Eli Manning is an elite quarterback, and a king of comebacks. He's also far, far more than another quarterback's little brother.
Spot-on from beginning to end Sunday night, Manning led his New York Giants to another NFL championship and won his second Super Bowl MVP award after the victory against the New England Patriots.
Manning completed 30 of 40 for 296 yards and a touchdown, and was not intercepted. He became the first quarterback to complete his first nine passes in a Super Bowl, and he finished by leading a nine-play, 88-yard touchdown drive for the lead with 57 seconds left.
"That was quite a drive that he was able to put together," coach Tom Coughlin of the Giants said. "He deserves all the credit in the world, because he really has put his team on his shoulders all year."
The final drive 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 the 6. The Patriots didn't contest the run, trying to save some time for a final drive — a risky decision by coach Bill Belichick. But New England couldn't score again, with Tom Brady's final pass falling just beyond the grasp of tight end Rob Gronkowski.
"We had this goal to finish, finish, finish, and win the fourth quarter," Coughlin said.
Manning also was the most valuable player in 2008, when his scoring pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute allowed New York to upset New England.
Manning is now one of only five players in NFL history with multiple Super Bowl MVP awards — joining Brady, Terry Bradshaw, Bart Starr and Joe Montana (the only one with three).
"It just feels good to win a Super Bowl ..." said Manning, clutching the 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, Manning was at his best down the stretch, in the crucible of the fourth quarter. During the regular season, he threw an NFL-record 15 touchdown passes in the final period.
"Eli's certainly had a great season," said Brady, who completed 16 consecutive passes in one stretch, breaking Joe Montana's Super Bowl record of 13.
Manning led six winning drives to bring New York back from fourth-quarter deficits in the regular season. Sunday he was as cool as could be, completing 10 of 14 passes for 118 yards in the fourth quarter.
"We've had a bunch of them this year," Manning said.
The greatest comeback of all, though, probably was the way Manning — with plenty of help — brought the Giants back after they lost five of six games in one stretch to fall to 7-7. From there, they won their last two regular-season games to win the NFC East title, then continued their surge in the postseason.
"We fought all year," said Manning, who finished the postseason with nine touchdowns and only one interception. "Never got discouraged."
Back in August, before the season started, Manning was asked in an interview whether he considered himself an "elite" quarterback like Brady. Manning said simply that he belonged "in that class." But it all became quite a big deal in New York, and he was criticized.
Now, it's difficult to imagine anyone arguing.
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