Brother Where Art Thou

At the beginning of the season, both Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning were happy to still be on the Giants. To be sure, Manning was the likely one to stay. The management decided to keep Coughlin. The team started 0-2, and there were more cries to release Coughlin, and Eli was looking like a bust.

Then, they won 6 games in a row, and, for a moment, such cries were let silent. New York continued to play unevenly, winning one week, losing the next, and managing enough wins to sneak in as a wildcard. They would play on the road throughout the playoffs, but the Giants had a particularly good road record, and would prove that during this year's playoffs beating Tampa Bay, Dallas, and Green Bay to become the improbable representative of the NFC for the Super Bowl.

The key, of course, was the defense. If the defense couldn't keep New England in check, to keep the score close, then Eli would probably not provide enough magic to matter. When the Patriots only had a 7-3 lead into the half, and this score held until the Giants managed to score a TD with 11 minutes to go, making the lead 10-7.

At this point, it looked like the Patriots would do what they do so well. Win. Another long drive to a touchdown, punctuated by penalties that kept the drive alive. It left the Giants with a little over 3 minutes to have to score a touchdown because they were down 4 points, not 3.

It didn't look that good. After a first down right away, Eli struggled trying to make completions, going to a 3rd and 10, then a 4th and 1. Then, on another 3rd and 10, Eli looked like he was going to get sacked, when he managed to wiggle out, make a long toss to Tyree who literally wedged a catch between his hand and his helmet.

Eventually, Eli tossed a high floater to Plaxico Burress, and that gave the Giants a lead, giving the Patriots only 30 seconds to have to get into field goal position. Despite one long throw to Moss that just fell out of his hands, the Patriots were done.

The funny thing is that if that catch were made, or if Eli gets sacked, then the Patriots win, and we say, despite the close score, just how good the Patriots were. Of course, the games against the Ravens, the Eagles, the Colts, and even the Giants showed the Patriots were vulnerable, but they still won, and had they won, they would still have been undefeated despite these close calls.

So Eli manages to do in four years what it took Peyton 9 years to do. He has to hand it to his defense that kept him in the game.

Peyton may still go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks ever, but sometimes it's good to have a great team, a great defense, and a little luck. And Eli will take that win any way it comes.