Giants, Manning Join Eli-te Company With Super Bowl Victory

Eli’s days as the other Manning are over. In a season where Eli Manning came from behind in the fourth quarter more than any quarterback in the history of the NFL, he did it again when it mattered most. The story unfolded not so differently from Super Bowl XLII, with Eil Manning marching down the field and completing a pass to the fleet-footed Mario Manningham just before going out of bounds.

“I knew as soon as the ball hit my fingertips, I was going to have to freeze my feet,” Manningham said. “I kind of knew I was in.”

That pass of 38 yards set up the go ahead touchdown and the Giants defense took care of the rest, knocking down a 51 yard Hail Mary pass as time expired.

Eli Manning completed 30 of 40 passes, throwing for 296 yards, and one touchdown, capturing the Super Bowl MVP for the second time. More importantly, the Giants had zero turnovers and were able to capitalize on Chase Blackburn’s fourth quarter interception of Tom Brady and manage the clock.

This season started out with high hopes for the New York Giants. Eli Manning took heat for saying in a radio interview in September that he did in fact belong in the same class as Tom Brady among the NFL elite. He proved to be capable of putting the ELI in ELITE Sunday night. Manning joins a very exclusive class of quarterbacks to win multiple Super Bowls including Terry Bradshaw, Bart Starr, Joe Montana, and Tom Brady.  Of course, it was the ending every New York Giant hoped for, but it seemed especially fitting Sunday when the Giants hoisted the coveted Lombardi Trophy at midfield of Lucas Oil Stadium.

“What I was interested in was this team was making history for themselves,” Tom Coughlin said following the game. “I didn’t want to be compared to 2007-2008, because there were a lot of new guys on this team. I thought for these guys to carve their own was important.” For a guy whose job was very much in question just weeks ago when the team was 7-7, I think Tom Coughlin might take a little extra time to enjoy this victory.

Sources: ESPN, NFL.com