The Fox television cameras got so close, you could even hear what the quarterback was saying. "She's down low somewhere," Manning said, his eyes scanning the crowd. "Where's Section 1 ... I don't know ... "

When Manning was asked about that televised moment Monday, he laughed and looked away, almost as if he didn't want to admit this next part. "I was looking for my fiancee," he said. "She was supposed to be in the stands."

The temperature was below zero all game, the wind-chill factor made it feel as if it were 20 below — and Manning's future wife was, in his words, "supposed to be in the stands."

They agreed to this because Manning has a history of playing poorly when fiancee Abby McGrew watched from a luxury box. And they weren't going to let a bout of cold weather change their plans now.

Or so Eli thought.

Turned out McGrew did not watch from the stands, much to Manning's surprise. She called an audible before Manning's biggest game, at some point deciding to go inside and watch from a luxury box with her future in-laws.

If Manning was miffed that his fiancee had pulled a fast one, he wouldn't admit it — even if he was caught on national television looking in the stands for, as it turns out, no one. "She's under the weather, and if she sat outside, she didn't know if she could make it, so she went inside, " he said Monday. "But I guess we broke the jinx."

Speaking of jinxes, hexes and curses, remember when the Fox affiliate in Green Bay announced it wouldn't air its regular "Seinfeld" repeat on Saturday to mess with "Seinfeld" fan Manning? He said he was flipping through channels in his hotel room at 5:30 p.m. Saturday and stumbled on an episode of "Seinfeld" — on the cable station TBS.

Manning said he had to laugh at that. So much for trying to throw him off his game by taking one of his favorite shows off the air, huh?

"It was funny for them to make a big deal, and there it is on TV," he said. He quickly added, "I didn't watch it, anyway."

So what if Manning won't ever be described as the most outgoing professional sports figure in New York? He has directed his team to the Super Bowl with consistently solid play and hasn't thrown an interception in three postseason games. And it's clear from small exchanges in this Giants locker room that his teammates like him and support him.

Linebacker Zak DeOssie stood on a stool behind the crowd of reporters surrounding the quarterback and politely chimed in with this question: "Eli, what's your motivation?" He sounded like a reporter, and Manning was about to answer before he looked up and saw his questioner.

And when Shaun O'Hara was asked about Manning's growth in maturity this season, he said: "He's grown a lot more facial hair this year. His voice has deepened a little bit."

Coach Tom Coughlin, however, wasn't in a joking mood when asked about Manning. At one point, he slowly and sternly enunciated his words to emphasize that he believes Manning's strong play of late isn't the least bit unexpected. Say what you want about Manning's public demeanor, but Coughlin firmly believes his quarterback is a fine leader.