Image courtesy NFL.com

How's this for a shocker?  The New York Giants won Super Bowl XLII 17-14 over the nearly perfect New England Patriots, and Eli Manning was named the MVP of the game.  No, this isn't some strange New York fairytale.  Eli Manning really did win the Super Bowl MVP.  He and the Giants just have played amazing ever since Week 17 when they gave it their all against the Patriots the first time, and that actually paid off as it gave them confidence in last night's match-up.

For the first three quarters of this game it was really a defensive struggle between the Pats and Giants.  New England led 7-3 in the fourth quarter, but Manning found David Tyree in the endzone to give the G-Men the lead.  

The Pats answered back soon after when Tom Brady found Randy Moss in the endzone, putting New England ahead 14-10.  New York got the ball back needing a touchdown and put the game in the hands of Eli Manning, and he didn't disappoint.  

Manning got the ball moving down the field and made an unbelievable play to set up the game-winning TD.  Manning was facing intense pressure and should have been sacked, but he somehow escaped the pass rush and threw up a prayer for David Tyree.  Tyree jumped up and miraculously caught the ball for a big gain, putting the Giants in position to score.

Four plays after the pass to Tyree, Manning dropped back to pass and threw up a fade to Plaxico Burress in the endzone.  Burress beat the defender covering him and made the catch to put New York on top 17-14.

With only 35 seconds left, Tom Brady and company would have to pull off a quick drive to get in field goal range, but the tough Giants defense wasn't going to allow that.  The defense was the biggest reason aside from Eli Manning's stellar play why the Giants won, and they kept their great game going for one last drive.  Brady couldn't get anything going and threw up a prayer on fourth and long that wasn't answered, giving the Giants a 17-14 win and the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Congrats to the Giants on an amazing run in the playoffs to win the Super Bowl.  And congrats to the Patriots on a truly remarkable season that ended up being one win short of perfection.