VINCE MAROTTA

Eli’s elite, and everything else Super Bowl XLVI

Feb 6, 2012, 6:22 PM | Updated: 10:31 pm

When Super Bowl XLVI was on the line, Eli Manning took
control.

Yes, Eli Manning.

Trailing 17-15 with only 3:46 on the clock and one timeout
remaining, Manning led the New York Giants on a 9-play,
88-yard touchdown drive that gave the G-Men their second
Super Bowl championship in five years.

On the drive, Manning completed 5 of 6 passes for 74
yards, including a 38-yarder to Mario Manningham that is
now included among the signature plays in the history of
football’s biggest game.

After the game, Manning became just the fifth player in
history to win the Super Bowl MVP award more than once,
joining Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana and Tom
Brady.

Yet somehow, some around the country are questioning
whether or not Eli is among the “elite” quarterbacks in
the game, or is just maybe moving toward the elite level.

Are you kidding me?

Of course Eli Manning is an elite quarterback. He’s in
the club with Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Ben
Roethlisberger and his older brother, Peyton. Period.
End of story.

Manning has put up similar regular season numbers to all
other current quarterbacks in the “elite” category in the
last five years, and he’s been even better in the
playoffs. He’s led the Giants to an 8-1 postseason
record, with
seven of those wins coming away from the Meadowlands.

And in that five-year stretch, he’s the only one with two
rings.

Eli’s elite. No question about it.


Welker’s drop: With just about four minutes to
play, the Patriots had possession of the football and a
two-point lead. On 2nd down, Tom Brady threw a deep pass
down the left numbers to a wide-open Wes Welker, the man
who
caught more passes than anybody in the NFL in 2011.

The pass was a tad high, but ultimately catchable. Welker
stretched out to catch it, but it squirted through his
hands, falling incomplete at the Giants’ 20-yard line.
Two plays later, the Pats would punt. Three minutes
later, the Giants scored to take the lead that would stand
up for the victory.

Welker took responsibility for the loss. “It hit me right
in the hands. I mean, it’s a play I never
drop, I always make,” he said after the game.

But that’s not exactly right. Welker did catch more
passes than anyone this season. But he also dropped
more than almost every receiver too. According to
ProFootballFocus.com
, Welker dropped 13 of the 169
passes that were thrown his way on the year.


Halftime Schmalftime: Don’t you think that an event
as hyped as the Bridgestone Super Bowl Halftime Show
featuring a colossal star should actually include some
actual singing?

Madonna became the latest superstar to grace the stage for
the halftime spectacular, and lip-synched and awkwardly
“danced” her way through a 4-song set that included
“Vogue”, “Like a Prayer” and some other new song that
apparently you can download on iTunes, if that’s your bag.

I don’t hate Madonna. I was in my formative teenage years
when she became a pop phenomenon. Heck, I even owned a
Madonna cassette at one point of my adolescence (True Blue
– and it was a birthday gift).

What I do dislike is the fact that a normal NFL halftime
is 12 minutes long. On Super Bowl Sunday, it’s 30 minutes
long. In the biggest game of the year, and for a lot of
players and coaches, the biggest game of their lives,
they’re asked to adjust their routines so Bridgestone can
sell a few more tires.

I realize that everything about the Super Bowl screams
“showbiz”, and the halftime show definitely falls into
that category. But when it potentially affects the
quality of the game, that’s when it’s got to go.


About the quality of the game: On Arizona Sports 620’s Facebook page Sunday
night, we posted a question about where the Giants’
victory over New England ranked all-time.

I was almost shocked to see as much criticism as I did.

Here’s a sampling…

“Pretty sloppy game by teams we’ve seen in
this match up
recently. Not a great super bowl.”

“mediocre bowl”

“I would give the game at best about a 6. Up until about
the last 7 minutes…a 4. Boring game. Very few big plays
on offence or defense. Looked more like a week 2 game.”

I don’t rate this as the best Super Bowl ever (that honor
goes to Arizona-Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLIII), but this
was a very good football game.

There were only 42 yards in penalties, one turnover, the
quarterbacks completed over 70% of their passes combined,
it featured one of the more memorable single plays in the
history of the game, and the last play was a potential
game-winning Hail Mary pass.

Outside the lack of big plays on offense, this was a great
ball game.

Vince Marotta

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Eli’s elite, and everything else Super Bowl XLVI