INDIAN OLIS — Eli Manning is elite, for positive. A king of comebacks, too. And far, far much more than Peyton’s small brother now.
Spot-on from starting to finish Sunday night, Manning won his second NFL championship — and second Super Bowl MVP award — for top the New York Giants to a 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots.
Manning went 30-for-40 passing for 296 yards with one particular touchdown pass and zero interceptions. He opened the game by becoming the very first quarterback to full his very first nine attempts in a Super Bowl. He finished his work by directing the nine-play, 88-yard TD drive that put New York ahead with 57 seconds left.
It began on New York’s 12-yard line and ended with Ahmad Bradshaw easing into the finish zone from 6 yards out. The Patriots decided not to contest the run, attempting to save some time on the clock for a final drive — an audacious and risky decision by Patriots coach Bill Belichick. But New England couldn’t get the ball back in the finish zone, with Tom Brady’s final pass falling just beyond the grasp of tight finish Rob Gronkowski.
Manning also was the MVP of Super Bowl XLII, when his scoring pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute permitted New York to upset Brady and New England, ruining the Patriots’ bid for a perfect season.
Manning now is a single of only 5 players in NFL history with numerous Super Bowl MVP awards. He joined the guy he one-upped yet once again in the massive game, Brady, along with Terry Bradshaw, Bart Starr and Joe Montana (the only one with 3). Manning did it in the House that Peyton Built, the stadium exactly where his Large Bro — a 4-time normal-season MVP but owner of only a single Super Bowl title — plays for the Indianapolis Colts.
Darlington: Cool Eli gets ring No. 2
“It just feels very good to win a Super Bowl. Doesn’t matter exactly where you are,” Manning said, clutching the silver Vince Lombardi Trophy. “It’s been a wild season. We had a fantastic, difficult bunch of guys who in no way quit, and had faith in each other. I’m proud of these guys sticking together.”
Manning led six game-winning drives to bring New York back from fourth-quarter deficits during the standard season. So it came as no surprise he was cool as could be Sunday, when he was ten of 14 for 118 yards.
The greatest comeback of all, although, possibly was the way Manning — with a lot of aid, of course — steered the Giants back right after they lost 5 of six games in the course of 1 stretch to fall to 7-7. From there, they won their final two typical-season games against the Jets and Cowboys to sneak into the playoffs as the NFC East champions, then continued their surge with four postseason wins in a row on the road.
“I’m proud of our guys. I’m proud of the team,” Manning said. “I’m proud of the way they fought back all year. We in no way got discouraged. We kept our faith all year.”
And Archie Manning got to be the proud papa again.
“I believe it’s unique since of the city right here,” he said. “This city has meant a lot to our loved ones for 14 years, and I’ve been here all week. The city did a great job, and this building looked stunning.
“Yes, it is specific.”
Back in August, Manning was asked in an interview whether or not he regarded himself an “elite” quarterback like Brady. Manning said basically that he belonged “in that class.” But it all became quite a big deal in New York — shocking, proper? — and he was criticized.
Hard to imagine everyone arguing now.
Copyright 2012
(About:) This write-up was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For much more NFL news see: Manning wins Super Bowl MVP with one more comeback vs. Pats.
