After the game, Welker sat at a podium and stared straight ahead. His eyes were red. His hands were folded in his lap.
He blamed himself.
"It comes to the biggest moment of my life, and [I] don't come up with it," Welker said. "Most critical situation, and I let the team down."
Minutes later, the Giants marched for the go-ahead touchdown with 57 seconds remaining.
But Brady had one last chance. He threw a desperation pass half the length of the field into the end zone. Aaron Hernandez went up among three defenders, and the ball was tipped - out of reach of a lunging Rob Gronkowski as the ball fell to the ground and time ran out.
"I felt like I was close," Gronkowski said. "But close isn't there."
Added Brady: "We got to the 50, and ran out of time."
There were plenty more wasted chances by a normally disciplined team that prides itself on not making mistakes.
"I thought we played very competitive, had our moments where we moved the ball and stopped them," coach Bill Belichick said. "We were in the lead for a good part of the game. We just came up a couple of plays short."
More than a couple. The Patriots forced three fumbles, but the Giants kept the ball after each one.
The Patriots' Brandon Spikes recovered a fumble by Victor Cruz with 4:14 left in the first quarter. But the Patriots were penalized for having 12 men on the field. That gave New York the ball at the New England 6.
Two plays later, Eli Manning hit Cruz for a 2-yard touchdown and a 9-0 lead.
Then Brady got hot, completing a Super Bowl-record 16 straight passes, and the Patriots surged to a 17-15 lead. They had a chance to make it a two-possession game when a mix-up on the Giants' defense left Welker alone.
On a second-and-11 at the Patriots 44, the sure-handed receiver had a chance to score. All he had to do was catch the ball and, perhaps, make it to the end zone. Amazingly, the ball went off his hands.
"It's one of those plays I've made 1,000 times," Welker said.
