Super Bowl 2012: Eli Manning and Players with Most to Lose on Super Sunday

The Super Bowl is a stage where players can shine brighter than they ever have. But there's always a flip side, and in this case that means certain stars will fall flat in front of millions of people around the world. That's tough to bounce back from no matter what your legacy has been.

Here are three players with the most to lose in Indianapolis.

Eli Manning

A couple months ago, Manning's New York Giants were on the brink of playoff elimination and, as expected, he was receiving more than his fair share of the blame. The team's recent run has changed things in a big way for Manning.

Instead of being a goat, he's now being mentioned in the same breath as Tom Brady and Peyton Manning in terms of an overall résumé. That's quite the turnaround, but one poor performance will stop that positive momentum in its tracks.

Manning isn't as good as Brady or his brother in terms of being a pure passer, so he relies more heavily on his defense to help him. If that unit doesn't step up, he'll be exposed and will slide back down the QB ladder.

Tom Brady

Speaking of Brady, he has a lot on the line as well. Everybody can agree he's one of the best quarterbacks to ever grace an NFL field, but he hasn't claimed the league's ultimate prize for nearly seven years.

Gone are the days of a dominant defense helping Brady win rings, and he simply hasn't been as successful having to do the heavy lifting by himself. He needs another Super Bowl triumph to cement his legacy before the doubters start chirping.

Above all else, sports are overly dependent on recent results. So if Brady fails to claim the Lombardi Trophy again this season, he'll hear more questions than ever about his ability to dominate like he once did.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis

Green-Ellis doesn't receive much attention in New England because the offense is so reliant on the passing game, but he could very well be playing for his starting job next weekend. While he led the team in rushing during the regular season, he averaged less than four yards per carry.

The Patriots need some semblance of a running game to take the immense heat off Brady. If the “Law Firm” can't provide it, Bill Belichick and Co. will likely spend the offseason trying to find somebody who can.

That's a lot of pressure for Green-Ellis, who has a group of players waiting to jump at the opportunity should he fail to impress in the early going. He needs a truly dominant performance to fend off any questions about his future.