By Zuri Berry, Globe Staff
INDIANAPOLIS -- With legacies on the line in Indianapolis, it's fitting that two teams with so much history, both this season and in the Super Bowl, face each other in the culmination of the 2011-12 season and playoffs.
Tom Brady can join Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana as only the third quarterback in NFL history to win four Super Bowls if he can lead his New England Patriots to a win over the New York Giants at Lucas Oil Stadium today.
Brady, who has 16 career postseason wins, would also pass Montana for most wins in the playoffs if he wins today.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who is tied with his brother Peyton Manning for NFL titles, can one-up his big brother with a win today, doing so on Peyton's home field.
But, even more important, this game gives Brady a chance to right what was wronged in February 2008, and Eli Manning a chance to solidify the serendipity that occurred in the desert that year.
Four years ago, at University of Phoenix Stadium, the Giants robbed the Patriots of a perfect 19-0 record, stealing the team's glory after a sensational 2007 season.
Every New Englander knows how it ended. Eli Manning miraculously escaped the Patriots' pass rush. David Tyree's supernatural helmet grab. Plaxico Burress in the corner of the end zone. The final score, 17-14.
Four years later, while the teams are the same, only some of the players remain. Brady and Patriots coach Bill Belichick are back. Eli Manning and coach Tom Coughlin are back. And that qualifies this as a "revenge game," a theme that has had its drum beat loudly in the buildup to the 46th Super Bowl.
The Patriots are on a 10-game winning streak to get here, besting the Denver Broncos (45-10) and the Baltimore Ravens ( 23-20) in the divisional playoffs and AFC championship to reach the NFL title game. The last time the Patriots lost this season was to the Giants, 24-20, in Week 9 of the regular season. Brady threw for 342 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in that game, leading the Patriots on a fourth quarter drive that ended with a touchdown pass to TE Rob Gronkowski with 1:40 left in the game. But it was too much time for Manning to work with, and he drove 80 yards down the field in eight plays before hitting tight end Jake Ballard with a 1-yard strike to win the game.
The game eerily resembled Super Bowl XLII, the Patriots' 17-14 loss in Phoenix.
The Patriots are 3-3 in Super Bowls; the Giants are 3-1.