Legacy Stock Watch for Patriots, Giants Stars, Post-Super Bowl Edition

The playoffs are the time when players become stars and where stars create legacies.

Eli Manning and the New York Giants once again trumped Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. The game went down to the wire, as many predicted, and Manning further cemented his legacy as a big-game stud.

With that in mind, I want to take a look at how the stars from both teams affected their legacies with their performances in the big game.

Chad Ochocinco

Stock: Down

My, how the mighty have fallen. 

Chad Ochocinco once wore a jacket in the preseason Hall of Fame game that read, "Future H.O.F." That outlook is highly unlikely at this point in his career.

Ochocinco was targeted once in Super Bowl XLVI. He made the most out of his time, catching a 21-yard pass from Tom Brady. 

Still, it's a far cry from what Ochocinco had planned for himself back in the day. 

Brandon Jacobs

Stock: Up

Brandon Jacobs may never be the kind of back everyone wishes he would be, but he's the kind of back who now has two rings on his fingers.

He wasn't a huge part of the gameplan for the Giants, but he played his part well, carrying the ball nine times for 37 yards (4.1 yards per carry).

He ran with purpose and toughness, softening up the Patriots defense for his partner-in-crime, Ahmad Bradshaw.

I have questions about whether or not Jacobs will be on the Giants' 2012 opening day roster, but his contribution to the team's championship won't go unappreciated.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis

Stock: Slightly Down

BenJarvus Green-Ellis played a limited role in the Patriots' offensive gameplan. The Pats ran 60 offensive plays, but only ran the ball 19 times, with Green-Ellis running the ball only ten times for 44 yards. 

He also caught two passes for 15 yards, but for the most part Green-Ellis was just a spectator like all the rest.

Victor Cruz

Stock: Up

Victor Cruz didn't have big numbers in the Super Bowl, but that was due to the fact that Bill Belichick decided to double-team him after the first Giants scoring drive. Cruz lit the Patriots up in that drive and caught the only touchdown of the game for the Giants.

For the day, Cruz only caught four balls for 25 yards, but he was only targeted four times. The Patriots took him out of the equation, which shows how far he has actually come this year.

His star treatment allowed Eli Manning to torch the Giants with his other two receivers, who were getting single-covered as a result.

Cruz broke Amani Toomer's team record for most receiving yards in 2011, and I can't wait to see what he's going to do next.

Rob Gronkowski

Stock: Steady

I have no doubt in my mind that the Super Bowl would have gone down a whole lot differently if Rob Gronkowski had been healthy.

Instead, Gronkowski had a horrible overall performance, the highlights of which were Chase Blackburn's interception and the last-second Hail Mary pass that Gronk was unable to reach due to his bum ankle.

His Super Bowl performance has no bearing on his legacy, though. If anything, it's going to make him work his butt off all offseason to get back on the field and prove 2011 wasn't a fluke.

Jason Pierre-Paul

Stock: Steady

Jason Pierre-Paul didn't have the stats to prove it, but he was a disruptive force for the Giants defense, and he was a thorn in Tom Brady's side all game long. He batted down a couple of passes on the line of scrimmage, frustrating the Patriots rhythm on offense. 

He proved once again that he is one of the brightest young defensive stars in the NFL with his performance in Super Bowl XLVI, and the scary part is that it seems like he's still got plenty of upside. 

It's hard to say where the ceiling might be for JPP, but he's going to be a force in the NFL for a long time, provided he can stay healthy.

Vince Wilfork

Stock: Down

Vince Wilfork was largely ineffective in Super Bowl XLVI. He had been on a tremendous playoff run before laying an egg on Super Bowl Sunday. Wilfork only came away with three tackles. He failed to hit Eli Manning a single time, as well.

He has got to be crushed about it, too. WIlfork was one of the players who was deeply effected by the loss of Myra Kraft, late wife of Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and had wanted to win the game for her.

