The praise has been flowing in for Eli Manning since the quarterback led the Giants to victory over the Patriots in Sunday's Super Bowl. (AP)

In the immediate aftermath of the Giants’ 21-17 victory over the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI Sunday night, several major national publications and outlets tried to dissect and figure out what happened at Lucas Oil Stadium, as well as the long-lasting effects of this game moving forward.

Sports Illustrated senior NFL writer Peter King, in his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback piece, wrote that there is no quarterback he would rather have in the final two minutes with the game on the line than Eli Manning.

Wrote King: I still can’t get over that throw from Eli Manning to Mario Manningham. As much as I respect the catch (it will be the greatest of Manningham’s career, no matter how long he plays), I am in awe of the throw. How did Manning make that throw? Why make that throw? Why did he pick the target of the guy with a corner in coverage and a safety flying over to crush Manningham? The 38-yard throw — which began an 88-yard, Super Bowl-winning touchdown drive that Bill Belichick will see in his nightmares — is just one more reason to never, ever question how good Eli Manning is. He will have some crappy games the rest of his career, because two or three times a year he stinks. But I ask you: What quarterback alive do you want with the ball in his hands in the last two minutes of a big game?

Thought so. Eli Manning.

Despite the three Super Bowl rings and the five Super Bowl appearances that Belichick and Tom Brady have amassed in their time together, Mike Freeman of CBS Sports feels that the legacies of both men will suffer as a result of the Patriots’ second loss to the Giants in a Super Bowl.

Wrote Freeman: This was both Brady’s finest moment and his worst. The same could be said for Patriots coach Bill Belichick. Both are among the best in history. Both have forgotten more about their craft than most will ever know but there is no question about the following: their impressive legacies take a hit. A pretty good sized one, too.

There are some already reassessing the Patriots legacy. Noting that the Patriots haven’t won a Super Bowl since the Spygate scandal, Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison tweeted just minutes after the game: “Told you, cheaters never win!!!!!!!!!”

Brady has been beaten twice now by Eli Manning in the biggest of spots and Belichick has lost to Coughlin the same. That’s not great for legacies. That’s what you call rebuttal material.

With otherwise sterling legacies and reputations now under question, some observers, like Bill Reiter of Fox Sports, wonders whether Sunday night’s loss may have signaled the end of the Patriots’ run as title contenders.

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Boomer Esiason

CBS Sports NFL analyst Boomer Esiason made his weekly appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show Monday morning to talk about how much of a role Rob Gronkowski’s injury will play in the Super Bowl, what this game means to both Eli Manning and Tom Brady’s legacy, and why it’s not likely that Peyton Manning will be a Colt next season.

“Last Friday if you would have asked me, I would’ve picked the Giants to win,” Esiason said. “I really would have because of the way they played and the fact that they were really playing extremely well in the last five games. They had the much tougher road to get to the Super Bowl.”

Added Esiason: “What gives me pause is the extra two weeks, and you know coach [Bill] Belichick: He’s smart, he gets it, he understands what’s going on. I don’t necessarily know that there’s a coach in the history of this league that has a better pulse of his team. … This is one of the best game managers I have ever seen as a coach. He’s going to have to be on his game. He’s really going to have to be on his game.

“And I still can’t believe, and this is not a knock against the Patriots, I can’t believe that they’re favored. I can’t believe it, because the NFC was a much better conference this year. the Giants went on the road, they beat some really good teams, Eli has been really, really solid through the postseason and the last couple of games of the regular season, and they’re just flying high and they’re healthy and they have everybody back. It’s shocking to me that the Giants are not the favorites in this game.”

Esiason, who suffered two high ankle sprains similar to the one that Gronkowski incurred in the game against the Ravens, said that the injury could be a game-changing factor, because even if Gronkowski plays, he isn’t likely to be 100 percent.

“If they would have played yesterday, there would have been no way he would have been on the field,” Esiason said.

Added Esiason: “When you have 90 catches during the year, 50 catches during the playoffs and you become an uncoverable tool and weapon that Tom Brady has, that is a significant, significant loss.”

