Manningham's stunning grab echoes Tyree in 2008 Mario Manningham did not trap the ball on his helmet for the catch like David Tyree in 2008, but his amazing sideline reception provided a similar turning point in the Super Bowl. Four years after Tyree lifted his hands above his head while leaping into the air and pinned the ball against his helmet to make a critical grab, it was Manningham's turn for heroics to bring the New York Giants a Super Bowl title. Manningham made a 38-yard catch and landed in bounds while being hit by a defender to spark New York's game-winning touchdown drive in a 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots, the same team that lost to New York in 2008. It was just a catch. We work on that all the time, the sideline catch play," Manningham said. After I caught that, I felt like we were going to win this. It gives you a lot of confidence. Eli Manning, who won his second career Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award, did his part by putting the ball in a perfect position where only Manningham could pull it in. "That was a huge play," Manning said. Tyree's catch set up the winning touchdown pass in 2008 just as Manningham's helped the Giants escape the shadow of their own end zone and set the stage for Ahmad Bradshaw's decisive six-yard touchdown run with 57 seconds to play. "They were both spectacular catches," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. David's is forever etched in history. This just continues along in that fashion. Manningham, who made three catches for 56 yards on the final Giants drive, caught the ball over his shoulder on the key reception and held on, barely keeping his feet inbounds while being knocked out of bounds by Patrick Chung. I knew I had to freeze my feet when the ball touched my fingertips. I just froze my feet and fell," Manningham said. I knew I was going to get hit or hit the ground. I knew I couldn't let that ball go. We knew one of us was going to have to make a big play. We didn't know when. Just be patient and the ball is going to come to you. The Patriots appealed the completion, but the video replay only confirmed the spectacular nature of the catch. "It was just clutch," Giants receiver Hakeem Nicks said. It was a team in need. We had to get the ball downfield. That was the turning point. Mario comes up in clutch situations and that was just another time of him showcasing that. Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride could only marvel after months of work in practice paid off when it mattered most. "It was a tremendous play," he said. It was great concentration because it was over his shoulder. Not only did he have to catch the ball, keep his feet in bounds, he was going to have to hold onto that ball when he got hit. The stunning nature of New York's comeback triumph in a season where the team won their last seven games after a mediocre 7-7 start was more than Giants linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka could express. "It's unbelievable," he said. It's almost impossible to describe (after) everything we have gone through, not just me personally but what this team has gone through. Kiwanuka, whose grandfather was the former leader of Uganda, killed in 1972 by the forces of Idi Amin, was among those pressing Tom Brady on the final play as he made a desperate heave into the end zone from midfield that fell incomplete. "The offense put us in a position to win the game and no matter what, we weren't going to get off that field without that win," Kiwanuka said.