Here is your 2012 Super Bowl Champion New York Giants edition of 'Kudos & Wet Willies.' It is a 'Wet Willies' free zone today. You don't give WWs after a Super Bowl title.
Kudos To ...
Eli Manning: What can you say? A 30-for-40 performance for 296 yards one touchdown. A second Super Bowl MVP. One of the most perfect throws you will ever see on the 38-yard completion to Mario Manningham that started the game-winning drive. No mistakes. Anyone still wondering if Eli is elite? Anyone still wondering if Ernie Accorsi trading for him way back in 2004 was a good idea? Anybody still wondering if Manning is headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
Mario Manningham: He can drive you crazy with his route-running and miscommunications with Manning, but when the Giants needed plays on the final drive Manningham made them. The catch he made on the first play of the game-winning drive is really as technically perfect a catch as a receiver can make, and considering the circumstances one of the best plays you will ever see.
Hakeem Nicks: Ten catches for 109 yards. Thank you very much Patriots for double-teaming Victor Cruz all day and letting Nicks run wild.
Victor Cruz: He had four catches, including a touchdown, and he got to salsa. Gotta give him, kudos.
Steve Weatherford: I really don't the answer, but I have to wonder if a punter had ever had a better Super Bowl game than Weatherford did on Sunday. Four punts, a Super Bowl record three inside the 10-yard line and a fourth one that could have been with a better bounce. Thank you, New York Jets. Weatherford was a huge factor in this game, and in this season for the Giants.
Justin Tuck: Give it up for Tuck. A pressure that created a safety. Two huge sacks of Brady. All of this with one arm. We will find out soon how badly damaged Tuck's left shoulder is, and I would expect to find out he needs surgery.
Tom Coughlin: Two Super Bowl titles in five seasons, and this one doesn't happen with Coughlin's resolve, his constant encouragement to finish, his ability to motivate a team when many thought he had lost touch. Coughlin could be headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
John Mara: For being smarter than fans who spent the last couple of years calling for Coughlin's head. And for being instrumental in bringing an end to the lockout that nearly ruined this season and would have prevented the Giants from once again hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
Ann Mara: The 82-year-old widow of Wellington Mara gets 'kudos' for showing up in Indianapolis, broken shoulder and all.
Jerry Reese: He built this team, and believed in the roster even when many were -- for the first time -- beginning to question if Reese had lost his magic touch. He hasn't.
Ahmad Bradshaw: He scored the game-winning touchdown in a Super Bowl, whether he should have or not. And he ended up with 72 yards rushing. He belongs on the list.
Michael Boley: Ten tackles in the Super Bowl game. No huge plays, but you still have to give him his due.
Bear Pascoe: Travis Beckum went down. Jake Ballard went down. Pascoe did not, and wound up with four catches for 33 yards.
Lawrence Tynes: Two field-goal attempts, two makes. Can't miss in the Super Bowl, and Tynes did not.
The Fumble Recovery Gods: They smiled on the Giants three times Sunday night. Once when a Victor Cruz fumble was nullified by a New England penalty, and twice when fumbles by Hakeem Nicks and Bradshaw were recovered by the Giants.
Kevin Boothe/David Baas/Chris Snee: Held Vince Wilfork to three tackles and absolutely no impact on the game.
Chase Blackburn: Six tackles and HUGE interception. When Brady escaped the clutches of Linval Joseph my guess is every Giants fan had a flashback to Manning to David Tyree in 2008. I know I did. When the ball was thrown deep I immediately thought the Patriots were about to deliver payback. Blackburn prevented that, and made six tackles. Why wasn't he on the team all season again?
Henry Hynoski: He had 2 catches for 19 yards (including a first down rumble in the 1st quarter), he recovered Hakeem Nicks fumble by alertly following the play, and he helped block for the running game. A gritty performance, exactly what is expected out of a Giants Fullback.