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Boomer Esiason

CBS Sports NFL analyst Boomer Esiason made his weekly appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show Monday morning to talk about Sunday’s thrilling conference championship games and preview the Super Bowl.

“I think the Giants should be favored,” Esiason said. “They went into New England and they beat them straight up, in a building that’s very hard to win in. As a matter of fact, I think it ended some sort of streak for the Patriots. And when I watched the Giants over the last 4-5 weeks, there hasn’t been a team that’s played better football than them both offensively with their three unbelievable wide receivers, especially Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks, and then of course Eli [Manning]’s performance.

“But more importantly, their defense has been unbelievable. Their defensive line has been tremendous and I think this is going to be what I would hope is going to be a great football game.”

Esiason noted that Sunday’s games were not decided by the quarterbacks or the big stars but lesser-known guys and special teams, which goes to show just how close the matchups were.

Said Esiason: “It’s amazing, guys. Last week we spoke about matchups and I thought Joe Flacco had a much easier matchup this week than he did last week, and I thought that Tom Brady had the much tougher matchup this week than he had last week. And it kind of played itself out yesterday. Both of these games it was special teams that it came down to — a wide left for Billy Cundiff, a fumble and a muff yesterday for the 49ers in big spots. They were epic battles, they were great football games, they had the twists and turns of what you like to see and what you hope to see every time good teams get together like this.

“I will say what Brady said after the game on the stage to Jim Nantz that he did not play well, and it was evident to everybody. Yesterday was a weird day for him. There’s a couple of guys that were wide open that he missed, [Rob] Gronkowski and [Aaron] Hernandez come to mind. I haven’t looked at the film so I don’t know if he missed anybody else, if he was accelerated in his decision-making or whatever it is.

“But it is nice to be able to sit here this morning and say that the Patriots defense played their ass off and if it wasn’t for a little-known guy, I think his name is Sterling Moore, a rookie, who knocks the ball out of Lee Evans‘ hand for a split-second there, I think all of us, all of us, who were watching that game were thinking, Jeez, the Ravens are going to the Super Bowl. He did his best Ty Law impression were you come up with a big play in a big moment and the Patriots defense rides high and rides off into the sunset going to the Super Bowl. It’s amazing.”

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Boomer Esiason

CBS Sports NFL analyst Boomer Esiason made his weekly appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show Wednesday morning to discuss a wide range of topics, including the New York Jets and their quarterback situation. Boomer has come under fire in New York for his comments on Jets QB Mark Sanchez.

When asked about the the possibility of Peyton Manning being traded to the Jets, Esiason responded, “Everywhere you look, that’s what they’re saying. But first of all, we don’t even know if Peyton’s able to play. If Peyton is able to play and the new general manager and whoever they hire to run that team out there decides to go without Peyton Manning, then I’m sure that the Jets will be sniffing around. Because that’s what the Jets do. They’re trying to find their Tom Brady. They’re trying to find their Aaron Rodgers. And I don’t think in their mind they think that they feel like they’ve found the kid. If you watched Mark Sanchez the last month of the season, he was like a chihuahua standing on Madison Avenue and 36th Street entering the Midtown Tunnel, eyes bigger than you-know-what, and just so shaky.”

Hear the entire conversation by clicking right here. Esiason’s comments on Sanchez begin at the 10-minute mark.

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Boomer Esiason

CBS Sports NFL analyst Boomer Esiason made his weekly appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show Monday morning to discuss the Patriots’ dominant 41-23 victory over Tim Tebow and the Broncos. The win brought up questions about how long Tebow will be Denver’s starting quarterback, and Esiason wasn’t sure if Tebow would survive past this season.

After a strong first quarter, Tebow and Broncos offense completely shut down and let a 16-7 lead quickly evaporate and become a 34-16 lead for the Patriots. Tebow was completely overshadowed in the game by one of the best performances of the season for Tom Brady, who ended the game with 320 passing yards and three total touchdowns. Brady even ran a score in, perhaps a gesture at Tebow who is known for his prolific ability to get in the end zone with his feet.

