Mario Manningham after his catch helps Giants beat Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. (Mike Petraglia, WEEI.com)

INDIANAPOLIS — This time it was the feet — not the hands — of the receiver that killed the Patriots during the game-winning drive.

Four years ago, David Tyree clutched the ball to the top of his helmet as Rodney Harrison helplessly looked on. On Sunday night, it was Mario Manningham tiptoeing on the left sideline for a 38-yard reception on the opening play of an 88-yard game-winning drive as Eli Manning did it again to the Patriots.

“They’re both spectacular catches,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “I think with Mario’s, the way he kept his feet in bounds and held onto the ball going out of bounds was a remarkable thing. Of course, David’s is forever and that’s the history. That’s never going to change anything. His was incredible. This just continues along in that fashion.”

Indeed, Manningham caught the ball and managed to get both feet down before being pushed out of bounds by Patrick Chung at midfield.

“When [officials] were on the sideline [indicating good catch], I finally realized we might win this,” Manningham said.

“He had both feet down,” Chung said. “Good throw, good catch.”

The man who made the throw — Super Bowl XLVI MVP Eli Manning — again won the respect of his teammates like Manningham for coming through in the clutch.

“He’s a playmaker,” Manningham said of Manning. “That’s what he does. I’m putting Eli in his own category. A lot of quarterbacks don’t talk but you really never hear Eli talk negative about his teammates at a news conference. He just knows what to do and how to carry himself.”

As for comparisons to Tyree’s miraculous catch with Rodney Harrison draped all over him, Manningham took it all in stride.

“If I do, I do, If I don’t, I don’t. We won. I’m not thinking about that. If that’s how it’s going to be, then that’s how it’s going to be,” Manningham said.