Kyle Williams put his hands on his helmet and dropped his head in disgust. A second big mistake by its backup punt returner did in San Francisco at the worst possible time.

Williams fumbled a punt in overtime to set up Lawrence Tynes' 31-yard field goal as the 49ers lost the NFC championship game to the New York Giants 20-17 on Sunday.

Williams, returning kicks in place of the injured Ted Ginn Jr., muffed one punt early in the fourth quarter to set up a go-ahead touchdown for New York and then was stripped by Jacquian Williams in overtime to give the Giants the ball at the 24.

After three runs and a kneeldown, Tynes kicked the game-winner and Williams slowly made a dejected walk back to the locker room.

Talk about a super sequel.

Four years after New York stunned previously undefeated New England in the Arizona desert, the Patriots and Giants are going at it again at the Super Bowl - this time in Indianapolis.

Brady and Belichick. Eli and Coughlin. Both teams rolling through the playoffs.

Yep, here we go again.

New England opens as a 3-point favorite for the Feb. 5 game.

It's familiar territory for Tom Brady and the Patriots (15-3), who are playing in the Super Bowl for the fifth time in 11 years. New England is in the big game for the seventh time overall, second only to the eight trips by Pittsburgh and Dallas.

But it's the Patriots' first appearance since Eli Manning and the Giants (12-7) upset New England's pursuit of perfection in 2008.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)