In Sunday night's Giants win over the Eagles, you will remember -- if you watched it, that is -- that QB Eli Manning originally was called for completing a pass from beyond the line of scrimmage. It was a crucial play. The Giants had a third-and-10 just inside the Philly red zone, and Manning hit TE Kevin Boss (who is starting to play very well, by the way) for a 17-yard gain to the three-yard line.

The refs flagged it an illegal forward pass, saying that Manning was past the line of scrimmage. But replays showed that Manning's foot, maybe just his heel, was still on the other side of the line, and the rules state that the quarterback's body must be entirely across the line for it to be a penalty.

Manning knew the rule, which I am guessing few of the rest of us did. He told Tom Coughlin to challenge the play, knowing he wasn't all the way over, and the coaches upstairs agreed. The refs looked at the play and also agreed: first down. The Giants scored a touchdown to go up 27-24, and they never trailed again in the victory.

"I knew that all of your body had to be beyond the line of scrimmage," Manning said. "I knew my back foot hadn't crossed, so I figured, what the heck, it's worth a shot."

"We figured it was worth the chance," Coughlin said, later smiling a rare smile.

Score one for the student.