Tom Coughlin waves as he walks off the field on Sunday. (AP)

INDIANAPOLIS — Giants coach Tom Coughlin got a little sleep Sunday night.

“About 15 minutes,” he said happily at a Monday morning press conference, less than 12 hours after his team beat the Patriots 21-17 to capture Super Bowl XLVI.

While some of the Giants rankled New England with some of their pregame predictions, Coughlin was extremely gracious in victory on Monday, marveling at the consistently close games the Patriots and Giants have played over the last few years.

“The games are highly competitive. Very, very skilled teams. Outstanding quarterbacks on both teams. Great defense, to be honest with you,” Coughlin said. “The numbers that you look at throughout the course of the year, the New York Giant and New England Patriot defensive teams that didn’t have the numbers, weren’t ranked in the upper echelon of the defensive teams in the league, but how both (defenses) have played in the playoffs, and how we played since the Jet game – just exceptional defensive play.

“Just highly competitive, highly physical football games that are designed, and established, and work out exactly the way you would want. They are fourth-quarter wins, and both teams are playing exceptionally hard. The New England coaching staff, Bill Belichick, a friend of mine, a guy that I admired for many years, a true Hall-of-Famer, a great football coach. The games are so competitive and so close, and we’re just fortunate to have made the necessary plays late in the game to win.”