The trajectory of Eli Manning’s professional football career has been like none other – let’s begin with a little review in an effort to dispel any pre-conceived notions. For the first 4 years of Eli’s career he was generally regarded by everybody outside of New York as a joke. Many Giants fans even shared this sentiment, although you’ll have a hard time finding one who would admit that now. All in all, this was a fair characterization – Eli never had a passer rating above 80, and never had a completion percentage higher than 60%.
Then everything changed on that crazy day in February 2008.
Eli summoned his inner Little Giants and hoisted his toilet paper roll into the night sky. David Tyree scratched his head at just the right moment, and Rodney Harrison seemed to have lead in his shoes.
From that day forward, the average Giant fan felt validated. They would tell you that they put up with Eli’s first four seasons fully understanding that a Super Bowl would come their way. Many others would continue to see Eli’s performance as flukey and would continue to question his legitimacy despite his Super Bowl title – but then he went on and won again.
When Eli won his 2nd Super Bowl last February, everything changed again. His validation this time didn’t come solely from Giants fans. ESPN analysts lined up to throw Eli in a lineup of the game’s best quarterbacks. He had reached that upper echelon.
What really made this an interesting assertion is that Eli’s numbers never really popped. He’s thrown for more than 30 touchdowns in a season only once, and he’s thrown for 4500+ yards only once as well. But with Eli, it was never all about numbers. The analysts would tell you that he was a winner – it made sense, given his two Super Bowl titles. Further validation came in the form of statistics – the only commonly tracked stat that Eli has ever led the NFL in (aside from interceptions) is 4th quarter comebacks. It might be ugly, but the man was getting it done.
Then this season happened – the defending Super Bowl Champions failed to make the playoffs, losing the division to a rookie quarterback and getting bested by Tony Romo in the process. Eli collapsed down the stretch in pretty terrific fashion. My point is not to say that you need to win it all every year – nobody does that. My point is that Eli had it all this year – one of the most feared defenses in the NFL and a stable of offensive options that any QB would kill for. For a “top-tier” quarterback to not make the playoffs given this setup is a big deal – it should at least raise some eyebrows. But when you couple it with what I’ve been selling all along – the reality that Eli has a serious turnover problem – I think that Eli’s legitimacy should be seriously in question.
Now that you, Giants fan, are sufficiently pissed off (how dare I!), let me make a couple of clarifying points. I am not questioning the legitimacy of the Giants – I think they are a good team. And yes, I have seen Eli play very well. I have seen him come back and win in very impressive fashion. At his best, he’s dangerous, no doubt. But 4th quarter comebacks don’t impress me when you need to come back in the first place because you’ve given the ball to the other team twice already. Eli’s highs and lows have been very high and very low, but I’d argue that in order to be included in the lineup of the game’s best QBs you need to play at a high level with consistency. Tom Brady has done it. Peyton Manning has done it. More recently, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees have done it. Eli Manning has not.
Eli’s 2012 campaign brought 9 wins and 7 losses, 3,948 yards, 26 touchdowns and 19 turnovers. Not bad, but certainly not top-tier (especially given the weapons he has). Trust me, I know the counter argument – two Super Bowls. I’d never argue against Super Bowls, as Super Bowls trump all. But let’s not allow the Super Bowls to skew the reality that Eli Manning is most certainly not a top quarterback consistently.
I’ve long compared Eli to Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan, and have been ridiculed for doing so. Both players have less experience than Eli. Both players also throw more touchdowns and fewer interceptions than Eli. They complete a higher percentage of passes, and have a higher career passer rating. But most importantly, they win more – and it’s not close. Eli’s career winning percentage is 57%, Ryan’s is 71%, and Flacco’s is 67%. I’m keenly aware of what Flacco and Ryan have done in the playoffs – nothing – but I’m also a realist in the sense that I see the numbers telling me that Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan consistently play the quarterback position at a higher level than Eli does.
So ask yourselves, Giants fans – is Eli that good? What’s to say that with the team the Giants have built, those two Super Bowl titles shouldn’t be 3? or 4? Eli Manning’s inconsistency has undoubtedly hurt your franchise in the sense that he hasn’t been able to give the Giants an opportunity to win year in and year out – I think it’s only logical to think that if Matt Ryan or Joe Flacco was playing quarterback for the Giants they would have been even more successful, which is also a testament to how good the Giants are as a team. A true top-tier quarterback may very well have won more titles for you – and the Giants might then be mentioned in the same breath as the Patriots when discussing the best team of the past decade.
Funny how you wait until the Giants are out of the playoffs to start bashing Eli again.
It is also pretty clear that you dont watch much football other then your dream boat Tom Brady.
