Free Agent Wide Receiver Mario Manningham has signed with the San Francisco 49ers.

The former New York Giants WR reached an agreement with San Francisco late yesterday, agent Drew Rosenhaus informed the press of the 2 year deal. Mario Manningham arguably had the most important catch during Super Bowl XLVI when he caught a 38 yard pass from Eli Manning which extended a drive and helped the Giants secure a victory.

The 49ers had clear deficiencies when it came to their passing game. It was evident in the NFC Championship game that TE Vernon Davis was their best receiver. Now they have added Randy Moss, Super Mario to go along with Davis and their young receiver Michael Crabtree who has been a bit disappointing. I would venture to say that at this point Manningham is a better signing for San Fran than Moss.

A few days ago when it was announced that Randy Moss would become a 49er I was not very impressed, I even mentioned to a couple of friends that if San Francisco was smart they would sign Mario Manningham over a lazy, old WR like Moss. Needless to say I thought they were done signing wide receivers and really surprised me with this deal.  I am sure this situation seems much more attractive to free agent QB Peyton Manning.

Manningham has had his up and downs, he can be very explosive but he is also apt to make a boneheaded play or two during a game. As part of the Giants young core of receivers which included Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz, Mario seemed to have the most issues hanging on to the ball. He tends to drop easy passes and is not the best route runner. With that being said he is very talented and is still young enough where he can continue developing into a much better route runner unlike Randy Moss who is on the decline.

The upside is tremendous especially if they do in fact land Peyton Manning as their QB. The New York Giants will definitely miss Mario Manningham, he had dropped to 3rd on their depth chart behind Nicks and Cruz but easily could be the feature WR on many NFL teams. When he was healthy and on the field the Giants were a better team, there was no way opposing teams could matchup well with that trio of talented wideouts. I wrote a piece titled "Pick Your Poision" which focused in on the issues facing opposing teams when trying to cover Nicks, Cruz and Super Mario.

I am sad to see Mario leaving New York and wish him well except when he is facing the Giants. He has the potential to be the best wide receiver on the San Francisco 49ers, yes better than lazy Randy Moss and over hyped Michael Crabtree.

New York Giants WR Victor Cruz dances salsa during last night's live telecast of the Grammys.

Fellow NY Giants wide receiver Mario Manningham joined him on stage along with Pauley Perette from the hit show NCIS, they were presenting an award for "Best Rock Performance".

Pauley Perette seemed a bit confused and was probably just nervous. She started of her introduction with "Right, how about these players". It would have been more adequate to introduce them as Super Bowl Champions as opposed to "these players". Here is the Victor Cruz salsa dancing Grammy video.

One last thing Perette also said:

Very proud to be here with this popular duo from the front lines

What the heck was she talking about? What front lines? She looked a bit nervous but also like she had one too many back stage, not sure if she was drunk or not but she seemed tipsy (ditsy).

Video Victor Cruz Dancing Salsa at Grammys

The play of the game was Mario Manningham's 38 yard catch (reception) on a perfectly thrown ball by Eli Manning in the 4th quarter of Super Bowl XLVI against the New England Patriots.

Super Mario had misplayed an early pass by Eli and stepped out of bounds before securing the ball. Manningham definitely made up for that mishap with this amazing catch which started the comeback drive.

As you will see in the video it was not an easy catch by the New York Giants receiver. He had 2 defenders on him, it was an over the shoulder catch close to the sideline so his coordination to catch the ball and keep his feet in bounds had to be perfect, and it was! Here is the video.

Mario Manningham Super Bowl XLVI Reception

Some of the best game day photos from this Sunday's divisional playoff game between the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.

Kenny Phillips jumps into stands to join New York Giants Blue Cheeseheads at Lambeau Field

Giants Wide Receiver Hakeem Nicks (#88) makes an amazing Hail Mary catch against the Packers

Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers runs away from NY Giants defense

New York Giants QB Eli Manning escapes from the Green Bay Packers defense

New York Giants Running Back Ahmad Bradshaw fights for extra yards

NY Giants WR Hakeem Nicks 66 yard touchdown reception

Victor Cruz signals first down after his clutch reception

Wide Receiver Mario Manningham (#82) catch from Eli Manning

TE Travis Beckum with Giants fans in the stands at Lambeau Field

Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham all possess the ability to catch a short pass and turn it into a touchdown in the blink of an eye.

So opposing NFL teams pick your poison when it comes to covering New York Giants wide receivers.

On Sunday during the NFC Wild Card Playoff game the Atlanta Falcons learned just how difficult it is to defend these young and extremely talented group of receivers. Most of the talk this week centered around Victor Cruz of course after his last two performances. Atlanta defenders made it clear they were not going to allow the salsa dancing wide out to beat them for a big play but they failed to take into account New York's other dangerous pass catchers.

