When Giants PK Lawrence Tynes' 31-yard field goal sailed through the uprights on Sunday night, it was more than a stunning end to a football game. It was a stunning historical development, at least as it relates to the statistical annals of football history.

With three playoff wins, the New York Giants have surged into Super Bowl XLVI despite posting a negative point differential during the regular season, having been outscored 400-394. If you're curious as to the last time a team made it into the Super Bowl with that distinction, well, you won't find it. It hadn't happened in the 45 years since the Super Bowl originated. Until now.

The closest any previous Super Bowl participant had come to being outscored during the regular season was Arizona in 2008, when the Cardinals had a plus-1 point differential (427-426). The 1979 Los Angeles Rams were the next-closest with a plus-14 differential. Those Cardinals and Rams teams both lost in the Super Bowl, and they were the only teams other than the current Giants team to reach the Super Bowl with 9-7 records.

The 2003 Carolina team had a plus-21 point differential, and the 2007 Giants had a plus-22. The Panthers lost 32-29 to New England in Super Bowl XXXVIII. The '07 Giants, however, upset the unbeaten Patriots 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII, becoming the team to win a Super Bowl with the worst regular-season point differential and spoiling New England's bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history.

The fact is that the Giants enter the big game in Indianapolis with one of the uglier résumés in Super Bowl history. They have difficulty running the ball, as evidenced in San Francisco. They finished dead last in the NFL with just 89.2 rushing yards per game in the regular season. That winning formula continued against the Niners, as the Giants ran for just 85 yards on 26 carries for an embarrassing 3.3 yards per carry. Whenever RB Ahmad Bradshaw tried to run around the ends, he struggled just to fight his way back to the line of scrimmage. Runs up the middle were no more effective. Of course, that was against the 49ers' No. 1-ranked defense.

While the Giants' bread and butter clearly lies in their aerial attack, QB Eli Manning still throws a lot of picks — 16 during the regular season, to be precise. And the Giants' defense didn't post particularly impressive numbers during the regular season, either, finishing 19th in rush defense and 29th in pass defense. They surrendered 25 points per game in 2011. This isn't the Chicago Bears' defense of yore, the defense of the Super Bowl Shuffle. It's not the Steel Curtain. Heck, it's not even the Giants' defense of 2007, an aggressive unit that had Justin Tuck and Michael Strahan wreaking havoc at the ends.

Football coaches, broadcasters and purists of any stripe love to cite the importance of old-fashioned football. They smirk at the fancy passing offenses of today and remind viewers that when the thermometer begins to sink, it's the grittier teams that will rise to the top. Rushing and defense will carry the way. But if that's the rule, the Giants are once again the exception. They don't the run the ball very well. Their defense has improved considerably in the postseason, but it has yet to reach lockdown status. And yet, here they are, in the Super Bowl once again.

That's because, as wonderful as statistics and football minds are, they fail to adequately account for the X-factor. They fail to account for Tom Coughlin and his ruddy red cheeks in the freezing cold at Lambeau. They fail to account for Eli Manning and his uncanny ability to lead touchdown drives in the fourth quarter.

Or perhaps we were just looking at the wrong statistics all along. Manning did lead five fourth-quarter comebacks during the regular season, as well as six game-winning drives. So, perhaps none of his current success should come as any surprise. When Manning and the Giants are huge underdogs, they seem to fare better. Manning entered New York's wild-card matchup against Atlanta with three game-winning drives and two comebacks on his postseason ledger, all from that legendary 2007 season. The Giants' win over the Niners adds another notch to that belt. With both a fourth-quarter comeback and a game-winning drive, that comeback helped cement the legacy of Manning and this quirky Giants team.

Call them lucky or call them good. It doesn't matter. What has resulted is amazing, regardless. Eli Manning and his Giants might not look pretty. They may look as ugly, at times, as a fluttering mess of a Manning pass circa 2004. They may leave you scratching your head, with a quizzical look on your face, the same expression that Manning frequently sports after tossing an interception. Heck, they even lost twice to the Redskins, of all teams. Yet here they are, in the Super Bowl once again. And it's one exciting anomaly to witness.