 They qualified for the playoffs as a wild-card team as the #5 seed, and beat the #4 seed Tampa Bay Buccaneers.Next, they defeated the top-seeded Dallas Cowboys, and the #2 seed Green Bay Packers (both of whom they had lost to in their first two games of the season by ten points or more) to become the National Football Conference representative in Super Bowl XLII.There, they defeated the heavily favored and previously undefeated 18–0 New England Patriots and spoiled their perfect season, aided by the famous Manning to Tyree forward pass.