Eli-te, indeed: Giants emerge

And now there are two Super Bowl titles and two Most Valuable Player awards to prove it.

Eli Manning is the big man in the NFL after one-upping Tom Brady and leading the New York Giants to a 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots in Sunday’s Super Bowl — in older brother Peyton’s house, at that.

“This isn’t about one person,” Manning insisted. “This is about a team coming together.”

A team led by a quarterback who months ago claimed — to snickers throughout the league — that he belonged in the same stratosphere as Brady, and then proved it.

Just as Manning did four years ago when the Giants ruined New England’s unbeaten season, he guided them 88 yards to the decisive touchdown, which the Patriots didn’t contest as running back Ahmad Bradshaw ran 6 yards with 57 seconds left.

“Eli has had a great season. He made some great throws in the fourth quarter, and they deserved to win,” Brady said.

They got help from Patriots coach Bill Belichick, whose late-game risk didn’t turn out as he planned. Belichick reasoned the Giants would run down the clock and kick a short field goal, so he gambled by allowing the six points.

The ploy failed.

“Ball was inside the 10-yard line, a 90 percent field-goal conversion,” Belichick said. “Sure, could have done a better job in a lot of things.”

Manning did everything asked of him in the final minutes, a habit for the eight-year veteran. He’s beaten the Patriots in two thrilling Super Bowls. The Giants (13-7), who stood 7-7 in mid-December, now own the football world, and Manning owns two Super Bowl MVP awards, the same number as Brady.

It was a classic I-can-top-that showdown, with the outcome in doubt until the last pass fell to the turf as the last second ticked off the clock. Manning started with nine straight completions, a Super Bowl record; Brady hit 16 straight over the second and third quarters, breaking Joe Montana’s Super Bowl record of 13.

Manning finished 30 of 40 for 296 yards and one touchdown, while Brady was 27 of 41 for 276 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception.

“It’s been a wild game, a wild season,” Manning said.

Manning led six comeback victories during the season and set an NFL record with 15 fourth-quarter TD passes. He showed that brilliance in the clutch on the winning drive, completing five passes, starting with wide receiver Mario Manningham’s sensational 38-yard sideline catch.

On second down at the Patriots 6 and with one timeout remaining, Belichick had his defense stand up as Bradshaw took the handoff. Bradshaw thought about stopping short of the end zone, then tumbled in untouched.

“I was yelling to him, ‘Don’t score, don’t score,’ ” Manning said. “He tried to stop, but he fell into the end zone.”

Brady couldn’t answer in the final 57 seconds, although his heave into the end zone on the final play fell just beyond the grasp of lunging All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski. New England (15-4), winner of 10 straight since a loss to the Giants in November, was done.

Brady headed off with his head bowed, holding his helmet, still one short of the record four Super Bowl victories by Terry Bradshaw for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Montana for the San Francisco 49ers.

All around him was the wild celebration by the Giants, NFL champions for the eighth — and perhaps most unlikely — time.

“Great toughness, great faith and great plays by a number of guys today,” Manning said, deflecting some of the attention. Still, he beat Brady. And he went one better than Peyton, the Indianapolis Colts quarterback who has one ring but didn’t play this season as he recovered from neck surgery.

“It just feels good to win a Super Bowl. It doesn’t matter where you are,” Manning said.

It was the fifth trip to a Super Bowl for Brady and Belichick, tying the record. And it looked like a successful one when they stormed back from a 9-0 deficit and led 17-9 in the third quarter. But the Giants, who reached New England territory on every possession except a kneeldown at the end of the first half, got field goals of 38 and 33 yards from Lawrence Tynes. And it looked like Tynes, who kicked them into the Super Bowl four years ago at Green Bay and again this year at San Francisco, both in overtime, would get called on again.

Then Belichick, known to try just about anything in a game, took a risk that didn’t pay off.

The Giants are the first Super Bowl winner that was outscored during the regular season. They were 6-2 after that 24-20 victory at New England and then lost four straight and five of six.

Coach Tom Coughlin insisted “the prize” still was within reach. Now the Giants are holding tight to that Vince Lombardi Trophy.

“What I was concerned with was these guys making their own history,” Coughlin said. “This is such a wonderful thing, these guys carving their own history.”

Coughlin got his own piece of the record book as the oldest coach, at 65, to win a Super Bowl.

It was the Giants’ fourth Super Bowl championship, more than any franchise except Pittsburgh with six and San Francisco and Dallas with five, and they became the first team to finish the regular season 9-7 and win the title.

New England had the ball for all of one play in the first 11½ minutes, and that play was a failure, a rare poor decision by Brady. After Steve Weatherford’s punt was downed at the New England 6, Brady dropped to pass in the end zone and had time. With everyone covered and Giants defensive end Justin Tuck finally coming free to provide pressure, Brady heaved the ball downfield while in the pocket.

Only problem: No Patriots receivers were anywhere near the pass. The Giants were awarded a safety for Brady’s grounding in the end zone.

Manning couldn’t have been more on target early, hitting six receivers in the first period. He also was aided by Bradshaw, who hardly looked like a running back with a bad foot. He broke a 24-yard run, and New England made a critical mistake by having 12 men on the field on a third-and-3 on which the Giants fumbled.

Instead, New York got a first down at the 6, and two plays later wide receiver Victor Cruz beat safety James Ihedigbo on a slant to make it 9-0, prompting Cruz to break into his signature salsa move.

Manning’s first incompletion didn’t come until 1:19 into the second quarter.

At that point, it was 9-3 after Stephen Gostkowski’s 29-yard field goal. The Patriots got to the New York 11, but All-Pro defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul blocked a third-down pass.

Soon after, when the Patriots had a three-and-out and Pierre-Paul blocked another throw, Belichick and offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien had a quick discussion. Then O’Brien, soon to take over as Penn State coach, went over to the struggling Brady.

The talk must’ve helped. On the opening half’s final series, Brady was masterful. Starting at his 4, and ignoring the last time the Patriots began a series in the shadow of the end zone, he was vintage Brady.

With New York’s vaunted pass rush disappearing, Brady went 10-for-10 for 98 yards, capping the drive that included two Patriots penalties with running back Danny Woodhead’s 4-yard TD reception with eight seconds to go in the half. Tight end Aaron Hernandez and Woodhead each had four catches on the drive that, stunningly, put New England ahead despite being outplayed for so much of the first 30 minutes.

Brady kept firing — and hitting — in the third quarter, with five more completions. The Giants didn’t come within shouting distance of the record-setting quarterback. He capped a 79-yard drive to open the second half with a 12-yard touchdown to Hernandez, but then the game turned. Again.

Consecutive field goals by Tynes brought New York within 17-15. Brady then threw deep for Gronkowski after weaving away from two pass rushers. His throw was short, and linebacker Chase Blackburn picked it off early in the fourth quarter.