Nice job, Eli; now, about Peyton . . .

INDIANAPOLIS— We now return pro football to its regularly scheduled program. The fate of Eli Manning’s older brother. Yes, the NFL got back to business Monday, the commissioner happily saying he had just received an email that Super Bowl ratings were boffo, so all was right with his world. And Tom Coughlin thanking anyone who came to mind for the New York Giants’ happy week, including the team hotel manager.

Meanwhile, life is one big victory parade for Eli, with a new championship ring, a new signature play— the sideline surgical strike to Mario Manningham— and a new car. Plus, Eli is a primary reason the Giants have become New England’s worst nightmare; worse than the Los Angeles Lakers or even the New York Yankees.

All that was validated Sunday night at Lucas Oil Stadium, which is better known as the house that Eli Manning’s older brother built.

Looking back, an unusual Super Bowl it was, since it’s not every day you see a quarterback yelling at his running back, “Don’t score!” But that’s when the Giants faced the rare problem of wanting to take the lead at the end but not too quickly, lest Tom Brady have time left for mischief. So Ahmad Bradshaw backed into the end zone in the manner someone might plop into a swimming pool.

“This business about elite quarterbacks, I think that question’s come and gone,” coach Tom Coughlin said Monday of Eli’s emergence. “I don’t think we’ll hear much about that again.”

True. Good actors get one Oscar. Great actors win two. A masterpiece pass is always good for a quarterback’s legacy, and Eli will always have that completion to Manningham. Plus, he just played four postseason games with a 9- 1 touchdown- interception ratio.

So Eli Manning’s older brother has been the one watching with the civilians, while Eli came away from Indianapolis hotter than the shrimp cocktail sauce at St. Elmo. The two spoke overnight Sunday, dissecting the evening’s events.

“He was just proud of me, proud of the team,” Eli said, adding that since his older brother is also a quarterback, “he asks questions a lot of people won’t ask.”

Eli Manning’s older brother noticed, for example, how New England Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo had slipped into the passing lane on the Giants’ first touchdown pass and Eli had not seen him. But Mayo was looking the wrong way, and the football whizzed right past his ear hole.

Bill Belichick probably noticed that, too, and will again when he forlornly studies the film.

Eli Manning’s older brother also had a take on the Manningham pass.

“He was mad,” Eli reported. “He said, ` Everybody just kept talking about what a great catch it was. It was a pretty good throw, also.’ “That’s brother, looking out for me.” Someone brought up brotherly bragging rights, but Eli would have none of that.

“This isn’t about bragging rights; this is a lot bigger. This is about a team and organization being named word champions,” he said. “That’s the only thing that’s important. That’s the only thing I care about.”

Still, let’s face it, Eli has two rings and is the fifth man to win multiple Super Bowl MVPS. Since the other four are named Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana and Tom Brady, it is not a club for everyone, including Eli Manning’s older brother.

Eli went to Disney World on Monday afternoon. But we don’t know yet where Eli Manning’s older brother is going. He might be playing here, he might be playing there, he might not be playing anywhere. Right now, it’s like trying to guess which flower a bee will land upon.

With the games over, the destination of Eli Manning’s older brother is the most intriguing question out there. Well, that, and why they’re not called the New Jersey Giants.

The Super Bowl can have awesome power, in the glory it bestows, the perceptions it can change, the shadows it can alter. Eli sits atop his game, riding down Broadway as champion of the world.

Eli Manning’s older brother wouldn’t mind some of that action, either. Contact Mike Lopresti at mlopresti@gannett.com