And so begins the second quarter, and with it a Laurence Maroney touchdown. It took all of three seconds. Of course, Maroney only had about a yard to go, thanks to the earlier pass interference call.

Amani Toomer just made a heck of a catch near the sideline, as the Giants continue to really milk the clock. Finally, New York is called for a delay of game. They were extremely close to such a penalty in the first quarter.

With 12:30 left on the clock, the Giants are beginning to threaten a touchdown of their own again. Will they be able to convert this crucial 3rd and 5? Manning throws a pass that is tipped and intercepted. The pass was catchable, but the interception, like the Giants’ pass interference penalty in the end zone, will hurt even more.

With New England’s excellent offense, the Giants have to at least be able to stay in step with the Patriots. Now essentially a possession behind, the Giants defense will not only need to force a turnover of their own, but also convert it into the points.

There’s a fumble on field for the Giants, and I have no idea how New England’s Wood did not recover it. Especially considering he was the first to get to it. Very strange, but very lucky for New York. The Giants don’t do anything with the ball after that anyway, so it is again Patriots ball.

Wow. The Giants were able to sack Brady. Truly a rare thing for him. And just like that, Brady is sacked again. Maybe not so rare.

New York has about 6:30 minutes on the clock. I will not be surprised if they use the entire time, but they absolutely must score on this possession.

So far, they’ve managed to milk three minutes off the clock and are at about the Patriots’ 29-yard line. With three minutes now on the clock, the Giants are facing another third down. New York has been hot and cold in this department.

Wow! Another strange play! Manning gets sacked by Adalius Thomas, fumbles the ball, the ball bounces, a New York player bats the ball forward (an illegal play), and another Giants player recovers it over the first down marker. But, with the 10-yard penalty, the Giants are still working with a third down.

But, it is 3rd and 18, and on this play, Manning nearly throws and interception. The Giants have really been struggling in the red zone. They should be winning this game, but can’t seem to put points on the scoreboard.

And sadly for the Giants, there is still plenty of time for New England to put more points of their own on the scoreboard.

The Giants defense is stepping up though, and suddenly the Patriots face 3rd and 13 from their own seven-yard line. But, the Giants defense couldn’t stop a running attack and the Patriots pickup a first down.

Randy Moss gets his first reception, and on the next play, Tom Brady fumbles the ball with the Giants recovering. There are ten seconds left on the clock, the ball is on the 50-yard line, and New York needs to score now, by any means necessary.

Manning throws a jumpball in the end zone and it ends up incomplete, but I think at least one Giant had a chance for it. Oh well. It is a low-scoring game so far, but New England gets the ball first in the second half.

The momentum of this game is turning into a pendulum in a big way. For true football fans, this is a perfect recipe for an exciting second half.

As for the second quarter commercials, it is clear that animals will once again be a recurring theme. Hank, the clydesdale is being trained by a dalmatian to the tune of the theme from Rocky. I wonder if Sylvester Stallone was on set to offer Hank some HGH.

There’s also a Toyota Corolla commercial with one ticked off mother badger.

I’m not sure how I feel about Garmin’s Napoleon spot. The short jokes have been done before, and I’m pretty sure Napoleon was about five-foot six-inches. Not too bad, historically, for men during that time.

CareerBuilder’s “Quitting Heart” ad was disturbing, as was the “Thriller” dancing lizards for Life Water. I’m not quite sure I like. It would have been cute if it weren’t lizards, or if one the lizards didn’t eat fellow dancer.

On another note, I’ve found a new perfume in Planter’s peanuts. I mean, if some short, pudgy, unibrow woman can attract that much attention, then chances are it will work for me too, right? Right?

In case anyone is wondering, no, I will not be blogging about the half-time show. Unless there is another wardrobe malfunction. And with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, I’m not sure anyone would want to see that.

PS: Nothing beats seeing Justin Timberlake thrown into a window, a car door, a mailbox (times three) or hit by a 52-inch LCD television. But, I probably won’t visit Amazon.