Twice Eli Manning has swooped a World Championship from Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. Twice he was named MVP for his clutch comebacks. As Jay Bilas said, “you can’t spell elite without Eli”.

Eli Manning orchestrated his seventh 4^th quarter comeback of the season. His greatness can no longer be questioned. He proclaimed his play as elite at the beginning of the year, and all he did to back that up was win his 2^nd Super Bowl MVP.

The Giants were a team of resiliency in 2011. The defense was riddled with injuries all year. Linebackers were a revolving door. The secondary, hurt by the loss of Terrell Thomas, was playing a “base” defense late in the season. The aging offensive line battled chemistry all season. The running game ranked last in total offense during the regular season, but finished first in postseason statistics.

But there was Manning; calm, cool, and collective. Go back to the Week 14 Sunday Night game at Dallas when Manning spoiled the Cowboys’ party scoring 2 touchdowns to overcome a 12-point deficit with the season on the line.

Oh, and then there was the comeback against the Patriots in Week 9. New York trailed 20-17 with exactly one minute to play. The rest…well just take a look.

The Giants earned their 4^th Super Bowl title in franchise history, tied for fourth most among NFL teams.

Manning now owns two Super Bowl rings, two Super Bowl MVP trophies, and an NFL record fifteen 4^th quarter touchdowns passes in a season.

He’s not just clutch, he’s undoubtedly elite.

Manning posted some gaudy post-season numbers: 65% completion percentage for 1,219 yards with 9 Touchdowns, and 1 interception. He averaged 7.5 yards per pass attempt and finished with a QB rating of 103.3

Manning in the 4^th quarter of both Super Bowl XLII and XLVI:

• XLII   9/14 152 yards 7 1^st downs

• XLVI 10/14 118 yards 7 1^st downs

A great catch and throw to Mario Manningham. Cris Collinsworth criticized Manningham earlier in the game for not getting two feet in bounds on a deep throw.  I think his 38-yard catch on the game winning drive made up for the blunder.

Manning on “The Throw”

Stats to remember from Super Bowl XLVI

• Game winning drive: 9 plays, 88 yards resulting in an Ahmad Bradshaw 6 yard TD run

• Tom Brady was 0-5 throwing the ball at least 20 yards in the air downfield

• Rob Gronkowski finishes with 2 catches for 26 yards.

5 Crucial plays of the game:

1. Chase Blackburn intercepting Tom Brady in the 4^th quarter
2. Wes Welker drops a 2^nd down pass with 4:06 remaining in the game
3. Manningham’s catch on the game winning drive.
4. Bill Belichick’s coaching challenge (on Manningham catch)
5. 12 men on the field penalty negating Brandon Spikes fumble recovery

Party’s Over … Sort of:

Chase Blackburn, Mario Manningham, OL Kareem McKenzie, and Terrell Thomas are all free agents for NY.