Eli Manning's Giant Killers

      Oops, they did it again. They beat the favored, streaking, seemingly unbeatable Patriots again. Just like the last time, the Super Bowl, in January 2008, the Patriots had been on a protracted win streak. In 2008 of course the streak was season long which saw the Patriots win their first 18 games of the year. This time the Giants broke the Patriots 20 game home winning streak going back to 2008. For good measure, the Patriots hadn't lost a home game to an NFC team in almost 10 years, an 18 game winning streak-there's the number 18 again.

    Is it possible that some people will now reconsider their shock that Eli suggested in the Summer that he is in the same class as Brady? I mean if Brady is first tier and Eli's second tier and yet second tier always wins...

    While this game was not simply about the 2008 Super Bowl meeting it is appropriate that the Giants have beaten them the same way again. A case can be made that the Giants have always been seen as lucky that year that the feeling has been they didn't wholly deserve credit for it. They came into this game viewed much as they were back in 2008-as underdogs that obviously weren't quite at the level of Brady and company.

    For those who still refuse to give Manning credit I guess a house needs to fall on you. As Justin Tuck put it after his defense gave up a TD pass to Brady that undid Manning's work in driving for a score in the previous possession, "At this point, as crappy as you feel, you're still understanding that we're putting the ball in the hands of one of the best quarterbacks in the league."

    "He's proven over and over again that he can drive a team down the field and get that last-second score. After he started getting going and those yards stared rolling a little bit, I had no doubt that we were going to win the football game."

    If by now you are not "understanding of this" you never will be. This whole team has the personality of its leader-Tiki was wrong about his leadership ability too-discounted, its past accomplishments explained away as just luck, etc.

     The rap on them coming into this week was they "hadn't played anyone" even though that had beaten Buffalo who came in to the game undefeated and who had beaten the Patriots already. No one can claim that anymore.

     To be sure, the Gaints' schedule is a bitch. They play the 7-1 Niners this week, then the Eagles, Saints, Packers, Dallas twice, and the Redskins who beat them soundly in week one. Still just like there is no one you want anymore than Eli in a big spot-yesterday was his 5th fourth quarter this year-there is no team you like more for playing such a stretch of games. They proved it yet again yesterday.