INDIANAPOLIS — All week long, the New York Giants' Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin were obscured by who they weren't.

Eli by his older, more-famous brother's off-field drama, by the championship resume of his counterpart Tom Brady, a quarterback even Joe Montana called the greatest of all time.

And Coughlin by two men named Bill — Bill Belichick, coaching in his fifth Super Bowl with New England and Bill Parcells, whose colorful New York years included two Lombardi Trophies.

But for the second time in four years, both remembered that they didn't have to win five championships or be called the best in their profession; they just needed to win one more football game at the end of another uneven season in which they barely qualified for a playoff berth.

Thirty minutes after the trophy presentation, after the Giants' stunning, déjà vu defeat of the Patriots in a second Super Bowl, the odd couple were still arm in arm.

Peyton's kid brother and the oldest coach to win it all were upset champions again.

Final score: New York and A Quarterback and Coach It Should Malign No More, 21. New England and The Same Old Crestfallen Pair From Four Years Ago, 17.

"What I was interested in was this team was making history for themselves," Coughlin said afterward. "I didn't want to be compared to 2007-2008, but there were a lot of new guys on this team. I thought for these guys to carve their own was important."

The Giants did, just as Manning and Coughlin made their own case for Hall of Fame candidacy someday — at the expense of two people already going there.

Manning, the fifth player in Super Bowl history to win multiple MVP awards after leading another game-winning drive in the final minutes, was overwhelmed his team had pulled it off again.

But here was the key: Eli didn't have to be better than Peyton on Sunday in the house his brother built, Lucas Oil Stadium. He didn't have to be more accomplished than Brady over a career.

He had to win one game, like he did four years ago in the final minutes. He had to be as resourceful and clutch as he was four years ago on his team's final possession.

And in a season of bolstered quarterback legacies, of obliterated passing records, of Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees and Brady, the one standing last on the podium with the confetti strewn about was again Eli, now with one more Super Bowl ring than Peyton.

"I'm just happy for the guys," Eli said. "I'm happy for everyone in the organization, Coach Coughlin, all of my coaches, all of the players getting a chance to win the Super Bowl. Some of these guys are getting their first one. I feel great for them. I feel great for everybody."

Beneath Brady's carefree demeanor all week was the serrated edge of a champion who had victory taken away four years ago. After it happened again — and Brady was outplayed in the final minutes by Eli — he was as reflective as he was crushed.

"I'd love to come back to this game and have another shot after doing it five times in the last 10 years," he said, ruefully. "It's better than sitting at home and watching it, that's for sure."

Unlike 2008, when he had literally seconds remaining, Brady had almost a minute with which to work after Ahmad Bradshaw's go-ahead touchdown run for New York. After a couple of drops by his receivers, Brady lofted a final Hail Mary that fell harmlessly away from Aaron Hernandez.

As the Giants swarmed the field, as the old coach and Peyton's kid brother were left standing with the trophy again, clarity took over:

It had miraculously happened. Again.