Eli quiets doubters, cements spot among elite

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 in a four-year span – and second Super Bowl MVP award – for coolly, calmly steering the New York Giants to a 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots with a last-minute touchdown drive.

“We’ve had a bunch of them this year. We’ve had some fourth-quarter comebacks,” said Manning, 30 for 40 for 296 yards, with one touchdown pass and zero interceptions. “We’d been in those situations, and we knew that we had no more time left. We had to go down and score, and guys stepped up and made great plays.”

Led, as usual, by Manning himself.

He opened the game by becoming the first quarterback to complete his first nine attempts in a Super Bowl. And he finished the job by directing the nine-play, 88-yard TD drive that put New York ahead with 57 seconds left.

“That was quite a drive that he was able to put together,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “He deserves all the credit in the world, because he really has put his team on his shoulders all year.”

This late drive, so reminiscent of the way New York beat New England in the 2008 Super Bowl with Manning as MVP, started on the Giants’ 12, with a little more than 3 1/2 minutes left and the Patriots ahead 17-15. It closed with running back 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 – a risky and desperate decision by Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

“We had this goal to finish, finish, finish,” Coughlin said, “and win the fourth quarter.”

That’s precisely when Manning takes over.

During the regular season, he threw an NFL-record 15 touchdown passes in the final period.

He also led six game-winning drives to bring New York back from fourth-quarter deficits.

“He’s become confident over time; kind of grew into it,” Manning’s father, former New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie, told The Associated Press after Sunday’s game. “I always felt like you have to experience those situations before you become confident. He’s certainly had his share.”

Four years ago, he took home his first MVP award after a scoring pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left allowed New York to upset Brady and New England, ruining the Patriots’ bid for a perfect season. Back then, Manning got a boost from David Tyree’s Velcro-helmet grab on the go-ahead drive. This time, the key play was Mario Manningham’s 38-yard, over-the-shoulder catch between two defenders Manning now is one of only five players in NFL history with multiple Super Bowl MVP awards. He joined the guy he got the better of in the big game yet again, Brady, along with Terry Bradshaw, Bart Starr and Joe Montana (the only player 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,” said Manning, 10 for 14 for 118 yards in Sunday’s fourth quarter.

“Certainly, Eli has had a very good season,” acknowledged Brady. “He made some great throws there in the fourth quarter.”

The biggest turnaround of all this season for Manning was the way he brought the Giants back from a 1-5 slump that left them 7-7 and in serious danger of missing the playoffs. But from there, he took them on a season-closing, six-game winning streak.

He finished the postseason with nine TDs and only one interception, solid as could be the whole way.

“I never doubt Eli,” Giants safety Kenny Phillips said. “I don’t think anyone on this team doubts Eli.”

There were, however, some doubters outside the organization, those who wondered aloud what Manning was thinking back in August, before the season got going, when he was honest when asked in an interview whether he considered himself an “elite” quarterback a la Brady.

Manning said simply that he belonged “in that class.” But it all became quite a big deal in New York – shocking, right? – and he was criticized for the way he seemed to be portraying himself.

Hard to imagine anyone arguing now.