Manning deflects playoff parallels
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Cold so bitter fingers can’t feel the ball.
An experienced opponent led by an all-time great quarterback, playing on the tundra of Lambeau Field, intimidating as any venue in the NFL.
Eli Manning simply shrugged — and delivered perhaps the best game of his life.
So what does the Giants’ quarterback recall of that 23-20 overtime victory in Green Bay four years ago that lifted New York into the Super Bowl? Plenty, for sure. The problem is, as the Giants return to Lambeau on Sunday for a divisional playoff matchup with the Packers, Manning has no interest in reliving that NFC championship game.
“I think this is a whole new situation,” he said Wednesday. “It’s a new year, a new team, new players going against a new team.”
Regardless of Manning’s reticence to discuss that performance, it was the day he became Elite Eli.
“His completion percentage for a day like that was incredible,” coach Tom Coughlin said of the -23 C temperatures at Lambeau, “and the way he played. But that was ’07 and this is 2011.”
And in 2011, Manning had his best pro season, setting a league mark with 15 fourth-quarter touchdown passes, surpassing the record set by John Unitas and some other quarterback named Peyton.
Well, Manning won’t discuss any parallels. Instead, he talks about objectives for Sunday.
“It’s just a matter of guys executing, guys knowing the game plan, going in there, looking forward to the opportunity that’s ahead of us, getting excited about it and have the attitude that we’re going to go in there and play great football. That’s what we need to do to get a win,” he said.