In 2008, the New York Giants entered the Super Bowl as heavy underdogs to the undefeated New England Patriots. The Giants went on to stun the Patriots with a 17–14 victory in one of the most exciting Super Bowls in recent memory.
The Giants will now enter Super Bowl XLVI as three-and-a-half point underdogs to the once again favored Patriots, but the result will be the same.
Tom Brady has had a lot of postseason success with three Super Bowl victories and garners the majority of the attention when dissecting this quarterback matchup.
However, Eli Manning, who holds the NFL record for road playoff wins with five, is also an elite quarterback who is 2-0 in his career against Brady, Bill Belichick and the Patriots.
New York may have entered the playoffs with a 9-7 record, but the Giants are on a five-game winning streak and are the hottest team in the league right now.
No team has ever won the big game after a 9-7 regular season, but Manning, Victor Cruz and Ahmad Bradshaw will capitalize on New England’s 31st-ranked defense. The Patriots allowed just over 21 points and 411 yards per game in the regular season. They have only allowed 15 points per game in their two playoffs victories, but are yet to face an offense as potent as they one they will face in Indianapolis.
This won’t be the first time the two teams meet this season, either. The Giants beat the Patriots 24–20 in Foxboro, despite a pedestrian performance from Manning.
The former Super Bowl MVP threw for a mediocre 250 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. It is hard to envision Manning, who is averaging 308 passing yards per game in the playoffs, struggling twice in one season against a defense that allowed the second most passing yards per game in the regular season.
The front-seven for the Giants has been among the best at getting to the quarterback this postseason, which does not bode well for Brady as he struggled against the pass rush in New England’s AFC Championship Game victory over the Baltimore Ravens.
There is no doubting the on-field excellence of Brady. In a radio interview with WEPN-AM 1050 in New York prior to the season, Manning gave praise to the Patriots' star.
“Tom Brady is a great quarterback, he's a great player and what you've seen with him is he's gotten better every year,” Manning said. “He started off winning championships and I think he's a better quarterback now than what he was, in all honesty, when he was winning those championships.”
Still, it is Manning who has been delivering in the clutch during this postseason, not Brady.
Brady threw for a mere 239 yards and no touchdowns in the Patriots’ victory against the Ravens. As the team held onto a three-point, fourth quarter lead, Brady completed just two of his six pass attempts for a measly 13 yards. He also threw one of his two interceptions during that stretch.
Conversely, Manning rose to the occasion in both the fourth quarter and overtime of the Giants’ win over the 49ers, completing 12 of 21 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown.
In the radio interview, Manning said “I consider myself in that class,” when he was asked if he would rank himself alongside Brady and other elite NFL quarterbacks. Two Sundays from now, he will validate that statement.
Yes, the Patriots have a talented offense with a dual tight end threat of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Yes, the Patriots are favored to take home the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Yes, a team with a 9-7 regular season record has never won a Super Bowl.
However, the Patriots were also favored in 2008 — and history has a tendency to repeat itself.
Reach the columnists at william.boor@asu.edu and tpaxton@asu.edu
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