Other than Tom Coughlin's complexion, Archie Manning's suede fedora was the most arresting image from last night's Giants-Packers NFC title game. I kept checking his coat pockets for an Indiana Jones bullwhip, but he apparently left it back home. I got the feeling that Archie was going to make his sons pose with him in one of those black-and-white western portraits after the game.
Eli's oldest brother, Cooper ("Cupper" to Archie), waited for him in the back of a crowded news conference.
"You did it man," he said as he hugged Eli.
Eli was as animated as I've ever seen him. About five hours earlier, I'd watched he and his receivers attempt to warm up on a short stretch of field that wasn't covered by the tarp.
"Me and Amani and Plaxico came out about two hours before the game to do our warmup, and we only got through about a quarter of it, and we said, 'Hey, we've got to go in.' My left hand was numb, my receivers, they didn't have any hand warmers, they were done."
Manning was sharp throughout the game, but the conditions may have contributed to at least two drops by Amani Toomer.
As I think back over the game, it's pretty apparent that a roughing the passer penalty on Packers safety Nick Collins early in the second half was huge. The Packers had forced an incompletion on third-and-5, and the Giants would've been forced to punt. The penalty extended the drive that resulted in a Brandon Jacobs touchdown and a 13-10 lead.
