Eli Manning's 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left on the clock will forever live on in the memories of Bermudians.

Afterall, it was the precise moment New York Giants' Bermudian linebacker Antonio Pierce was enshrined in local sports immortality as a Super Bowl champion.

"We shocked the world," an elated Pierce told NFL.com. "But not ourselves."

Mannings' completion to Burress in the Patriots' in zone capped off a gut-wrenching 83-yard game winning drive that gave the Giants a 17-14 victory over their heavily fancied opponents who were ultimately denied the 'perfect season'. That distinction still belongs to the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

"I have long suspected that the New England defence was a bit suspect but have always been able to get away with it. But on that drive the Giants made better plays than New England did," recalled former Dolphins running back Ron Davenport, one of four Bermudians to play in the NFL.

The Giants' game winning drive was not for the faint hearted as they were nearly forced to punt with one minute and 15 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and then four snaps later blitzed by a now desperate Patriots' defence.

But with the game on the line Manning came up trumps when, under pressure, he still managed to find Burress in the in zone for the touchdown that finally ended the Patriots' hopes of capping of an unbeaten season with a Super Bowl ring.

"I always felt the Giants aren't a big strike type of team and so that last drive did worry me because they only had a little bit of time left on the clock to try and get it done," Davenport said. "But they did it methodically going down the field and got some lucky breaks along the way.

"I thought it was a great game that went right down to the wire, which is what I had hoped for. I was hoping for a close game and both teams played pretty well. But obviously the Giants played better than New England did on the day. New England have the better talent, but they didn't have it last night."

And neither did Patriots quarterback Tom Brady who was sacked five times and often flushed outside the pocket as the Giants' defence began to take a heavy toll.

"I think the Giants' defensive front four really made the difference in the game because they really went after Brady who was sacked and hurried several times in the game," Davenport said. "This kind of disrupted New England on offence while Randy Moss (Patriots wide receiver) never really got going. He just couldn't break coverage."

Pierce held his end of the bargain as well.

"I think Antonio played a good game just like everybody else and I am very happy for him," Davenport said.

The Giants' stunning Super Bowl win enabled them to become the first National Football Championship (NFC) wild card team to raise the coveted Lombardi Trophy. It also ended the NFC champions' 39-year Super Bowl drought.

"I think this is a great achievement for Antonio as well as Bermuda," Davenport said. "The Giants' win has certainly helped put Bermuda on the map with one of our own out there in one of the biggest games in the world."