GLENDALE, Ariz. - This time there was no rabbit in the hat.
New England's magical quarterback ran out of game-winning tricks last night as he reached into his bag one last time and came out with nothing but heartache.
Tom Brady, football's version of the Massachusetts Miracle, had defied the gridiron gods 28 times before, engineering fourth-quarter or overtime drives to lead the Patriots from a deficit or tie to triumph. He had done it three times to make them Super Bowl champions and almost did it a fourth time before the magic passed - at least for one night - to Eli Manning of the Giants.
"I'm sure it will be tough to swallow over the coming months," Brady said after his final two passes - each of them soaring prayers - went for naught as time expired on the Patriots' quest for perfection.
Less than three minutes earlier, Brady had completed one of his abracadabra drives, 80 yards of mastery that vaulted the Patriots to a 14-10 lead, their dream of becoming the NFL's first 19-0 champions all but fulfilled. The drive inched Brady closer to joining his boyhood idol, Joe Montana, and Pittsburgh's Terry Bradshaw as the only starting quarterbacks in NFL history to win four Super Bowls.
Then came Manning's Bradyesque counterdrive, an 83-yard act that featured a Houdini-like escape from a posse of Patriot defenders and a miraculous catch by receiver David Tyree. It ended with the Giants seizing a 17-14 lead and leaving the Patriots only 35 seconds to recover.
Two quarterbacks, two remarkable drives, but only one magical finish, this one colored New York blue.
As the final seconds ticked away, all the Patriots could do was watch Brady's reign of magic flicker away.
"It was so disappointing sitting on the sideline, to have the opportunity and to see Tom out there," safety Rodney Harrison said. "You always think you have a chance when you've got No. 12 out there."
On a night when the Giants buffeted Brady like a killer wind on a barren desert, punishing him like no team he had faced this season, he feared he and the Patriots would run out of time, despite their late go-ahead drive.
"I had a feeling it was going to come down to a few plays," Brady said, "and we just didn't get it done."
His dream season ended with four desperate shots at redemption. Starting at his 26 with 35 seconds left, Brady started by firing a long incompletion to Jabar Gaffney. He never released his second try, as he was sacked for the fifth time in the game, this time for a 10-yard loss by Jay Alford.
"Once they sacked Tom and started dropping seven or eight guys 30 or 40 yards deep," Harrison said, "you knew it was pretty much over."
In the end, it was Randy Moss, who had teamed with Brady to become the league's most dangerous passing tandem, to try to snare one of the last two balls Brady heaved skyward. He had little chance to grab either.
"They're a great team," Brady said of the Giants. "Obviously, they have great pass pressure. Once we kind of got the idea what they were doing, I thought we handled it much better. But we just couldn't get the ball in the end zone enough."
As Brady noted, New England's 14 points marked the team's lowest total of the season.
"It got us beat," he said.
Brady said his right ankle, which he sprained last month, did not bother him.
In all, Brady connected on 28 of 49 passes for 266 yards and one touchdown, though the Patriots lost 37 yards on his five sacks. One of them, in the second quarter, ended with Brady fumbling a ball that Osi Umenyiora of the Giants recovered.
Yet Brady, who answered a first-quarter Giants field goal by engineering a 56-yard touchdown drive for a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter, was sharp enough in the fourth quarter to nearly save the Patriots. He took only 5 minutes 12 seconds to take them 80 yards, completing 8 of 11 passes, including a 6-yard touchdown strike to Moss.
Moss and Wes Welker were Brady's prime targets on the drive. And while Moss was double-teamed most of the game, Brady repeatedly succeeded at menacing the Giants by hitting Welker with short passes and letting him use his quickness to gain additional ground.
"He showed great poise on that last scoring drive," Welker said. "Tom is the best in the game. You've got to give it up to the guy. He's tough, he's smart, he's everything you want in a quarterback. There's no other quarterback I would rather play with."
For Brady, there was little consolation.
"I probably need some time to reflect on the game and some time to reflect on the season," he said, "but it is extremely disappointing."
Bob Hohler can be reached at hohler@globe.com.
