This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Indianapolis • Eli Manning is elite, for sure. A king of comebacks, too. And far, far more than Peyton's little brother now.
Spot-on from beginning to end Sunday night, Eli Manning won his second NFL championship — and second Super Bowl MVP award — for leading the New York Giants to a 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots.
Manning went 30 for 40 for 296 yards, with one touchdown pass and zero interceptions. He opened the game by becoming the first quarterback to complete his first nine attempts in a Super Bowl. And he finished his work by directing the nine-play, 88-yard TD drive that put New York ahead with 57 seconds left.
It started on New York's 12, with a little more than 31/2 minutes left, and ended with Ahmad Bradshaw easing into the end zone from 6 yards out. The Patriots decided not to contest the run, trying to save some time on the clock for a final drive — an audacious and risky decision by Patriots coach Bill Belichick. But New England couldn't get the ball back in the end zone, with Tom Brady's final pass falling just beyond the grasp of tight end Rob Gronkowski.
Manning also was the MVP in 2008, when his scoring pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute allowed New York to upset Brady and New England, ruining the Patriots' bid for a perfect season.
Manning now is one of only five players in NFL history with multiple Super Bowl MVP awards. He joined the guy he one-upped yet again in the big game, Brady, along with Terry Bradshaw, Bart Starr and Joe Montana (the only one with three). And Manning did it in the House that Peyton Built, the stadium where his Big Bro — a four-time regular-season MVP but owner of only one Super Bowl title — plays for the Indianapolis Colts.
"It just feels good to win a Super Bowl. Doesn't matter where you are," Manning said, clutching the silver Vince Lombardi Trophy. "It's been a wild season. We had a great, tough bunch of guys who never quit, and had faith in each other. I'm proud of these guys sticking together."
As usual, he was as good as it gets down the stretch, in the crucible of the fourth quarter.
Manning led six game-winning drives to bring New York back from fourth-quarter deficits in the regular season. So it came as no surprise he was cool as could be Sunday, when he was 10 of 14 for 118 yards.
"We've had a bunch of them this year," Manning said.