Yeah... he's ELIte

Image Courtesy of AP

Ok, ok… I get it.

He’s ELIte.

It took a couple days for me to muster up the will… I didn’t even want to write this because I was so upset, not only that the Giants won, but that it now seems that, for Tom Brady, like former Red Sox star Pedro Martinez said about the Yankees in 2003, “the Giants are his daddy.”

The way the game mirrored 2007 was perplexing. Giants struck first, Patriots took the lead into halftime, Giants took the lead with less than two minutes left with an amazing catch during the drive—then by David Tyree, now by Mario Manningham—to give Brady one final shot and the Pats failed to capitalize in the end, losing this year’s Super Bowl 21-17.

A dropped pass behind Deion Branch during the Patriots final drive could have changed the game; it’s a catch that you have to make in the Super Bowl. A dropped pass by Wes Welker in the drive beforehand could have put the game away before that.

Just like an Asante Samuel pick could have put the game away for New England in Super Bowl 42.

Just like an Eli Manning sack that turned into a circus catch could’ve put the game away for New England in that same game.

Tom Brady, arguably the best Quarterback ever, showed weakness two weeks ago against Baltimore. He vowed to play better on this night. He did, but it wasn’t enough. He was outplayed by the younger brother of his long-time foe. In the stadium that his big brother calls home, Eli Manning seemed to revel in the aura of his big brother.

But in reality, it was just Eli Manning showing how much he’s grown as a player and how much he’s grown as a quarterback.

Would I take Eli over Brady? Never. And until this game, I never imagined I would ever call Eli a top-tier Quarterback. He’s Eli Manning. He’s inconsistent. He’s never been the guy that took a team on his back. He was lucky.

But in this game? In these playoffs? He did what I thought he could never do. He proved me wrong. And for me, Patriots fans and other New York Giant non-believers, well, they were proven wrong too. So confident that the Patriots would not let the Giants pull one over on them twice, these same people’s overconfidence cost them. With Manning leading the way on offense and Justin Tuck leading the way on defense with two sacks on Brady, it was hard to lose.

After watching the game, I thought back to an old WWE clip from three years ago by Edge(yeah, I like WWE, sue me.), where you can basically replace Edge for Eli and the crowd with everyone in New England. And you can bet Eli just wanted to gloat about his victory, just because of all the doubters that he did, in fact, prove wrong.

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Manning was doubted since the start. Since he got drafted by San Diego and demanded a trade then and there. Since he never really got off to the start people hoped from the number one overall pick in 2004. Since he played miserably in his first career playoff game. Since he never got out of his big brother’s shadow.

Well, now he has one more ring than his brother. Does that mean he’s better? No, not by any means. But this ring means more than 2007. A lot of things went the Giants way in that Super Bowl. In this one? The defense played exceptionally well, but Eli played like a veteran. He played like a star. He played like a leader. He joked about the ups and downs of the season during the Parade, and he walked and talked like a Champion.

I went against the Giants the whole way. I thought the Falcons would beat them in the Wild Card round. I thought the Packers would give them the reality check they needed. The opposite happened. I thought the 49ers would beat them in their first NFC Title game in over a decade. I thought there was no way the Patriots would lose to the same team twice in a row in the same season. No way they would let the Giants win not one, but TWO Super Bowls against them. I thought the old Eli would show up. The one we Philly fans know and love.

I was wrong, and, as much as it pains me to say it, I have nothing but respect for Eli, Tuck and this Giants team today. They deserved it.