Patriots take 17-9 lead, it was Madonna dance party at half The Giants' Victor Cruz catches a 2-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter of Super Bowl XLVI against the Patriots. NEW: Patriots score early in third quarter Madonna goes Roman soldier, cheerleader (CNN) -- Tom Brady, determined to earn his fourth Super Bowl championship ring, overcame a slow start and took the New England Patriots to a 17-9 lead over the New York Giants early in the third quarter. Brady's throw to Aaron Hernandez came after a long string of completions. Shortly before halftime, Brady engineered a 96-yard drive late, throwing a touchdown pass to Danny Woodhead for the 10-9 halftime lead. Before then, it was almost all Giants. Wide receiver Victor Cruz did his trademark dance in the end zone after hauling in a short first-quarter touchdown pass from Eli Manning. Minutes earlier, the Giants got their first score with some extra help from Brady, who, while throwing from the end zone, was called for intentional grounding. The Giants were awarded a 2-point safety. The Patriots notched a field goal early in the second period. Halftime entertainer Madonna had an eclectic set, joined by Cee Lo Green, Nicki Minaj and MIA. Madonna morphed from a Roman Empire theme to a high school cheerleader, complete with pom poms and a marching band. She sang "Vogue," "Music," "Like a Prayer" and "Give Me All Your Luvin." The American president who saved football Of course, the Super Bowl also is known for its commercials, with a bevvy of celebrities, including Jerry Seinfeld, Clint Eastwood and Elton John, showing up this year. David Beckham provided eye candy in an H&M ad, which tended to spend more time on his chiseled and tattooed looks than the briefs he was wearing. "No commercial this Superbowl will top #BeckhamforHM Yummy & in love!!," said one Twitter feed on an HLN TV blog. Another catchy commercial featured an older dog chasing after a Volkswagen Beetle. Pop singer Kelly Clarkson sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" on Sunday, managing to get through the lyrics without a problem, unlike unfortunate Christina Aguilera, who got some flak after botching the words at the 2011 Super Bowl. Refreshment and apparel producers and advertisers have a lot at stake in the annual bash. Of those watching the Giants-Patriots, nearly 27.1% planned to attend a party, according to the association, and another 15.3% planned to throw a party. The host city of Indianapolis poured hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars and corporate coin into building new hotels, sprucing up landscaping and resurfacing miles of streets. What does Indianapolis have to offer? CNN's Thom Patterson and Dan Moriarty and HLN's Jonathan Anker contributed to this report.