First error: The Giants had a better record then the Cowboys, so they are not bested by them
Second error: For two years now you have been talking about the Giants defense like they are some doninant squad, they ranked 27th last year and 31st this year. They were the second worst to the Saints, who statistaclly may have been the worst defense of all time. Who is fearing the second worst defense?
Third error: Eli’s weapons included a receiver in nicks who missed three games and was listed on the inhury report, legitimatly, not a Patriot injury report. A running back who missed two games, a back up running back that was out for the season, and had to hand off to a guy who has the last name of Lumpkin for the 4th quarter of the year. They also saw had to play with 5 different offensive lines this year due to injury.
Fourth error: you include Drew Brees in your elite quaterbacks because Eli turns the ball over too much, yet Brees has thrown one less pick then Eli in the past 3 years.
The Joe Flacco comparison is insane, Eli throws for 300 more yards and 5 more touchdowns a year. Since Flacco has been in the league his defense has on average been the 7.8 best defense, Eli’s 17th. Oh and maybe you have heard of Ray Rice. I love Bradshaw, but he is not even close to Ray Rice. To point to winning percentage and say well hes a better qb is plain stupid.
I think that your legitimacy as a writer should be seriously in question if you this that this Skip Bayless troll bullshit is a serious article.
*if you think that this
1) The Giants were bested by the Cowboys this year: http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2012090500/2012/REG1/cowboys@giants#menu=highlights&tab=recap. The Cowboys also had had a chance to play themselves into the playoffs in week 17. The Giants did not.
2) It’s got to be hard watching a defense with this much talent play so poorly.
3) It’s football, this is to be expected.
4) Look at Drew Brees’ yards, completion percentage, attempts, interception percentage, rating, touchdowns, etc and you’ll see that he’s a much more elite quarterback. He does turn the ball over a bit too much still.
Flacco hasn’t thrown as much as Eli, true, but has been better when he has. There’s a lot of statistics in this article that can’t be disputed. Just because you don’t like the story they tell doesn’t make them “troll bullshit.”
And the Pats were “bested” by the terrible Cardinals, thats not what you meant and you know it.
They are not that talented, their linebackers are terrible, their corners are poor and outside of JPP they had no rush this year. You might think they are talented because you only see them kick tom bradys ass every 4 years.
It is football, but if the weapons are not on the field you cant use them, making all of Eli’s weapons irrelevant.
What stats are in that article? The only stats that you have comparing Eli to anyone is winning percentage. Many things go into winning percentage, like having a defense in the top ten every year and not in the bottom half. Having a running game that averages as the 8.8 best as opposed to Eli 14th best.Being in a division with the perennially terrible Browns and Bengals. It is very easy to pick one irrelevant stat and try and make a point.
You rag on Eli for not having 4500 and 30. Flacco has gotten within 700 of that once and never above 3900, he has never gotten within 5 of 30 tds. You cant have it both ways, oh Eli is not elite because he doesnt do this but Flacoo oh boy giants fans this guy would have taken you to 15 super bowls, please.
For two years you wrote a column ragging on Eli once a month. You go 10 months with one and then the day after they dont make the playoffs you start up again. That is coward troll bullshit if ive ever seen it. You just forgot to mention how black RG3 is if you really wanted to be a complete joke.
Don’t be upset just because I am consistent and Eli is not.
You need a dictionary if you think you are consistant
I’ve been very consistent when it comes to Eli Manning.
Lol yes. An article a month for two years followed by none in 11 months is very consistent. As is your Eli is not elite for the passing benchmarks he doesn’t hit enough but don’t apply to flacco
I am an Eli defender from draft day. Through his first four years when his only weapon was Tiki. The only knock I have against Eli is his inconsistency. His looking down, slumped shoulders when things go poorly. Players feed off Tom Brady, Payton & Bree’s energy in the huddle. They demonstrate leadership, energy. Eli is complimented for his ability to shake off bad plays. In a leader you need more. That is who 1000′s tune in to watch Payton & Brady, to see Maestros conduct a symphony. 1000′s don’t tune in to watch Eli. I never know which Eli will show up week to week. I do know which Payton or Brady is going to show up week to week. In closing … Eli is not “elite” … No way. Is he Top 10? Maybe in 2011 but not 2012. Brady & Payton & Bree’s have been top 5 ( maybe top 3 ) year in / year out ( barring injury ) and Eli at best has made it into the top ten. To me, Eli is very talented but he is not consistent, not elite.
Very fair.
A good QB looks great on a very good team; average or less than average on a bad team. Eli has evolved from a less than average quarterback to a good quarterback. If he were more consistent, he’d be very good.
Chris Kelley – Framingham.
Well said Chris.
