INDIANAPOLIS — On a night that featured a variety of surprising moments — including a safety, several critical dropped passes and Tom Coughlin, the 65-year-old Giants coach, embracing the rapper Flavor Flav in celebration — the most bizarre moment surely was Super Bowl XLVI’s final touchdown.

The setup seemed standard enough. The Giants were trailing by 2 points, there was a little more than a minute remaining, and the Giants had the ball on the New England Patriots’ 6. Quarterback Eli Manning took the snap and handed the ball off to running back Ahmad Bradshaw, and as Bradshaw began his surge, the game suddenly turned on its head.

It was like opposite day. The Patriots defenders, trained their whole lives to try to push and claw and fight to bring down the ball carrier, stood up and opened a double-wide hole for Bradshaw to reach the end zone.

Bradshaw, trained his whole life to sprint into the end zone whenever he could, pulled up just short of the goal line and tried to fall down.