Eli Manning, Player of the Week, February 5, 2012

It was not the stunning upset of the 18-0 juggernaut in 2007, but the New York Giants victory over the New England Patriots in Superbowl XLVI was almost as memorable. Once again, there were three quarters of sporadic, marginally interesting football followed by an electrifying fourth quarter which saw the Giants and their quarterback, Eli Manning, once again deny Bill Belichick and Tom Brady of the ultimate prize.

The game began on an odd (and, it turns out, ominous) note, with Brady dropping back into his own endzone and launching a bomb down the middle of the field to…no one. He was called for intentional grounding and, because the penalty occurred in the endzone, a safety was awarded to the Giants, who now led 2-0 (Pittsburgh Steelers fans and trivia buffs will note that the Steelers led Superbowl IX over the Minnesota Vikings at halftime by that score). Manning drove the Giants to a touchdown, passing to Victor Cruz for the score and, a short salsa dance later, the Giants led 9-0. The Patriots being the Patriots meant that this wasn’t going to be a cakewalk, however. Brady started a string of 16 straight completions as the Patriots scored 17 unanswered points to take a 17-9 lead in the third quarter.

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For the game, Manning completed 30 of 40 passes for 296 yards and the touchdown to Cruz without turning the ball over. His steady performance earned him his second Superbowl MVP trophy and has ended the argument as to whether he deserves to be considered an “elite” quarterback. He joins Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, and Tom Brady as the only players to be named Superbowl MVP multiple times.

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