New York Giants Over Patriots Unsurprising, Manning Elevates to Top Tier

Huge win today for the G Men. Thanks for all the support and helping silence the haters. Let's keep it rolling.

I am a fighter, I fight where I am told and I win where I fight... George Patton... Great win Giants way to fight and win in Foxboro!

New York Giants players are normally as quiet as Eli Manning is in publicly conveying their emotions, but today may have warranted an exuberance of joy and satisfaction. David Diehl, who wrote the first comment on Twitter, and Jake Ballard, who wrote the second, may finally be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

The Giants, to some, stunned the Patriots on Sunday, 24-20, but if you look at the way the Giants played, nothing was really surprising about the win. They basically did the same thing Sunday as they did in their THEN-stunning Super Bowl XLII against the Pats: they played good defense, ran the ball effectively and came back from behind during the final drive of the game.

And, when you look back on it, the Super Bowl win was more stunning because the Patriots were 18-0, the men among boys. But this season, the Giants knew that when Tom Brady is pressured, things go right. Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell was able to mix and match coverages and schemes well. The Giants ended up recording two sacks, two picks and a forced fumble, and are now sitting atop the NFC East at 6-2, having won six out of seven.

Give credit, too, to Brandon Jacobs who vowed that he would play a bigger role filling in for the injured Ahmad Bradshaw. He was very Bradshaw-like, running and catching the ball efficiently for 100 total yards. After the game, Jacobs was even reported to have lifted Tom Coughlin on his shoulders in excitement. To get Tom Coughlin in on the action, and for Coughlin to allow it, is saying just how meaningful the victory was from his own, Coughlin's and the team's standpoint.

Give even more credit to Peyton's little brother...no, wait...Eli Manning. There may not be another win on the schedule that solidifies him as a top-tier quarterback at this point in his career as much as the one against the Pats in Foxboro does.

What really kept most from believing in Manning's ability, to advance to the next level, was the 36-25 debacle against the Seahawks in Week 5. It's clear that game should have been won. And, if it was, the Giants would be 7-1, most undeniably, one of the, if not THE best team in the NFC and possibly the NFL. And Manning would have been saved from enormous criticism a long time ago.

Yes, Eli Manning may not have the consistent big plays or consistent big games like Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers. But he has consistently led his team to victory this season. He's top five in passing yards and top five in quarterback rating. And, most importantly, he has five picks thus far, considering he had 25 last year.

Nevertheless, the schedule for the Giants gets tougher with the San Francisco 49ers coming up next Sunday. They have a scary defense and a great running game that has merited a 7-1 record. If Manning is pressured, the same way the Giants pressured Brady, the 49ers will walk away the victors.

And then, the scrutiny surrounding Manning will begin to heat up again.