“It kind of imploded a little bit and I don’t know what to take out of Tebow’s performance, it was a little bit better than I thought it was going to be and maybe not as good as everyone else thought it was going to be,” Esiason said. “I don’t know if you saw the pregame interview with Jim Nantz, he tried to get John Fox to try to get some future assessment of Tebow and he wouldn’t do it.  I understand why, when you watch Tebow he has great flair for the dramatics, but it’s not pretty. So I just wonder if the Broncos draft a quarterback in the first round next year and I think they will if they can get one. I know they love this kid Robert Griffin III out of Baylor, what does that mean to the future of Tebow and only time will tell.”

Added Esiason: “When you watch the way Tom play yesterday you saw a quarterback react to the momentum shift in the fourth quarter. And where other quarterbacks imploded, he marched his team right down the field and that’s the type of thing Tebow really hasn’t had to go against at all towards the end of the season. He’s gone up against a bunch of rookie quarterbacks, quarterbacks that haven’t been able to make the plays in the fourth quarter to put more pressure on him to win football games.”

What also stuck out to Esiason was the solid play by the Patriots offensive line, which had arguably its best game playing against one of the best defensive lines in the league while on the road.

“Another thing that doesn’t get a lot of play and it should get a lot of play was the play of the offensive line of the New England Patriots, especially on passing situations. You know Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil are a pain in the ass to play,” Esiason said. “I think Tom only got hit four or five times yesterday. And he had pretty much a clean game the whole game. “

Following are highlights from the conversation. To hear the interview, go to the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page.

On Aaron Hernandez being Brady’s main target: “What it comes down to when you’re a top-notch quarterback in this league  you actually read your defenses and you keep your players happy and you spread the ball around and you never know who’s going to get the ball from week to week. And when you’re playing against any team, you’re trying to look for those matchups and you’re looking for the advantages yesterday. Obviously there was an advantage yesterday for Hernandez. … If you have a quarterback is on like Tom was on yesterday and he was competitive and he was reading the defenses, he’ll find where those mismatches are and he’ll throw accurate footballs in there.”

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Boomer Esiason

CBS Sports NFL analyst Boomer Esiason made his weekly appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show Monday morning to discuss the Patriots and other NFL news.

The Patriots captured a 31-24 victory over the Colts Sunday, but coach Bill Belichick was not pleased after they let Indianapolis climb back in the game in the fourth quarter.

“Anytime you give up 21 points in the fourth quarter, you can understand how they feel — especially to a team that hasn’t won a game and to a quarterback who really a lot of people don’t have much respect for on the field,” Esiason said, although he added: “Five weeks from now, nobody’s going to look back at this and saw that they gave up 24 points to Indianapolis and give a crap about it.”

The Patriots visit the Redskins next Sunday, but the anticipation already is building for the game in two weeks against the Broncos and Tim Tebow.

“I’m not a big fan of his … but I will say this: What’s happening in their games is fascinating,” Esiason said. “Other teams are imploding offensively, so their defense is scoring touchdowns for them. Guys drop coverage, Tebow runs around and makes big plays in the fourth quarter. I’ve never seen anything like it. I give the young man a ton of credit. I give John Fox a ton of credit for sticking with it and riding the wave.

“When the Patriots get there it’s really going to be interesting, because watching the Patriot defense we saw yesterday in the fourth quarter go against Tim Tebow in his building should lead to some very interesting football.”

Esiason predicted that Chargers coach Norv Turner, Giants coach Tom Coughlin, Dolphins coach Tony Sparano and Colts coach Jim Caldwell will be fired after the season, and that Eagles coach Andy Reid “wants out of there,” speculating that San Diego would be his ideal landing spot.

Following are more highlights from the conversation.

On if he would prefer Tebow or Mark Sanchez as his quarterback: “I would want Mark Sanchez. Tim Tebow’s got a nice, short resume of winning here. It’s unexplainable, other than the fact that the kid is earning it and doing it in the big spots much like Mark Sanchez has. I’ll take Mark over Tim, but I’ll tell you one thing: Both of them are showing they can win games in the fourth quarter after not playing that well for 3 1/2 quarters.”