Giants WR's Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz, Mario Manningham Are Unstoppable

One of the reasons the talented trio has become an unstoppable force is due to QB Eli Manning who had the best season of his career. In the regular season Eli Manning threw for 4,933 yards with a 61% completion rate. He also had 29 touchdowns and 16 interceptions, several of those INT's were actually tipped balls or miscues with this set of young receivers.

Hakeem Nicks Number 88 was considered the number 1 WR for the Giants coming into the season. In 2011 he caught 76 passes for 1,192 yards, that included 7 touchdowns and 17 plays over 20 yards. His stats could have been much better but he missed a couple of games and played injured. Nicks was the main receiver targeted for double coverage as well making it harder for the young wide out to get open more frequently.

Victor Cruz Number 80 was the surprise of the 2011 NFL season. A virtual unknown who really took advantage of his opportunity when Domenik Hixon was placed on IR. Cruz ended his regular season with 82 receptions for 1,536 yards, 9 touchdowns and 25 plays over 20 yards. His total yards were a franchise record for a single season surpassing Amani Toomer. Victor Cruz has definitely benefited from  double teams on Hakeem Nicks. This young man is talented, fast and extremely explosive plus he is a pretty good salsa dancer.

Mario Manningham #82 had what many would consider a disappointing season but that still does not diminish his talent nor his potential. Manningham was plagued with injuries this season which also made it hard for him to get into a rhythm with Eli Manning and the offense. His regular season totals were 39 receptions for 523 yards and 4 touchdowns. In 2010 he had 60 catches for 944 yards with 9 touchdowns.  From this core of three wide outs Mario probably has the biggest issues with dropped passes even though all three young WR's have had their dropsy's here and there his have been more frequent. Much like Cruz and Nicks, Manningham has the ability score a touchdown on any reception whether or be a short pass or a bomb.

Opposing Team's Dilemma When Facing the NY Giants and Their Wide Receivers

The New York Giants as a team have gotten healthy at just the right time not only on offense but also on defense. Opposing teams trying to defend the GMEN are faced with a huge  dilemma. Who do you double cover? You can't play these guys man to man for a whole game.

Especially the last 3 weeks where the Giants running game has come back in full force with a healthy Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs. Take the running game and the three aforementioned wide receivers and add another wrinkle into the mix with TE Jake Ballard who had himself a pretty productive season.

I have been a fan for roughly 30 years and have never seen a New York Giants team with so many weapons on offense, especially at wide receiver. The Atlanta Falcons thought they had a game plan by concentrating on Victor Cruz and diminishing his chances for a big play. They were successful but in the process they completely neglected Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks who both combined for 3 touchdowns and 183 receiving yards. This team is full of weapons, healthy and hungry to prove naysayers wrong. Now the weak Green Bay Packers defense has to pick their poison cause the New York Giants are coming to town!

Giants wide receiver Mario Manningham 27 yard TD catch vs the Atlanta Falcons. A beautiful pass thrown by New York QB Eli Manning.

This score gave the GMEN a 24-2 lead and pretty much sealed the win in this NFC Wild Card playoff game.

New York has 3 very good wide receivers and they are all finally healthy at the same time. This team is looking scary! Here is the video of the Manningham touchdown reception.

Video Mario Manningham 27 Yard TD vs Atlanta Falcons

It may turn out to be the best drop a player ever had. Mario Manningham dropped a TD in the final drive against the Dallas Cowboys in week 14 which would have given the Giants the lead. That dropped pass may have turned out to be a blessing is disguise for the Giants.

Manningham who is a talented wide receiver, has the ability to break a short pass for a huge gain at any time but unfortunately he is also known for having butterfingers. In a game where both teams played Swiss cheese defense this play turned out to be huge.

The drop by the Giants WR occurred with 1:27 left on the clock. If he would have caught that pass Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys would have had that time left to start their final drive. Instead New York was forced to run a few more plays which eventually led to a Brandon Jacobs TD run. There were 46 seconds left on the clock at this point in  time. It took Dallas just 40 seconds to gain about 51 yards and put themselves within Dan Bailey's field goal range. They had no timeouts left and spiked the ball with 6 seconds left on the clock. It was a 47 yard FG attempt which eventually was blocked but things could have been different.

If Mario Manningham does not drop that easy touchdown pass it would have provided Romo and the Cowboys offense an additional 41 seconds to run 2 or 3 extra plays and get an easier field goal attempt to tie or even a touchdown to win the game. There is no reason to believe that the Giants defense would have been able to stop the Dallas Cowboys offense in those last few seconds if you take into account what had happened throughout the game and that final drive. Here is the video.

Video: Mario Manningham's TD Drop vs Dallas Cowboys

This may be the only time fans, Eli Manning and other Giants teammates celebrate a drop. In this particular and rare case Mario Manningham's dropped touchdown pass was a blessing in disguise for the New York Giants against the Cowboys week 14.

Another week with a lot of injuries for the New York Giants, LB Michale Boley, WR Mario Manningham and RB Ahmad Bradshaw did not practice Friday and may not play week 12 against the New Orleans Saints.

