If there is one thing that New York Giants fans should get used to, it is the picture of Eli Manning with his hand on his head wonder what the heck happened! The fun thing though will be the New York media's criticism of the one-year wonder.
I read the yahoo sports column about the Philadelphia Eagles versus the Giants. In the story, it mentioned Tom Coughlin and his ability to not press the right buttons, as well as Manning, who supposedly reverted back to his pre-Super Bowl win form.
Here's my question to the author of the article in the New York Daily News: What did Manning revert back to? His pre-Super Bowl days.
Well that really seems strange to me because well let's just face the facts, Manning was helped out with all the talent around him last year.
The defense anchored by long time Giant Michael Strahan, Antonio Pierce, Osi Umenyiora, Gibril Wilson, Sam Madison, Aaron Ross, the talented but controversial Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer, Jeremy Shockey, and, of course, Derrick Ward on the offensive side.
Yes, Manning had a solid postseason in 2007, but it's never going to be the norm for him. He didn't revert back to any thing because there was nothing to revert back to. Manning will always be the mediocre quarterback who will be talked about for his one Super Bowl victory of the heavily favored New England Patriots.
Manning also has to be careful because in New York there's just one thing you can't do too much of: losing. It doesn't matter if it's the first game of the season or the last game of the season, New York fans don't take too kindly to losing.
Giants fans better be prepared for the losing because let's just face it Manning didn't lead the team to the Super Bowl it was the Giants defense in 2007 that lead them to the victory. Manning was just the man at the helm for them.
Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens as a starter, but no one believes that Dilfer lead the team to the Super Bowl it was the talented defense of the Ravens.
Secondly, though Manning will become a record breaker and when I say record breaker it's not a positive thing. In just five years in the league Manning has already thrown 74 interceptions, which is seven more than what Brett Favre had to start his career.
I doubt Manning will play even remotely as long as Favre, but just to put into context of what Manning truly is, you get the picture. Manning will be always known to be horribly inconsistent and besides the Super Bowl win expect the same kind of results in the playoffs as what happened against the Eagles.
It must also suck for Giants fans to realize that the team should have never traded Philip Rivers to get Manning. Manning's record as a quarterback for the Giants 42-29 so it's decent. Yet, Rivers record as a starter for the San Diego Chargers is 33-15. Keep in mind Manning has been starting for basically 1.5 more seasons than Rivers and look at the winning percentage of Rivers compared to Manning.
Even comparing stats must make Giants fans queasy. First, here are the stats for Manning and, by the way, this is the first season that Manning actually got his completion percentage over 60 percent.
Manning has thrown for 14,623 yards, 98 touchdowns to 74 interceptions, and has been sacked a total of 120 times, and has a career completion percentage of 55.9 percent.
Rivers, on the other hand, has thrown for 10,697 yards, 78 touchdowns to 36 interceptions, sacked 77 times, and has a career completion percentage of 62.3 percent.
Right now you could say that Manning has had the better career because he's got the ring, but later on when it's all said and done all the accolades and the stats will go to Rivers.
So, all I have to say is this to New York fans good look with mediocrity at the quarterback position, maybe they should look to trade Eli before he gets even worse.
20 comments Last one added 5 months ago — Leave a Comment
Vincent Jackson 5 months ago
You could be right but you could also be wrong. The Giants 2007 SB run was on the road and Manning's passing velocity was much more accurate with no wind.
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Tom M. 5 months ago
Good article. I think you are on target. Last year he was asked not to lose the game during the playoffs. NY defense won that championship. During their stretch run I saw swing passes and short routes. Very little downfield passing was attempted. This year, more was expected of the passing game and QB with injuries to the defense and less weapons on offense. He did not get the job done.
From a leadership standpoint, his post game said a lot to me. He mentioned the team not getting it done in the red zone and field goal kicking. I can't picture Payton throwing his teammates under the bus like that. Rivers didn't in his post game. The reality wasn't missed field goals but a combination of things especially critical turnovers in the passing game. Samuel's INT which led to a TD was huge. 3rd down efficiency was 25%. That was 1/2 of Philly's number. QB performance was at the center of that. He made no mention of his own performance.
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David Geller 5 months ago
Rivers would be even worse then Eli in the meadowlands winds. Have you ever seen some of his passes? They look like Jeff Feagles punts. How do you think the media would like Rivers too, with his baby antics? If Eli could throw a spiral I'd say he'd be the perfect fit as a NY QB, but unfortunately he's got work to do in that aspect.
He's still a good quarterback, just not good enough to outplay poor play calling and lack of weapons.
I'm just going to assume you didn't watch the playoffs last year if you say he did nothing.
And coming from a Giants fan, it doesn't suck to have him over Rivers. We're not even 12 months removed from last year's magical 4th quarter against New England and we're calling it a bad trade again?
Let's not get carried away. He had a bad game against a defense that's on fire. Why don't you give more credit to your guys instead of using your success to insult a QB that's now irrelevant?
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Steven Resnick 5 months ago
Yes, Manning improved on his numbers this year, but by all accounts Rivers is the better quarterback. Don't believe me look at his numbers compared to Manning's for 2008.
Manning's numbers 289 completions out of 479 so he finally had a decent completion percentage at 60.3 threw for 3238 yards, 21 touchdowns to 10 interceptions, his longest pass this year went for 48 yards, and averaged 202.4 yards throwing per game.
Rivers on the other hand completed 312 passes on 478 attempts meaning his completion percentage was at 65.3 percent, threw for 4009 yards, 34 touchdowns which lead the NFL and only threw 11 interceptions, and averaged 250.6 yards per game throwing.
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David Geller 5 months ago
I don't care for numbers. Passer ratings measure the passer, not the quarterback. Rivers plays in beautiful SD against the likes of Denver, Oakland, and KC twice a year while Eli plays Dallas, Philly, and Washington twice a year. All top 10 defenses.
