I’ve had to wait a few days to think about about what I could say about this great Super Bowl victory that wouldn’t be a repetition of what others may have written. But that would be impossible. Everything that could be said is being said. From every angle imaginable.

It was an elemental game. A game that justified counting these yearly contests with Roman numerals. It suggested gladiatorial combat, chariot races, warriors versus lions and tigers in an arena with spectators cheering participants who were fighting for life or death.

Whew! Okay. I needed to get that out.

For Giants fans, the game brought to mind the great Lawrence Taylor’s famous sideline admonition for the team to play like “crazed dogs.” And that’s what these Giants did. I haven’t seen this kind of aggressive, smash mouth defense since the days of Taylor and Harry Carson and the great defense created by…Bill Belichick. Defense has always been the Giants signature and it had receded over the past years. In Super Bowl XLII, it established itself once again.

Giant fans are still dizzy and giddy from it all and will be for months to come. I know I am and will be. It was not supposed to be a Super Bowl year. From the early days at training camp in Albany, those of us in attendance thought we had a good, solid, contending team that could go deeper into the playoffs than they had in the past few years.

At camp this year, Eli Manning was the center of positive and negative attention. There were many who thought he wasn’t worth the picks we gave up for him and were generally unhappy with his inconsistent play. There were many, like myself, who thought he was an excellent QB who was saddled with an overly complicated offense that got in the way of his ability to “just play the game.”

And then came the first two losses and a drubbing by the Redskins in the first half of the third game. Optimists were about to chalk the season up to 8-8 and the pessimists were smug in their assurance that with Eli we were at best a 6-10 team. Incidentally, so did every sportswriter in the world. The Giants were predicted to finish last in the NFC East in every publication and sports blog out there.

And then came the second half of that first Redskins game where Eli brought us to a stunning victory. And then in other games, Chicago, Buffalo and twice against the Eagles. Hmmmm. We DO have a franchise quarterback. But detractors got their licks in during the second Skins game in which Eli all but embarrassed himself, throwing fifty-two times to dismal effect. His supporters were apoplectic about the game plan, saying rightly that the team shouldn’t have been throwing so much that day in the truly awful Meadowlands weather conditions of rain and wind, but even those excuses couldn’t change what an awful game he had.

Supporters were deflated. We clung to one thought — that Eli was being asked to think too much after each snap instead of letting his game instincts dictate his play. Come on, we said. He’s a Manning. He’s FOOTBALL! Our evidence was his demonstrated skill in the no-huddle offense, which he ran to great effect over the past four years.

Job well done, Eli

And then came the final game against the Patriots. Eli matched the great Tom Brady TD for TD. And then Tampa Bay, the Cowboys and what was supposed to be the intimidating factors of Green Bay, legendary Lambeau field, the legendary Brett Favre (God love him) and the legendary cold. That’s what everyone said.

Did Eli seem intimidated? Not to me. Certainly not to the Packers and their fans. Eli was as icily efficient as the weather.

But what do we know!? We’re just fans, some more observant and knowledgeable than others, but fans, not locker room experts. All we know is what we see. I saw a quarterback who would lead us successfully for years to come. Some didn’t. But this year, Eli proved me and his supporters right. On a Giants website abbreviated as BBI, whenever fans would question and doubt Eli’s development, diehard supporters would reply, “Eli will be fine.” It became a good natured joke. Two interceptions? “Eli will be fine.” Three fumbles? “Eli will be fine.”

And at times, the joke seemed a bit hollow, as were the smiles it bought us.

But no one’s joking now and we’re all laughing happily that this kid came through for us.

I don’t care what detractors will still say. It’s what detractors do — they detract, even in the face of evidence to the contrary.

Eli took us to the Super Bowl and won it with a heroic effort, aided and abetted by a heroic effort from every one of his teammates. If one can say this was a “team” win, this was it. From the recent pickup kick returner Domenick Hixon’s first runback to rookie Jay Alford’s bullet-like penetration and sack of Tom Brady four plays before the end of the game, to Steve Smith’s awareness of the third down marker in that last drive, to Brandon Jacobs’s one yard pickup on fourth and one, to Kevin Boss’s forty yard reception, to Plaxico’s final touchdown catch, and to unsung hero David Tyree’s TD and incredible helmet catch — the TEAM won this game and the team was led brilliantly by Eli.

People are frantic to name last play. The Hail Manning, The Duck and Chuck, The No Freaking Way Play. Call it what you will, it as a play of destiny, as was this team. They played as if they would not be denied.