New England coach Bill Belichick, left, glares at side judge Larry Rose.

Glendale, Ariz. ? The New England Patriots’ big, brawny and bearded guys were just plain bad.

The AFC champions’ heralded offensive line allowed a season-high five sacks to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl on Sunday, failing to give Tom Brady the tight protection they had guarded him with all season.

Their inability to protect Brady was a major reason the Patriots’ quest for perfection ended with a disappointing, history-making 17-14 loss.

“They have some great pressure schemes, obviously some great pass rushers,” Brady said. “Once we kind of got the idea of what we were doing, I thought we handled it much better, but we didn’t get the ball in the end zone enough.”

Coming in, Brady had been sacked a career-low 24 times this season playing behind a line that produced three Pro Bowlers in center Dan Koppen, left tackle Matt Light and left guard Logan Mankins. Throw in right guard Stephen Neal and right tackle Nick Kaczur, and Brady played most of his record-breaking season not having to worry much about getting hit by bloodthirsty defenders.

Then, disaster struck – in the form of an all-out, pressure-packed swarming defensive attack by the Giants – in the worst possible setting. It was the first time Brady had been sacked as many as five times since the New York Jets did it on Sept. 21, 2003.

New England had no answer for the Giants’ bulldozing defense.

“If I could tell you, we’d have it fixed,” running back Kevin Faulk said. “At the same time, they outplayed us.”

Brady should’ve known he was in for a long day when he was sacked by Kawika Mitchell and Justin Tuck on consecutive plays midway through the second quarter.

“They played well defensively,” coach Bill Belichick said. “They’ve been able to rush. They led the league in sacks.”