New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning was a player who saved his biggest moments for the biggest games, twice topping Tom Brady and the dynasty New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.
In both of those Super Bowls, Manning walked away with the MVP and essentially etched his name into the annals of NFL history. It’s also the most common argument in favor Manning’s eventually Hall of Fame candidacy.
But how did those Manning performances stack up over the course of history? Well, Pro Football Focus recently asked that very question and ranked quarterback performances from every Super Bowl since 2006, also including the years 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004.
Manning’s Super Bowl XLII performance checked in at No. 11 overall.
11. ELI MANNING, NEW YORK GIANTS — SUPER BOWL XLII
Manning led the Giants to one of the biggest Super Bowl upsets in history over the Patriots in 2007-08. They ruined the Patriots’ perfect season, and Eli’s fourth quarter is a large reason why. Overall in the game, Eli put together the second most big-time throws in a Super Bowl we have seen (5) — and four of those came in the fourth quarter. He had an 88.0 passing grade that quarter (68.5 in the first three quarters) and came up huge when under pressure at that time by completing all three of his pressured attempts for 53 yards.
Not bad. Not bad at all, but Manning’s play in Super Bowl XLII pales in comparison to his performance in Super Bowl XLVI, which is one of the highest-graded Super Bowl performances in history.
2. ELI MANNING, NEW YORK GIANTS — SUPER BOWL XLVI
Whether or not Eli Manning belongs in the Hall of Fame is another topic of discussion, but he did have the second-best Super Bowl performance by a quarterback of the 36 PFF has graded. Eli had four big-time throws and no turnover-worthy plays for the game and was near perfect when throwing under pressure. He had 14 pass attempts under duress and had a perfect adjusted completion percentage while averaging 9.3 yards per attempt.
The only performance to earn a higher grade than Manning in Super Bowl XLVI was the Super Bowl XLV performance of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who is still looking up at Eli in terms of championship rings.
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