USA TODAY International Edition
Giants rally again, reign again
Manning leads late TD march, denies Patriots for second time
INDIANAPOLIS — Turns out Eli Manning was right, after all. As the NFL season concluded Sunday evening with a dramatic, heart- stopping last lap in Indy, the New York Giants quarterback demonstrated he is in Tom Brady’s class.
And, in case folks haven’t noticed, Tom Coughlin owns Bill Belichick.
The Giants quarterback and coach appear destined for Canton for a down- the- road date with immortality at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Sunday, they partied with Lombardi as confetti rained down at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Six months after Manning’s bold proclamation, Eli was the Manning who mattered the most in Indianapolis in Super Bowl XLVI — not his more decorated brother, Peyton, the Colts quarterback who sat in the stands.
“( Eli Manning) will never again have to answer questions, ‘ Do you consider yourself an elite quarterback and in Tom Brady’s class?’ ” NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth said.
With the entire Manning family watching, the 31- year- old quarterback emerged from his sibling’s daunting shadow and engineered another brilliant comeback culminating in the Giants’ thrilling 21- 17 victory.
“It’s been a wild game. It’s been a wild season,” said Manning, named Super Bowl MVP for the second time. “We had a bunch of guys who never quit.”
Manning commandeered a seventh fourthquarter comeback this season as the Giants upended the Patriots in the Super Bowl for the
second time in five seasons. He also wasmvpin Super Bowl XLII in February 2008. He finished Sunday’s game with 30 completions in 40 attempts for 296 yards and one touchdown with a passer rating of 103.8.
“Coughlin and Manning put themselves in the discussion for the Hall of Fame,” NBC’S Bob Costas said.
For the third consecutive time against the Patriots, Manning was the difference at the game’s end.
Throwing darts to his receivers, he led a nine- play, 88- yard drive in 2: 49, with running back Ahmad Bradshaw scoring unmolested from the 6- yard line as he paused at the goal line, then fell gently backward into the end zone with 57 seconds remaining.
“I was yelling at Ahmad not to score,” Manning said, because the clock was ticking and the Giants were hoping to kill it without permitting Brady a chance for a potential gamewinning final drive.
Brady’s last- play Hail Mary fell incomplete in the end zone.
Manning bests Brady
Once again, Manning outdueled his more highly regarded contemporary.
Manning, who established a Super Bowl record by completing his first nine passes, has won eight of his last nine playoff starts. The former No. 1 overall draft pick was 9- for- 9 in the first quarter for 77 yards and a 2yard touchdown pass to Victor Cruz.
Coughlin is now 5- 1 against Bill Belichick, the Patriots’ hooded genius. Coughlin tied Bill Parcells — the former revered Giants head coach — for Super Bowl victories.
Coughlin’s strategy was to deploy a grinding rushing attack to control possession and keep the football out of Brady’s hands. When Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs weren’t churning out chunks of yardage on the ground, Manning used sharp play- action passes to dissect the Patriots secondary.
For the second time, Manning will be fitted for a Super Bowl ring at the expense of Brady and Belichick.
So, too, will Coughlin, the oftenmaligned coach who forever seems to be trying to keep the wolves at bay. Even though the Giants ownership has stuck by him, it wasn’t a huge vote of confidence in July when he received only a one- year contract extension, through 2012.
“I’m not about comparisons,” Coughlin said after the victory when asked about tying his mentor, Parcells. “I’m thankful and grateful.” Coughlin, the persnickety, tough- minded coach with the Lombardian coaching style, owns something else, too: At 65, he is the oldest head coach to win a Super Bowl.
“For some reason, Tom never has been looked upon as being as good a coach as he is,” CBS analyst Phil Simms said. “His ( all- business) mannerisms and his ( strict) way — people can’t relate to him or think they can’t. He doesn’t give the press snappy or cute answers. That’s the perception about him. I’ve always known it’s wrong.”
For only the fourth time since 2001, the formidable BelichickBrady combo was defeated twice in the same season by the same opponent. The Giants beat the Patriots 24- 20 in Week 9. Until Sunday, that was New England’s last defeat, leaving its 10- game winning streak smashed on the final day of the season.
In a game featuring the first confrontation of a pair of former Super Bowl MVP quarterbacks, Manning conquered Brady for a third consecutive time. Manning joins Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints and retired Jake Plummer as the only quarterbacks to carve a winning record vs. Brady with a minimum of three starts.
“He’s literally taken this team on his shoulders,” Coughlin before the rematch.
Coughlin changes script
Meanwhile, Coughlin’s energy, focus and determination helped lift the Giants to unexpected heights by defeating highly regarded Belichick, who lost yet again to his former employer.
Coughlin and Belichick worked on the Giants staff from 1988 to 1990 under Parcells, earning Super Bowl rings for defeating the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXV. Belichick served as defensive coordinator, Coughlin as receivers coach.
“Tom has every quality that any of the 32 NFL team owners would want in their head coach: passion, commitment, focus, and he leads by example,” Giants co- owner Steve Tisch said.
Still, the Giants slipped into the playoffs on the season’s final weekend. They defeated the NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys, avoiding a third consecutive late- season collapse that might have ultimately cost Coughlin his job after eight seasons.
Coughlin has one year remaining on his current deal. Giants co- owner John Mara told USA TODAY before the Super Bowl, “Obviously we want him to continue coaching here.”
“For how long, that needs to be discussed,” Mara said.
The Giants ( 13- 7) crushed the Atlanta Falcons 24- 2 in the wildcard round, then knocked off the conference’s No. 1 and No. 2 seeds on the road with wins vs. the Green Bay Packers ( 37- 20) in the divisional round and the San Francisco 49ers ( 20- 17 in overtime) in the NFC title game.
Not too shabby for a coach who began the season on the hot seat and weathered a withering storm of criticism as the Giants were on the verge of collapse in late December.
What a difference seven weeks make.
New York was teetering after a Dec. 18 loss at home to a weak Washington Redskins team that dropped the Giants to 7- 7. Victories against the New York Jets ( 29- 14) and Cowboys ( 31- 14) secured the NFC East crown.
The Giants restored their championship tradition after failing to make the playoffs the previous two seasons. The Giants, who have won eight NFL championships in their illustrious history dating to 1925, are 4- 1 in Super Bowls. Manning was the catalyst. “I don’t need to say anything about Eli. I shouldn’t say anything about Eli,” Jacobs said. “Two hundred and 28 countries just saw Eli. I don’t have to say anything.”
In the end, Manning remained humble, refusing to gloat or discuss legacy.
“The whole elite deal, I’m sure that’ll still be a question,” he said, “but all I know is I’m a world champion tonight, and that’s the only title you want.”