It looks to me like you were “bested” by J Bone here Mr. G. It. It is more than a mere coincidence that right after the Giants miss the playoffs you feel the need to validate the argument once again that Eli is not “elite” or even deserving of being considered great. The problem with all the stats is that there are so many of them now adays that one can find a way to prove just about anything and back it up with some stat.
Fact is no matter how many ways you can discredit Eli, and there may be many, you cannot and will not ever take away what he did in his two super bowl runs. Yes you can claim he had a fluke play in the first one. Go back and look at his numbers in that stretch of playoff games including the superbowl. Also do the same for last year, and while your at it watch the replay of the perfect dime he dropped into Manningham last year in rout the his second game winning touchdown in the superbowl.
And oh yeah, your last sentence about being mentioned in the same breath as the Pats for best team if the last decade is wildy outrageous. It is officially 2013 which means if we go back to 2003 3 teams have won mutiple superbowls; Steelers have 2, Giants have 2, and Pats have 2. Just in case you forgot, the Giants beat the Pats in both of their wins. Sorry but it is probable the Giants have been the best team in the past decade. Better pray for a Pats championsip this year.
Well you’re right about the year changing anyway.
The Patriots won the superbowl in 2003, 2004 and 2007. They’ve gone 126-34 in the last 10 regular seasons. They’ve made the playoffs in 9 of the last 10 years and gone 13-6 in playoff games.
The Giants won the Superbowl in 2007 and 2011. They’ve gone 87-73 in the last 10 regular seasons. They’ve made the playoffs in 5 of the last 10 years and gone 8-3 in playoff games.
Over the last decade the Giants made 2 remarkable playoff runs, each time winning the Superbowl. Other than that they were very average.
The pats didn’t win the Super Bowl in 2007, they haven’t won since 2004.
You clearly didn’t read the article or weren’t able to comprehend it. I say you can’t take the Super Bowls away and they trump all – that’s not my point. My point is Eli’s doesn’t consistently play at a high level, and turns the ball over way too much. The Giants have missed the playoffs 3 times in the last 4 years… the Patriots have missed 2 times in the last 11 years.
Twice Eli has taken teams that were maybe one step above mediocre and won Super Bowls. There isn’t any other QB I would want playing for me in the big game, and that includes his brother. With any of those other “elite” QBs (whom Eli beats in the playoffs) the Giants would have won zero (0) Super Bowls. He has accomplished more with less support than any QB in recent memory.
Ernie Accorsi, the GM who made the deal to bring him to New York said it best: they got Eli because they wanted to win championships, not passing titles. Sometimes he keeps both sides in the game, but winning Super Bowls and missing the playoffs some years is a lot better than just winning 10 games or a division title every year. Ask anyone in Philadephia about that.
The Giants were one step above mediocre in the years that they won? What? And Tom Brady never has a single offensive Pro Bowl player on his team when he won any of his three titles…
Both seasons the Giants WERE only one step above mediocre. They weren’t expected to make the playoffs in either year, and when they did make the playoffs, no one expected them to get past the divisional round.
Specifically, in 2007 the Giants had already been blown out by the Packers and by the Cowboys twice. As late as November, fans were calling for Coughlin to be fired. They ended up 10-6 with a wild card. The Patriots were the best team in the league that year, although they didn’t play like it in the Super Bowl. The Cowboys and Packers were also better. For that matter, the Colts and Jaguars and Chargers had more talent than the Giants. But the Giants had a money player who makes the others around him better, and plays his best in big games.
In 2011 the Giants were 9-7, and if Tony Romo (another QB with better stats than Eli) doesn’t overthrow Miles Austen, the Giants wouldn’t have even made the playoffs. The Giants defense was bad to awful most of the year, they had the worst running game in the NFL, a shuffled offensive line, and free agents at tight end and wide receiver that Eli had to develop chemistry with.
I don’t know what you have against Eli, but he has won with some “non-scholarship” athletes, and I think the Chargers would love to have the 2004 draft to do over again.
Preach to him Vic. The boy needs to learn
Don’t change the subject. Your point was to discredit Eli. We all know he is inconsistent. You feel the need to find any stat you can to take him down as many notches as possible to make yourself feel better about losing twice to a mediocre, average, inconsistent, turnover-happy qb. As far as I’m concerned anything you say is just insecurity that in the last 5 years all the time you spent tearing down Eli has gone to shit because he does have 2 superbowl rings and MVPs over your beloved Tom Brady. Not to mention one of the best clutch qbs of all time wether you like it or not. You need a new hobby. HAHAHAHAHAHAHa
His inconsistency has hurt the Giants, as evidenced by missing hte playoffs 3 of the last 4 years. That’s not elite, which is my point.
Don’t even bother guys, it is clear Geoff doesn’t watch the giants at all and thinks they are the New York Eli’s. he refuses to address any stats about the giants defense and running games and points to the team as his anti Eli campaign continues.