Giants Upset Patriots 17-14 in SBXLII, Quarterback Eli Manning Named MVP

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I’m stunned. I gave the N.Y. Giants a chance. I knew they would be in this ball game. But I didn’t think they would pull off one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history. No way. Somehow, though, the N.Y. Giants shocked the world tonight by beating the previously undefeated New England Patriots 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII. That’s right, no need to rub your eyes or blink hard. The N.Y. Giants held the highest-scoring team in NFL history to 14 points en route to the shocking upset Super Bowl win.

Giants QB Eli Manning won the MVP award. (Yeah, Peyton’s little brother. Or is Peyton now Eli’s big brother? Let’s go with that.) And deservingly so. Eli engineered what I viewed as controlled chaos in a shocking 12-play, 83-yard drive that ended with a 13-yard TD pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left. That is how you win a Super Bowl. You’ve heard the cliche phrase “big-time players make big plays in big games.” Well, the stage doesn’t get any bigger than this and the big-time players made big plays on this final drive — Eli, David Tyree, Steve Smith, Plaxico. In the end, the Giants made more plays than the Patriots.

Yes, Eli deserved top honors with his 255-yard, two-TD performance. And I’m happy for him because he silenced his critics. He has put up with a lot of crap from not only the NYC media, but the national press (aka Tiki Barber) as well. But I felt the entire defense (including defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) should have been rewarded with the MVP trophy as well. When you hold Tom Brady and this high-powered New England offense to a mere 274 total yards, you deserve some extra special recognition. Throw in five sacks and countless quarterback hurries and hits and you’ve found a recipe for success against the Pats that’s certainly worthy of MVP status.

Here’s an MVP problem. It’s just not as neat and tidy with all the politics of the award to hand it out to more than one person. And that stinks. This defense played their hearts out. So they give the MVP award to Eli. And like I said, that works. He deserved it. But this ultimate team effort won the Super Bowl champions’ Lombardi Trophy tonight and that will, of course, be shared by the entire team.

The play of the Giants offensive line should also be commended. They paved the way for enough rushing yards (91) to make a difference, but what a tremendous job they did in protecting Eli, especially late when the pocket was collapsing under heavy pressure from a determined Patriots pass rush.

I simply can’t believe the N.Y. Giants won the Super Bowl. When I saw them back on December 23 in Buffalo, I certainly didn’t think I was looking at the future Super Bowl XXLI champs. I thought they were a pretty good football team, but not a great one. To me, they were just another wild card team who would probably make an early postseason exit. It just goes to show how quickly a good team can become a great team when they begin to win games and believe in themselves. And I credit the Giants for sticking together — really banding together against the world and the odds — to becoming the championship team they knew they could be.

Inset Photo by Harry How/Getty Images