Super Bowl 2012: 3 Reasons Eli Manning Will Prove He Is Elite with a Win

When Eli Manning told 1050 ESPN New York that he believed he was in the same class as Tom Brady, he became the laughing stock of the NFL.

He was coming off of a season that saw him throw a career-high 25 interceptions, all while missing the playoffs for the second straight season.

Now, the reserved quarterback of the New York Giants has his team in prime position to conquer its second Super Bowl championship in five seasons.

But this season has been different than that of 2007.

Manning doesn't have a running game averaging 134.3 YPG or a No. 7-ranked defense that allowed less than 208 passing yards per game.

With a victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI, Manning's second Super Bowl ring should be the deciding factor that he is, in fact, an elite quarterback.

Here are three reasons Eli Manning will be considered an elite quarterback with a win in Indy on Sunday.

He'll Own Two Super Bowl Rings

Elite quarterbacks win multiple Super Bowl championships.

Just ask Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, Jim Plunkett, John Elway and Bob Griese, who all sports two shiny rings.

Although Manning doesn't usually give the candid post-game interviews that teammate Brandon Jacobs does, his comments in August left him on an island of scrutiny.

But Manning extinguished the fire burning inside each and every one of his critics.

This season saw Manning win six games when trailing in the fourth quarter and post a 110.0 passer rating in the fourth quarter, the highest of his career. 

Manning, along with the tenacious defensive line of the Giants, is the reason that New York has reached its second Super Bowl in five seasons.

No.10 wasn't able to rely on the running game of the G-Men in 2011, as they averaged an NFL-worst 89.2 rushing YPG, leaving the fate of the season on his right arm.

The Mississippi alumnus threw for more than 300 yards in eight games and 400 yards or more in three games during the regular season, all while leading the Big Blue to the postseason.

Warren Moon, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly and Frank Tarkenton are all considered elite quarterbacks by most even though they never won a Super Bowl, so it's obvious that Manning would join that company with two Super Bowl rings.

He'll Have Beaten Brady and Belichick Twice on the Big Stage

MVP Tom Brady and head coaching genius Bill Belichick are one of the best head coach-quarterback combos in NFL History—and, more importantly, on the big stage.

And if Eli Manning cracks the code for the second time in his career, surely it will affirm Manning's status as an elite quarterback.

San Francisco's Bill Walsh and Joe Montana (3-0), Pittsburgh's Chuck Noll and Terry Bradshaw (4-0) and Dallas' Tom Landry and Roger Staubach (2-2) have all cemented their names into Super Bowl history. And with a win this Sunday in Indianapolis, Manning and Giants' head coach Tom Coughlin will be one step closer to doing the same.

Belichick sports a resume that includes 15 career playoff wins, which is five behind all-time leader Tom Landry. His three Super Bowl wins and four Conference Championships aren't too shabby either.

Super Bowl XLII saw an undefeated Patriots team, that were almost guaranteed victory over a Wild Card underdog Giants squad, fall to Manning and Coughlin, 17-14.

Manning has been steamrolling through the postseason, posting elite numbers: eight touchdowns, one interception, a 61.8 percent completion percentage and a 103.1 passer rating.

If Manning and the Giants leave Indy with another Super Bowl victory, you'll start to hear rumblings of the Manning-Coughlin tandem being ranked among the best of them. 

He'll Have Won More Super Bowls Than His Brother

Before his career-threatening neck injury that sidelined him for the entire 2011 NFL season, Peyton Manning was regarded by many as an elite quarterback.

His greatest performance came during the 2004 regular season, when he threw for 4,557 yards, 49 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, all while posting a 67.6 completion percentage—the highest of his career. 

For all his greatness—399 career touchdowns and a 94.9 passer rating—the four-time MVP has just one Super Bowl victory to his name. In a world where we define greatness by how many championships a player has won, it seems as though Peyton Manning may go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history to win just one Super Bowl ring.

Although Manning has only one Super Bowl win, he's still known as one of the greatest to play the quarterback position. So why wouldn't his brother be the same, especially with two Super Bowl championships under his belt?

A player can put together one of the greatest regular seasons of all time (i.e. Tom Brady in 2007), but if they don't win a championship, that player will usually tell you that the season was wasted.

Eli Manning has made the most of his postseason career, posting a 7-3 record, with 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions.  At 31, he's only two playoff wins behind his 35-year-old brother Peyton, and his career postseason passer rating is a mere 0.9 points less than No. 18's. 

If Manning and the Giants leave Indianapolis victorious, he'll once and for all cement himself as an elite quarterback in the NFL.