Eli Manning is the best big-game quarterback, says former Giants coach

With the game on the line and a team needing a big game, there is no one Tom Coughlin would rather have than Eli Manning leading the attack.

Coughlin and Manning won two Super Bowls together, and Manning came up big at crucial moments during the Giants' championship runs.

“He's the greatest – people are going to argue with me, I understand that, but he's the greatest game-big-game quarterback, excuse me, big-game quarterback, that I've ever seen,” Coughlin recently said on an appearance on Barstool Sports. Pardon my opinion.

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Former New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin and quarterback Eli Manning hug during the ceremony honoring the team that won the Super Bowl in 2012. (Danielle Parhizkaran/USA Today Sports)

The Giants defeated the undefeated New England Patriots 17-14 in the 2008 Super Bowl and then beat the Patriots again in the 2012 Super Bowl 21-17.

“I mean, the way he approached things and the fact that he really, really embraced the challenge. He wanted the challenge. He wanted that. I mean, he knew what his comparison was to, say, Tom Brady, and honestly, rightly so. I mean, they've stacked up a lot of Super Bowls – call it his pedigree, call it whatever you want – but this guy talks about making plays when he had to make them,” Coughlin said.

“Look at (Mario) Manningham’s catch in ’46, Super Bowl ’46, and I always saw it in my own mind. I don't know that Eli back there is trying to get the ball away in that situation,” and he made that throw. So, you're talking big games, big games, people. Wow, I mean, I'm taking him because I've seen him do it under every circumstance imaginable,” Coughlin continued.

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Eli Manning after being named MVP after the Super Bowl in Indianapolis on February 5, 2012. (IMAGN)

The Manningham catch is one of Manning's best plays. Manning threw a sideline pass into a small window to boost the Giants' victory in the 2012 Super Bowl.

Manning always had a knack for seizing crucial moments in close games.

The four-time Pro Bowler has been sensational in his playoff career. In his first Super Bowl run, Manning threw for 854 yards and six touchdowns while leading three game-winning drives en route to his first Super Bowl MVP in 2008.

The most memorable play from Manning's first Super Bowl run is the helmet catch from David Tyree. The Giants were down late in the fourth quarter when Manning improbably escaped a sack and hurled the ball downfield, where Tyree made one of the most memorable catches in Super Bowl history.

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Former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning prepares to throw out the first pitch before a game between the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. (Vincent Carchietta/USA Today Sports)

Manning did it again in 2012, throwing for 1,219 yards with nine touchdowns and just one interception while leading two game-winning drives to win his second Super Bowl MVP.

Manning is a nominee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame this season, and his playoff resume could be the reason he could be a first-ballot inductee.

Coughlin coached the Giants from 2004 to 2015 and led the Giants to a 192-102 record in twelve seasons. Before coaching the Giants, Coughlin spent eight seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, leading them to a 128-68 record.

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