On Tom Brady vs. Aaron Rodgers: “Tom Brady’s done it a lot longer than Aaron Rodgers has. If you just look at the body of work, I will tell you that Tom’s three Super Bowls still weigh heavily on his side. I’ll always look at those Super Bowls as saying that this will be one of the greatest quarterbacks to have ever played, especially if he can get to a fourth one. I still say it’s going to be New England and the Packers meeting up in Indianapolis. Obviously, only time will tell. Neither team has a great defense, by the way.”

On the Packers’ quest for an undefeated season: “Everybody there wants it. I did their game a couple of weeks ago against Minnesota on Monday night, and everybody there, to a man, even thought they’re not really supposed to be talking about, they’re talking about it. And they’re talking about it because they want it. Just like the Patriots wanted it back in 2007.”

On Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski: “He’s fantastic, he really is. That size, and the ability that he has, and he’s a full tight end — he can block, he can run pass routes. He obviously is a smart player, intuitive, understand where to get himself open and how to get himself open. And much like Tom has the relationship with Wes Welker, this relationship has now developed into that type of thing on the field. If you have it with one guy, it’s great. If you have it with two guys, it’s fantastic. There’s not enough good things to say about him.”

On the Colts’ decision about what to do with the top draft pick and Peyton Manning: “The big question for the Colts will be is [Manning] going to be ready to play next year. And I don’t think it matters. I think they’re going to take Andrew Luck regardless. And they should take Andrew Luck and be like the Green Bay Packers, who have been stocked at the quarterback position since 1992.”

Boomer Esiason

CBS Sports NFL analyst Boomer Esiason made his weekly appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show Monday morning to discuss the Patriots’ Sunday afternoon 38-20 jaunt over the Eagles in Philadelphia. In the wake of New England’s dominance over Philadelphia, Esiason did not have much game analysis to offer, but he did weigh in on the Eagles’ burgeoning coaching controversy.

In the beginning of the third quarter with the Patriots ahead 31-13, Eagles fans expressed their frustration after quarterback Vince Young tossed an incomplete fourth-and-1 pass from the New England 2-yard line by chanting “Fire Andy” in reference to 13-year Eagles coach Andy Reid. The Eagles, who were picked to be one of the best teams in the NFL in the preseason, are now 4-7.

“As far as Andy Reid is concerned, you just never know how much these coaches have built up with their owners,” Esiason said. “And Andy has won a lot of football games in Philadelphia. I know that Philadelphia football fans can be some of the toughest in all of sports, so I think sometimes we overreact to some of that stuff. I’m not sure that [CEO] Jeff Lurie will ask for the resignation or fire him during the season, and quite frankly, I don’t know who on that staff could take over anyway. So these coaches [Reid and Chargers coach Norv Turner] will probably play the year out and then there will be a lot of questions and a lot of changes.”

While Esiason did not delve too deeply into Sunday’s game, he did mention that a play Tom Brady made in the second quarter was indicative of how Brady’s trust in his receivers benefits the quarterback, receiver and the team. On third-and-13 on his own 36-yard line, Brady improvised and completed a 63-yard pass to Deion Branch, who got the ball to the Eagles’ 1-yard line. BenJarvus Green-Ellis scored a touchdown on the next play to give the Patriots a 14-10 lead.

“We’ve been accustomed to this for over 10 years now,” Esaison said. “And we’ve watched it, and when he plays at the top of his game like he did yesterday, it really is a thing of a beauty. There’s no panic. He steps up in the pocket. He reads the defense as quickly as anybody. Yesterday I thought his throw to Deion Branch down the sideline on third-and I think it was 10 or 11, and then Deion took it all the way down to the 1-yard line, that’s what you want out of your quarterback. No panic. Don’t overreact to the pass rush around you. Show the great poise and show the great accuracy.”

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