Unfortunately for NY they have one consistent theme going this season and that is their weekly injury report which usually is long and includes important starting players. RB Ahmad Bradshaw was hoping to come back this week to face the Saints but it isn't looking good as of now.

Will Beatty has already been ruled out for the Monday Night game week 12. Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck had limited participation during Friday's practice which is positive news. Osi is suffering from a knee injury while Tuck who has had several injury issues this season is dealing with a an ankle ailment.  Kareem McKenzie also participated in a limited capacity during practice while Derrick Martin sat out.

On a positive note RB DJ Ware (concussion) was a full participant in practice and is expected to play for the Giants. Without Bradshaw Ware will get a fair share of carries especially with the declining play of Brandon Jacobs. Stay tuned as we will publish the official injury report list when it becomes available before game time.

The NY Giants fall short in a come back bit and lose versus the San Francisco 49ers in week 10, final score 27-20 in yet another nail-biter.

What else can Giants fans expect but a down to the wire affair when New York plays any team. Week 10 was no different except that unlike the previous 3 games the GMEN lost. It was a valiant and gutsy performance by Eli manning and the Giants but some questionable play calls and mistakes really put the team behind the eight ball.

What is more frustrating to most fans is to lose such a winnable game. There is no doubt that New York is one of the better teams in the NFC but their mistakes have cost them a couple of wins this season and with Dallas now just 1 game behind every win is important. The Cowboys have a very easy schedule unlike the Giants who still must face the Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets and NFC East matchups against the Cowboys, Eagles and Redskins.

Week 10 New York Giants vs San Francisco 49ers

New York was in it till the end as usual but mistakes on both sides of the ball cost them this game. Not only player mistakes but I seriously question Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride's play calling. But we will get into that in my next article. Big Blue found themselves down at half time 9-6 in a field goal battle. The GMEN were able to drive the length of the field on their first 2 possessions but were unable to capitalize with touchdowns and ended up settling for field goals.

San Francisco also settled for 3 field goals and even snuck in an onside kick which led to one of those scores after getting great field position. That was one embarrassing mistake, New York was not ready at all. Pam Oliver reported at half time that coach Tom Coughlin told her he was surprised they were caught off guard because they had practiced for that play several times during the week.

The NY Giants actually had a 13-12 lead going into the 4th quarter but things quickly unraveled. Alex Smith was able to find a wide open Vernon Davis in the flat, the talented TE took it to the house  making the score 18 to 13. The 49ers then converted a 2 point conversion to Michael Crabtree to make the score 20-13.

New York gets the ball back and within seconds Eli Manning is picked off by Carlos Rogers. San Francisco wasted no time in scoring again with a 17 yard run by rookie RB Kendall Hunter making the score 27-13 after the field goal. No lead seems to be safe when playing the GMEN who promptly drove the ball on San Fran and scored a quick  TD to Hakeem Nicks making the score now 27-20.

New York made some good defensive stops and proceeded on their offensive drive which included two 4th down completions to keep the drive alive. Manning throws a bomb in the end-zone which cannot be brought in by Mario Manningham, it would have tied the game. That ball was catch-able but not an easy reception either. Earlier in the game there was a key drop by Victor Cruz which would have kept another drive alive. There was also a short pass attempt from Eli to Nicks which was about 2 feet short which killed a drive as well. These wasted opportunities really hurt the Giants and put them yet again in a position to try and pull out a game in the last seconds.

The Giants found themselves about 11 yards away from a touchdown with under a minute left and on 3rd and 2 Kevin Gilbride calls a draw play to DJ Ware which gets stuffed. That call to me is inexplicable, it was very predictable like most of his calls and really hindered the chances of pulling out this game. On the next play, the third time the GMEN found themselves throwing on 4th down in this drive Eli Manning attempts a game saving throw which gets batted down by Justin Smith and game over!

A frustrating game, New York finally stops a team from running all over them but end up losing the game at the end. San Francisco only mustered up 67 yards on the ground but surprisingly enough Alex Smith attacked Big Blue through the air. Smith had all day to throw for the most part and picked apart the Giants defense especially in the middle of the field.

The NY Giants lose vs the San Francisco 49ers despite a gutsy effort, they need to bounce back as they face the Philadelphia Eagles week 11 in an NFC East showdown.

Some game photos from week 9 NY Giants vs New England Patriots. New York has another exciting game which comes down to the wire on 11/6 of the 2011 NFL season.

Week 9 Game Photos New York Giants vs New England Patriots

Patriots QB Tom Brady running for his life while Giants LB Dave Tollefson chases after him

New England Patriots QB Tom Brady hands the ball off to RB Benjarvus Green-Ellis

NY Giants RB Brandon Jacobs running against New England Patriots

New York Giants WR's Mario Manningham and Victor Cruz celebrate TD vs Patriots

The comeback kid Eli Manning throwing against the New England Patriots

A lot of clutchness in this photo, Patriots QB Tom Brady talks with Giants QB Eli Manning