Large article directly to the south of this is taken from here.
And just like Super Bowl XLII, it took a late fourth-quarter rally led by quarterback Eli Manning, the game’s MVP, and another great catch by a backup wide receiver. Four years ago, it was David Tyree sticking the ball to his helmet on the winning touchdown drive. This time, with the Giants down 17-15 at the 3:46 mark and the ball at their 12-yard line, Manning connected with Mario Manningham, who tiptoed down the sideline for a dazzling 38-yard catch.
Operating from midfield, the Giants scored eight plays later on a 6-yard touchdown run by running back Ahmad Bradshaw. After the Giants missed the two-point conversion attempt, Brady and the Patriots had 57 seconds to answer. But even though they converted a fourth-and-16 on the drive, it ended with a failed Hail Mary attempt by Brady as time expired.
The entire script of the rematch was very familiar. The Giants looked like the dominant team early, but then the Patriots looked to be in control after their second of consecutive touchdown drives gave them a 17-9 lead with 11:20 left in the third quarter. New York, however, stayed resilient with two field goals before going ahead for good in the final minute.
“We knew it was going to be this type of game,” said Giants left tackle David Diehl, Manning’s blindside protector. “The last time we played them (the Giants won 24-20 in Week 9), there were five lead changes in the fourth quarter, so we knew we’d just have to keep fighting, keep scratching, and when the big opportunity came, we capitalized on it.”
After they sacked Eli Manning twice to force a punt on the Giants’ first drive of the game, Brady was called for intentional grounding in the end zone on his first play, dropping back from New England’s 6-yard line.
The resulting safety gave the Giants a 2-0 lead, and following the Patriots’ free kick, Manning led the Giants on a nine-play, 78-yard touchdown drive to give New York an early 9-0 edge.
Manning was 9-for-9 passing for 77 yards and a TD to open the first half, but by the end of 30 minutes, it was Brady with better overall numbers (15-for-18, 147 yards, one TD).
But in the end, in a slow-starting passing duel similar to what happened in Super Bowl XLII, Manning once again closed better than Brady. The door for the comeback was opened when Brady, looking for tight end Rob Gronkowski for a big play against single coverage from the Patriots’ 43, was intercepted by Chase Blackburn at the 14:17 mark of the fourth quarter.
Brady was otherwise unblemished, with a 27-for-41, two-touchdown performance, but the Giants’ pass rush kept him from delivering the backbreaking play. Although Brady did manage to complete a Super Bowl-record 16 consecutive passes at one point, Manning was the better quarterback in the final stretch.
“Offensively, I thought we played very well,” Manning said. “We played smart. There at the end, when we had an opportunity in the fourth quarter, we’d been in those situations and we knew that we had no more time left.
Wes Welker saw this pass bounce off his hands late in the fourth quarter. The incompletion turned out to be a backbreaker for the Patriots. (AP Photo)
“We had to go down and score, and guys stepped up and made great plays.”
Manning (30-for-40, 296 yards, one TD) was sacked three times and faced unexpectedly good pressure from the Patriots’ front four. But he survived to make key downfield strikes to both Hakeem Nicks (10 catches, 109 yards) and Manningham (five catches, 73 yards) while Victor Cruz (four catches for 25 yards) was bottled up. He also saw tight ends Travis Beckum and Jake Ballard go out with injuries.
It was a gritty outing for Manning, who trumped his brother Peyton (in the home stadium of Peyton’s Colts) with a second ring. With Eli edging Brady, it also meant another head-to-head Super Bowl victory for his coach, Tom Coughlin, over the Patriots’ Bill Belichick.
“He just hung in there,” said the Mannings’ father, Archie, of Eli’s performance. “He was patient, and he had to be patient.
“There wasn’t anything easy out there. He played like a quarterback needs to play.”
Eli Manning boldly said before the 2011 season, coming off leading the NFL in interceptions in 2010, that he was an elite quarterback who belonged in the company of signal-callers such as Brady. With another gutsy performance and deliverance in the clutch, he proved that on Sunday.
Manning isn’t the only remaining Giant who repeated a big performance from Super Bowl XLII. Defensive end Justin Tuck matched his two-sack output from four years ago, including his dropping of Brady to help dash the Patriots’ last-gasp hopes.
Tuck and New York’s front four weren’t its only defensive strength, as the back seven responded with solid coverage to limit the damage of Brady’s best receivers. Aaron Hernandez was most effective (eight catches, 67 yards, one TD), while fellow second-year tight end, Gronkowski, who was battling a high ankle sprain, had only two receptions for 26 yards.
Brady was forced to spread the ball around underneath, and the Giants’ secondary did well to control elusive wide receiver Wes Welker out of the slot, limiting him to seven catches for 60 yards. The Giants’ rising star at defensive end, Jason Pierre-Paul, also contributed to thwart Brady by batting down two of his passes.
Although Brady found some rhythm midway through the game, his receivers were frustrated by the plays they didn’t make. That included Welker, who couldn’t come up with a deep pass from his quarterback that might have put the game out of reach with four minutes left in the fourth quarter.
“It’s a play I’ve made a thousand times in practice and everything else,” Welker said. “It comes to the biggest moment of my life and don’t come up with it. It’s discouraging.”
There’s no doubt Manning had a stronger, more talented supporting cast in his second go-around against the Patriots in the Super Bowl. He’s the unquestioned seasoned leader on the field, but surrounded by skilled youth, he has helped the Giants—the first 9-7 team to win the Super Bowl—re-emerge as a threat to add to their Lombardi Trophy case in the near future.
With two rings, Manning matches fellow 2004 first-round pick Ben Roethlisberger and is just one away from Brady, from whom he took away two potential championships.
After taking Manning first overall in 2004 and knowing they had a franchise QB with whom to complete for Super Bowl titles, Coughlin and general manager Jerry Reese have done well creating a team built for this pass-happy era.
Manning, armed with Nicks, Cruz and Manningham, is capable of matching up with any opposing team’s quarterback and array of weapons, such as Brady with Gronkowski, Welker and Hernandez. The formula, however, wouldn’t be complete, without a pass rush that consistently makes Manning’s counterpart uncomfortable.
The Giants may seem like the most improbable of champions, both now and four years ago, but it’s not surprising when you examine the strengths that have put them in position to be what the Patriots were—a dynasty marked by a great quarterback-coaching combination.
“Each one is very unique, and this one is just as exciting, probably more so because of the kind of year we had,” Coughlin said. “What a wonderful experience it was to see the team come together like they did.”
The Giants had the most complete, battle-tested team, start to finish, of anyone in the NFL this season, and that’s why they’re most deserving to be the last team standing.
