My take on the game comes from this perspective. What does this game mean for Eli Manning and his career. It means a whole lot more than just winning the Super Bowl. He has already done that in a very memorable fashion. When it comes to memorable Super Bowls the last one that pit these two teams against each other takes the cake. The undefeated Patriots going up against the massive underdog NY Giants. The play that will forever be known as the helmet catch. When Eli Manning made Houdini look like an amateur escape artist and then heaved what was virtually a hail mary to David Tyree. Who proceeded to trap the ball against his helmet as he was being mugged by Rodney Harrison. No it wasn't a touchdown catch, but when that play took place there was little doubt what was coming next. Eli throws the TD pass and Brady was unable to answer. Eli got his ring.
But this one takes on a whole different meaning. This game very well may be more of a career defining game than that first Super Bowl for Manning. Why is this? Well there is a laundry list of reasons. Lets look at some of the bigger ones.
Eli Manning has spent pretty much his entire NFL career under the shadow of his big brother. The one exception being the Super Bowl win. Now Eli has a chance to really emerge from under that shadow and do it for good. As of right now Eli and Peyton each sit with 1 ring a piece. Peyton lost to New Orleans a couple years ago in his second Super Bowl. Now Eli has a chance to take the lead in that category, which some consider to be the biggest category of them all. Right now Peyton's future has a big question mark on it. Will he still be able to play at an elite level? Where will he be playing the rest of his career and how long will it last? Those are questions that don't have an answer. Along with those questions is the doubt that Peyton will ever get back to the big game. Eli could cement his place as the one with the most rings with a win tonight.
Eli also gets the chance to win it on his brothers home turf, against his brothers biggest QB rival. Which wraps up to more of the reasons why this is a big Super Bowl. The fact that he gets the chance to win the Super Bowl in his brothers stadium is the stuff made of movie scripts. And he also gets another crack at Brady. Brady is a guaranteed hall of fame QB. But can he get past Eli? He didn't do it the first time, he may not tonight either. If Eli wins this he will cement himself as Brady's nemesis.
Also a win tonight has to start the discussion for the Hall for Eli. Two Super Bowl trophies under the belt of a QB is always a nice thing going into hall voting. I don't think Eli could do it on numbers alone. Once again, he doesn't have the gaudy numbers that his brother has. Peyton could make it into the hall on numbers alone, the Super Bowl ring just adds to it. Eli can't make in on numbers alone. And one ring helps his case a little, but the addition of a second ring would put him on the path to Canton. You can say all you want about a QB but you can't argue rings.
My last reason is simple and goes back to this years preseason. Eli raised a stir with a statement he made, saying that he felt like he should be considered in the same class of QBs such as Brady, Brees, Rodgers and his brother. But that he got disrespected in that discussion. Most of the sports world laughed at this. Eli had a terrible year the year before, and once again had not been able to step out of that shadow of the lesser of the Mannings. Eli an elite QB? No way was this even conceivable. Well now 5 months later the mantra is you can't spell Elite without Eli. He has already backed his words up. Now he gets a chance to shove them down everyones throat. With one game he can beat the QB that he was considered less than. He can surpass his brother in the rings category and in doing so vault himself out of the shadow that is Peyton Manning. This is definitely the biggest game of Eli Manning's career.
________________________________________________________
Now to my pick. Some people tend to forget that the Giants already beat New England in Foxboro this year. The final score of that game was 24 - 20. The odds have New England by 2.5 last I checked. I find that amazing. The Patriots have one win against a team with a WINNING record this year. That team? The Baltimore Ravens, a game that was handed to them by the Ravens at the end of the game. A dropped TD and a missed chip shot FG (laces out!!!!) sent New England to Indy. The Patriots have had one of the worse Pass defenses in the league this year. Something I expect Elite...I mean Eli to pick apart. Now don't think that is going to stop Brady. Brady is a man on a mission. Something that leaves me shaking in my boots and I have no emotional interest in the game whatsoever. Bottom line is you don't want a determined Brady going against you in this game. That being said, the Giants have faced the two tougher teams so far. I believe they have been the best NFL team the past several weeks, and I think they are a more complete team than the Patriots are this year.
The key to the Giants success is the fact that Eli has not turned the ball over. And in order to win he has to keep it that way. Eli has to take care of the ball tonight. The Giants cannot afford to give the Patriots offense easy scoring opportunities. If Eli takes care of the football and plays like he has this whole postseason, then New York will win.
I say that Eli WILL do just that. My pick is Giants 28 - New England 24
