With the Giants beating the Patriots Sunday night, this gives Eli Manning two Super Bowl wins. His brother Peyton has won only one championship. Eli led New York’s offense on yet another fourth quarter game-winning drive, giving him seven overall this season – a feat that is nothing short of amazing.

The run Eli put together this year has been a great one, it brings up a legitimate question. Is Eli as good as Peyton?

Before Sunday’s performance, I would have answered with a definite “No,” but this was his second Super Bowl win over possibly one of the best quarterbacks ever – Tom Brady.

If we look at Eli’s numbers in the game, he was 30 of 40 on pass attempts and had 296 yards and one touchdown. A good game, especially because he didn’t turn the ball over even once.

In 2008′s Super Bowl, also won by Eli and the Giants over The Patriots, Eli went 19 of 34 in passing with two touchdowns. These are two great performances when it counts the most.

Some of you may remember back to 2008, when David Tyree had “The Catch” that extended the Eli led game-winning drive, shown here.

Peyton has had his share of stellar performances as well on one of the biggest stages in sports. In a victory over the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI in 2006, Payton completed 25 of 38 passes for 247 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He accomplished this in spite of a very stingy Bears defense.

In a loss to the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV in 2009, Peyton was 31 of 45 in passing for a total of 333 yards. He had one touchdown and one interception. You may also remember that the interception he threw was returned for a touchdown by Tracy Porter, which was one of the most important plays of the game.

The stats put up by the Manning brothers in Super Bowls are very similar, with Eli leading with two rings. I believe this puts Eli in the conversation with the best in the league and on par with Peyton. Is he better than Peyton? Who knows, but he has earned the right to be seen on the same level as his brother. A lot must fall into place, but maybe next year we will see a Manning vs. Manning Super Bowl. Only then will our question be answered.

 

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