Eli Manning had the best season of his career. He had record-setting fourth-quarter statistics. He cut down on his interceptions. He led a high-scoring offense despite having the worst-ranked rushing attack in the NFL. And he was named the Super Bowl MVP.
But the Giants are champions because of their defensive transformation.
Manning was the one constant on a struggling team, but the Giants elevated from mediocre to championship caliber when the defense drastically changed.
During a stretch in the second half of the regular season, New York lost five of six by allowing 31.3 points a game.
Coming off a 23-10 loss to the Redskins in Week 15, the Giants were 7-7 and had to win their final two games just to make the playoffs.
Then something happened, and the defense didn’t allow a team to score more than 20 points the rest of the season, allowing just 14 points a game during the Giants’ six-game winning streak.
With each victory, the defense was more impressive.
It began against the Jets. The Giants hounded Mark Sanchez, sacking him five times, intercepting him twice and allowing just 4.37 yards per pass attempt.
When they faced the Cowboys in the regular-season finale, the Giants had six sacks and held the Cowboys scoreless in the first half as they raced to a 21-0 lead.
In the wild-card round, the Giants shut out the Falcons’ offense and held NFC leading rusher Michael Turner to 41 yards on 15 carries.
Against the Packers’ league-leading scoring offense, the Giants held Aaron Rodgers and Co. 15 points below their season average.
In the NFC Championship game, the 49ers went 1-for-13 on third downs against New York.
And in the Super Bowl, the Patriots tied a season-low with 17 points.
Manning will get most of the credit for his late-game heroics, but the Giants never would have made their Super Bowl run without a complete defensive metamorphosis.
– Jeffrey Tomik
