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| The logo for Super Bowl XLVI. |
Eli Manning is the big man in the
NFL after one-upping Tom
Brady and leading the New
York Giants to a 21-17 victory over the New
England Patriots in Sunday's Super Bowl, and now
there are two Super Bowl championships and two MVPs to prove it.
A team led by a quarterback who
months ago claimed -- to snickers throughout the league -- that he belonged in
the same stratosphere as Brady, and then proved it.
Just
as Manning did four years ago when the Giants ruined New England's perfect
season, he guided them 88 yards to the decisive touchdown, which the Patriots
didn't contest as Ahmad Bradshaw ran 6 yards with 57 seconds left.
They got some help from Patriots coach
Bill Belichick, whose late-game risk didn't turn out as he planned. Belichick
reasoned the Giants would run the clock down and kick a short field goal, so he
gambled by allowing the six points.
Manning did everything asked of him
in the final minutes, a habit for the eight-year veteran. He's beaten the
Patriots in two thrilling Super Bowls. The Giants, who stood 7-7 in
mid-December, now own the football world, and Manning owns two Super Bowl MVP
awards, the same number as Brady.
It
was a classic showdown with the outcome in doubt until the last desperation
pass fell to the turf as the last second ticked off the clock. Manning started
the game with nine straight completions, a Super Bowl record; Brady hit 16
straight over the second and third quarters, breaking Joe
Montana's Super bowl record of 13.
Manning finished 30 for 40 for 296
yards and one touchdown, while Brady was 27 for 41 for 276 yards with two TDs
and one interception.
Manning
led six comeback victories during the season and set an NFL record with 15
fourth-quarter touchdown passes. He showed that brilliance in the clutch on the
winning drive, completing five passes, starting with a sensational 38-yard
sideline catch by Mario Manningham.
On
second down at the Patriots 6 and with only one timeout remaining, Belichick
had his defense stand up as Bradshaw took the handoff. Bradshaw thought about
stopping short of the end zone, then tumbled in untouched.
Brady
couldn't answer in the final 57 seconds, although his heave into the end zone
on the final play fell just beyond the grasp of lunging All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski. New England,
winner of 10 straight since a loss to the Giants in November, was done.
It was the Giants' fourth Super Bowl
championship, more than any franchise except Pittsburgh with six and San
Francisco and Dallas with five, and they became the first team to finish the
regular season 9-7 and win the title.
