“It was tough,” he added. “It definitely was tough.”

It was a tough night on a lot of levels for Belichick, now 3-2 in Super Bowls and 0-2 against Tom Coughlin, his old colleague on Bill Parcells’ Giants staff.

“They’re a good team, and they’re well-coached,” Belichick said. “They played very well tonight, played a very competitive football team. There really isn’t much to say about that. Can’t fault the effort of our players. They played as hard as they could, maybe could have played a tiny bit better.”

Belichick heaped praise on the Giants players, and said of Coughlin, “He’s as good as there is.” But he was morose, too, saying, “It’s just not a good feeling to lose this game.”