- Hakeem Nicks (in white sweater) and the rest of the New Giants celebrate at the Giants parade in New York City on Tuesday.
Athanasios Armenis
Journal Staff
History does in fact repeat itself.
It was déjà vu in the closing moments of Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday night as Eli Manning and the New York Giants constructed an 88-yard game winning drive, knocking off the New England Patriots, 21-17 for the second time in just four years.
Manning, who captured his second Super Bowl MVP, went 30 for 40 with 296 yards as his one touchdown pass and zero interceptions were able to lead the Giants to a come from behind victory.
The game winning drive, which consisted of an amazing 38-yard sideline catch by wide receiver Mario Manningham and a puzzling six-yard touchdown run by halfback Ahmad Bradshaw was conducted effortlessly by Manning whose offensive line allowed him the time and protection he needed to pick apart New England’s young secondary.
Manningham, who recorded five catches for 73 yards, was able to keep two feet in bounds, on a picture perfect pass from Manning, as he leaped over two defenders on the left sideline, giving the Giants a fresh set of downs deep in Patriots territory.
New England and Tom Brady, who had a 17-15 lead with 4:00 minutes remaining, nearly converted on a second and long play to wide receiver Wes Welker as Brady spotted a small hole in the Giants secondary and floated a perfect spiral which was dropped by this season’s NFL leader in receptions.
“Wes Welker makes that catch 100 times out of 100,”said play-by-play announcer Chris Collingsworth moments after the wide outs uncanny miscue.
The dropped pass would have given New England a first down in the New York red zone, with the clock continuously ticking as the Giants were down to just one timeout left in the final quarter.
Both Manning and Brady recorded Super Bowl history on Sunday as Manning opened the game, going 9 for 9, which put him as the first NFL quarterback to start off a game with that many consecutive completions. Brady also developed a similar rhythm as his streak of 16 consecutive passes during the second quarter carried into the second half eclipsed the record of his childhood superstar, Joe Montana.
Brady finished the game, 27 for 41 with 276 yards and two touchdowns but did have one interception on a broken hailmary attempt to tight end, Rob Gronkowski, who had an off performance with only two receptions for 26 yards.
Gronkowski, who broke the single season records for tight ends in both receiving yards and touchdowns during the regular season, appeared to be a couple steps slower then usual during Sunday’s showdown against the Giants as the high ankle sprain he received late in the AFC championship game against Baltimore, seemed to limit the Pro-bowl tight end.
Manning was able to lead the Giants to another Vince Lombardi trophy as the Giants won their fourth Super Bowl in franchise history and their second in just four years.
“It’s been a wild season,” said Manning. “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,” said Manning postgame.
Everyone recalls the ending of the 2007 season, as the Giants knocked off the Patriots, 17-14, putting an end to New England’s “perfect” 18-0 record season. Four years ago the Giants were a two-touchdown underdog entering the Super Bowl while this season they entered the final game on a hot streak as they knocked off two of the NFL’s top three regular season teams in the playoffs, the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco Giants.
Tom Coughlin, praised quarterback Eli Manning, as he became the oldest head coach to win the Super Bowl at 65.
“His performance, coming down the stretch, was outstanding,” said Coughlin.”He is the guy who has done it for us all year. He is the guy who put us in position, to win all our games.”
With the victory, Coughlin and Manning add yet another impressive championship to their dynamic head-coach, quarterback duo.
