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 New York Giants coach, embracing rapper Flavor Flav in celebration — the most bizarre Super Bowl moment surely was the final touchdown.

The setup seemed standard enough. The Giants were trailing by two points, there was just more than a minute remaining, and the Giants had the ball on the New England Patriots' 6-yard line. Eli Manning took the snap, handed the ball to Ahmad Bradshaw, and as Bradshaw began his surge, the game suddenly turned on its head.

The Patriots defenders, trained their entire lives to fight to bring down the ball carrier, stood up and opened a double-wide hole for Bradshaw.

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

The scene was surreal; the Giants had just taken a 21-17 lead in the Super Bowl and no one was celebrating. Bradshaw did not even know whether to spike the ball.

"It was a little strange," offensive lineman Kevin Boothe said.

"It wasn't exactly what we were looking for," tight end Bear Pascoe said. "But it worked out great."

The reason for the incongruous sequence was simple: The Giants were concerned about leaving the Patriots, who had quarterback Tom Brady and one timeout, too much time to score a decisive touchdown. That is why Manning screamed, "Don't score! Don't score!"

New England coach Bill Belichick said his rationale for letting the Giants score was based on how short a potential field goal would have been.

Not all of the Patriots players seemed to agree with the call, however. Boothe said that after the play was over he asked New England defensive tackle Vince Wilfork if the Patriots had purposely laid back, and Wilfork nodded ruefully.

SUPER BOWL NOTES

• The 65-year-old Coughlin said he sees no reason to retire. "I mean, it's what I do," he said. The Giants' parade up the Canyon of Heroes is Tuesday.

• Belichick has confirmed that Josh McDaniels will be the team's offensive coordinator next season. McDaniels was brought in during the playoffs to serve as an "offensive assistant."

• Patriots wide receiver Chad Ochocinco has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in Cincinnati hours after playing in the Super Bowl. The former Bengal pleaded guilty to a charge of failure to display a valid driver's license during a traffic stop.

• Sports fans bet $93.9 million at Nevada casinos on the Super Bowl, the most wagered in the past decade. The Gaming Control Board says unaudited tallies show 184 sports books won a little over $5 million, much better than the $2.6 million lost when these two teams played in 2008.

NFL NOTES

• The Steelers will hire former Chiefs coach Todd Haley to be their offensive coordinator, according to an ESPN report. The 45-year-old Haley, fired by Kansas City, went 19-26 in two-plus seasons with the Chiefs.

• For their defensive coordinator, the Raiders hired Stanford's Jason Tarver, who helped shape one of the Pac-12's top defenses.

• The Chiefs hired Brian Daboll as the team's new offensive coordinator. Daboll spent last season in the same job for the Dolphins.