Well a couple of quick thoughts...
(1) The Giants are the luckiest team I've ever seen. The Pats caused three huge turnovers, but neither of them counted: (a) the fumble early on that was nullified by the penalty...led to the Giants' first TD, and (b) the Bradshaw fumble deep in NY territory following Brady's pick...that cost NE points, and then (c) the Nicks fumble. But the first was nullified by a penalty, and the Giants recovered the other two.
The reason it's luck is because the Pats FORCED those fumbles, but the Giants recovered all of them. Recovering a fumble is a 50/50 proposition, but during this playoff run, the Giants have recovered all the fumbles, no matter who fumbles them.
(2) The difference in the game? Welker's missed great catch and Manningham's made great catch. Every time NE plays the Giants someone on NY makes an unbelievable catch. Without fail.
Great season...crappy ending, but that's life.