Hakeem Nicks

Stock: Up

Hakeem Nicks is slowly working his name into the conversation of the top five wide receivers in the NFL.

He put together a masterful performance in Super Bowl XLVI, hauling in ten catches for 109 yards. This was all the more impressive when you realize he's was gutting it out with a shoulder injury that was further aggravated when Patrick Chung laid into him with the biggest hit of the game.

Nicks has gotten better every year he's been in the league, and I fully expect him to continue the upward trend in 2012.

Matt Light

Stock: Up

Matt Light played lights out. He gave Tom Brady all the time he needed while dealing with Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul as they lined up all over the place. 

Tuck ended up with two sacks, the only two of the game, but they came when he lined up on the inside.

Light cemented himself as one of the best left tackles in the NFL with his performance throughout the 2011 NFL season, through the playoffs and in the Super Bowl in a losing cause.

Ahmad Bradshaw

Stock: Slightly Up

Ahmad Bradshaw scored the only rushing touchdown of Super Bowl XLVI, capping off a solid overall performance.

Bradshaw saw plenty of action, carrying the ball 17 times for 72 yards and catching two more for 19 yards. His ability to pound the rock allowed the Giants to stay balanced, which is one of the main reasons they were able to pull out the win.

Bradshaw is lucky that he's not the goat of the game, though, after his fumble in the fourth quarter was recovered by Chris Snee.

Wes Welker

Stock: Down

The play that sticks out in my mind when I think about Wes Welker was the fourth-quarter drop he had. He broke wide open in the middle of the field after the Giants linebackers and safeties had totally dropped their coverage when Tom Brady threw a bad pass behind him.

Welker makes that catch nine times out of ten, but he was unable to come up with it this time around, and it very well could have cost his team the game.

In the end, Welker was unable to make any big plays for the Patriots, and he blames himself for the way the game turned out.

Welker was also unable to make any big plays the first time these two teams met in Super Bowl XLII, and his legacy will surely be colored by this fact.

Justin Tuck

Stock: Up

Justin Tuck further established his legacy as one of the all-time Giants' greats with his two-sack performance in Super Bowl XLVI. This effort matches the one he had four years earlier when the Giants won their first championship against the Patriots.

As good as Jason Pierre-Paul is, the Giants wouldn't have been the force they were on defense without Tuck's forceful presence and leadership.

I don't think we'll ever talk about Tuck as a Hall of Fame player, but he will surely find his way into the Giants' Ring of Honor at some point and have his number retired. 

Tom Brady

Stock: Down

Tom Brady has been beat twice by Eli Manning. Fair or not, it does drop his stock in the legacy department.

He didn't play badly in Super Bowl XLVI. He just didn't play as well as Manning. Things would have been much different if not for Gronk's injury, but that's the way it goes in the NFL.

Brady is the kind of guy that will use this to his advantage, though, and I fully expect to see him in one or two more Super Bowls by the time his career comes to a close.

Even after losing his second straight Super Bowl, I'm convinced we're going to be saying he is the best ever when he is inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in eight-to-ten years.

Eli Manning

Stock: Way Up

If all the NFL players were lined up and you could only pick one quarterback to win a single game, who would you pick?

Before the playoffs, nobody would have picked Eli Manning. Certainly not me. 

Now, you'd be crazy not to pick Manning. He's the most composed quarterback under pressure I've seen since Joe Montana. 

This victory now puts him in some rare company. There have only been ten other quarterbacks in NFL history to have won two or more Super Bowls. 

Manning is still only 31 years old, and if he's anything like his dad and brother, he'll keep playing for a while longer. It isn't inconceivable to think he might get another chance to increase his total, too. 

He has gotten better every year he's been in the league, and if you don't think he's elite by now you might need to make an appointment with your doctor.

If we hypothesize a bit and assume Manning could play for at least five more years, his career stats would look something like this: 4000/6400 for 25,000 yards and 365 touchdowns. Even if he never wins another Super Bowl, we're talking about a Hall of Fame career.