By Dean Michaels, NFL Writer
Eli Manning
New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning won his second Super Bowl last season, collecting his second Super BowlMVP award in the process.
Manning became the fifth player in NFL history to win multiple Super Bowl MVP honors, joining JOE MONTANA (three) and TOM BRADY, TERRY BRADSHAW and BART STARR (two).
The players to win multiple Super Bowl MVP awards:
Joe Montana (3 MVPs)
XVI: San Francisco 26, Cincinnati 21 14 of 22, 157 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 100.0 rating
XIX: San Francisco 38, Miami 16 24 of 35, 331 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT 127.2 rating
XXIV: San Francisco 55, Denver 10 22 of 29, 297 yards, 5 TD, 0 INT, 147.6 rating
Bart Starr (2 MVPs)
I: Green Bay 35, Kansas City 10 16 of 23, 250 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 116.2 rating
II: Green Bay 33, Oakland 14 13 of 24, 202 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 96.2 rating
Terry Bradshaw (2 MVPs)
XIII: Pittsburgh 35, Dallas 31 17 of 30, 318 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT, 119.2 rating
XIV: Pittsburgh 31, L.A. Rams 19 14 of 21, 309 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT, 101.9 rating
Tom Brady (2 MVPs)
XXXVI: New England 20, St. Louis 17 16 of 27, 145 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 86.2 rating
XXXVIII: New England 32, Panthers 29 32 of 48, 354 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, 100.5 rating
Eli Manning (2 MVPs)
XLII: N.Y. Giants 17, New England 14 19 of 34, 255 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 87.3 rating
XLVI: N.Y. Giants 21, New England 17 30 of 40, 296 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 103.8 rating
With New England clinging to a two-point lead late in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLVI, Manning orchestrated a nine-play, 88-yard game-winning drive that culminated with a six-yard touchdown run by AHMAD BRADSHAW with 57 seconds remaining. It marked Manning's fifth game-winning drive in the fourth quarter of a postseason game, one of just four quarterbacks to have done so since 1970 along with Brady (seven), JOHN ELWAY (six) and Montana (five).
The quarterbacks with at least five game-winning fourth-quarter drives in the postseason since 1970:
Tom Brady New England 7*
John Elway Denver 6
Joe Montana San Francisco, Kansas City 5
Eli Manning New York Giants 5*
*Active
"I don't feel pressure," says Manning, who set a Super Bowl record by completing his first nine passes to start this year's title game. "I know my assignments. I try to read the defenses. I know the plays. I try to make plays."
Manning's late-game Super Bowl heroics were no surprise after a regular season filled with stellar fourth-quarter performances.
He recorded 15 fourth-quarter touchdown passes in 2011, surpassing Pro Football Hall of Famer JOHNNY UNITAS (1959) and his brother PEYTON (2002) for the most in a single season in NFL history.
The players with the most fourth-quarter touchdown passes in a season in NFL history:
Eli Manning, New York Giants 2011 15
Johnny Unitas, Baltimore Colts 1959 14
Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts 2002 14
"He makes big play after big play," says Giants President and CEO JOHN MARA of his Pro Bowl quarterback. "I never cease to be amazed. He's pretty special."
Manning's excellence was not limited to the fourth quarter, however. He enjoyed the most prolific passing season in the New York Giants' 87-year history, passing for a franchise record 4,933 yards. Manning also joined Pro Football Hall of Famer DAN MARINO as the only players in NFL history to have at least three 400-yard passing games in a season.
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