Tyree an Unlikely Giant Savior

Beating the Patriots took a healthy dose of improv

(NEWSER) - Facing a team and coach renowned for their preparation, Eli Manning did the smart thing: He improvised. Some of Manning’s most astounding plays in Super Bowl XLII didn’t appear in the playbook, and that includes the miraculous game-saving pass to David Tyree that saw Manning scramble as never before. No amount of spying could have prepared Tom Brady’s crew, writes ESPN’s John Clayton. More»

Prognostications out in from informed and clueless alike

(NEWSER) - Seems everyone has an idea about how things will go down tonight in Phoenix. The Vegas line currently hovers around 12 points in the Patriots' favor, but the Giants' Plaxico Burress has already promised a 23-17 upset victory by his team. ESPN's experts don't have a consensus prediction, although the overwhelming favorite seems to be the Pats. More»

But in Super Bowl XLVI, Manning made a hero of himself

(NEWSER) - Last night's big game was intensely fought, undeniably exciting—and a little mystifying, thanks to Eli Manning's unusual brand of heroism. Analysts weigh in on the game's place in football history:

• Last night brought us "the most Eli Manning moment of Eli Manning’s career." During the game-winning touchdown, we saw "a hero shot in which the conqueror looks totally confused by his conquest," with "arms half-raised in quasi-triumph." His quiet humility was the polar opposite of Tom Brady's "aggro posture," but it remains "difficult to understand," writes Josh Levin at Slate .

Tom Brady has minute to win it, but New England Patriots can't pull it off

(AP) - Eli Manning and the Giants one-upped Tom Brady and the Patriots again, coming back with a last-minute score to beat New England 21-17 for New York's fourth Super Bowl title. It was a rematch of the 2008 NFL championship, when Manning led New York past New England to ruin the Patriots' bid for a perfect season. This was the first Super Bowl with two starting quarterbacks who previously won the big game's MVP award—and they took turns being brilliant. More»

How the younger Manning turned his vices into virtues with one improbable drive

(NEWSER) - It took a while for New Yorkers to warm to Eli Manning and his quiet intensity, Kevin Conley writes in a profile of the Giants quarterback in Men’s Vogue, but he turned the town around with one miraculous drive—and a Super Bowl win. Manning, who lives in Hoboken, is press shy, but among his team, he’s known as a prankster. More»