Numbers don't tell the whole story. I don't really care for them, as they equate to wins. I'd take Eli over Rivers because I know for a fact that Eli can lead us to the promised land, which is all I really care about.
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Steven Resnick 5 months ago
Again last season is last season. It was a fluke! Get used to the Giants struggling to make the playoffs.
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Kyle Watt 5 months ago
Giants struggling to make the playoffs? like they did this year?
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Kyle Watt 5 months ago
also, are you calling the entire New York Giants 2008 playoff run a fluke? that's just.. just, not even worth responding too its so ridiculous
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David Geller 5 months ago
A fluke? Don't be stupid. If it was a fluke we don't go 12-4 and capture a division that was thought to be the best in the NFL by the beginning of December.
If anything if the Eagles win it all they'll be thought to be a fluke. They were lucky to get in. Their road to the SB consisted of an average at best Vikings team, an average Giants team (according to you), and the Arizona flippin' Cardinals.
The combined records of teams we beat to the SB and in the SB last year was 44-6. Flukes don't happen that big.
It's gonna be tough for me to get used to the Giants struggling to make the playoffs considering they've done it 4 straight years and still look like they are developing as a team.
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Michael Mulraney 5 months ago
Same old Eli. Eli is an average quarterback who had a great run last year. He played within his abilities. In this game with the Eagles he played as if he were big brother with little brother's abilities. Eli Eli benefits by a gun toting basketball player at wide out and a damn fine defense. All Eli has to do is be Joe Flacco with a little more exoerience to win. Unfortunately this success has gone to little brother's head.
I wonder kif Shannon Sharpe still thinks he better than Peyton. Eli will always be little brother.
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David Geller 5 months ago
Meanwhile big brother continues his same old routine in the playoffs.
It's 1-1 right now in SB rings. And don't say it's because our D carries Eli, because Eli played a helluva a lot better in his run then Peyton did.
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Michael Mulraney 5 months ago
Yes but Peyton calls the plays so the offense lives or dies by Peyton. Eli did outshine Peyton but that could be more of Asante Samuel uncharacteristically dropping a pick in the Super Bowl. Not to mention Eli needed the catch of the decade by a low level receiver on a ball that should have never been thrown to win his.
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David Geller 5 months ago
Eli does a lot more at the line then people know. Obviously not near Peyton levels but a lot of the offensive play calls do run through him.
Tyree ran the wrong route on that play that Samuel dropped.
The fact is Eli took his guys 83 yards down the field with an offensive line that couldn't block on that drive (I've re-watched it enough times to notice that) and his center looked like Gurode on the shot gun snaps.
Just give hime some freakin credit will ya?
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Mike DiPietro 5 months ago
People can say what they want about Eli. All I know is that with him as their starting QB, the Giants have done something no other Giants team has ever done, go to the playoffs four consecutive seasons, all of them with Eli as it's QB, and winning a championship in the most glorious way ever.
Now I know that's last season, but even so, Manning still has to be looked at as one of the Top 7 QB's in the game today. He has cut down on his mistakes from last year; but he has to get used to the wind in the Meadowlands somehow, someway.
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John Lorge 5 months ago
If you are going to compare Rivers and Eli, and claim that Eli has all of this talent around him, then you need to acknowledge all of the talent that Rivers has around him. Eli had his best season ever this year, a year after the team got rid of their pro bowl TE and their Pro Bowl WR shot himself. In the tom caughlin system manning wont have a chance to put up Rivers' numbers, especially when the Giants play from behind less. I think that Rivers is a better QB, but Eli is far from mediocre.
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Steven Resnick 5 months ago
Manning's running back's out performed the Chargers's running game, which should have opened up the passing game for Manning. Who didn't have a bad year throwing the ball either. The Giants ahad six players with over 30 receptions and the Chargers only had four with over 30 catches. So, Manning was able to spread the ball around better than Rivers and rely on a better running back combination.
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John Lorge 5 months ago
Yes running the ball does open up opportunities for passing plays, but when your downfield threat shoots himself in the leg it really hurts your PA pass potential. Also when you have 6 guys over 30 and 0 over 60 catches it means you don't have a goto WR.
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Steven Resnick 5 months ago
Neither did the Chargers in terms of wide receivers they had their safety valve in Antonio Gates but he only had 60 catches, which was the lowest total for him since his rookie season.
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John Lorge 5 months ago
Vince Jackson was right there with 59 for 1098 (18.6 YPC!). They had 3 WRs with a YPC over 14, I think everyone can agree that the Chargers, although not great, have better receiving options than the Giants.
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Gerald Ball 5 months ago
Steven:
Eli Manning is not a great QB, but a good one. His main problem in New York has been the lack of consistent protection. The Giants have RBs that can be effective without good blocking (slashers like Bradshaw and Barber, plus the big pounder Brandon Jacobs, who is bigger than most of the players trying to tackle him) and WRs that are supposed to be able to get open off the line of scrimmage very quickly. See, with the salary cap you have to sacrifice in one area or two, and the Giants save money on OL and DBs and spend their money on WRs, RBs, DL and LB.
If the Giants still had Plaxico Burress (or a healthy Jeremy Shockey) or if any of the WRs that they draft practically every year had panned out, they would have beaten Philadelphia, be well on their way to crushing Arizona next week, and going to a Super Bowl where they would have a good shot at beating a very similar Steelers team (or smothering Baltimore's rookie QB if Baltimore somehow beats Pittsburgh ... though if Pittsburgh still had RB Mendenhall healthy, they'd be a lock).
I say the Giants should stop drafting all those WRs, like I said virtually all of whom never pan out anyway, and draft an OL or two. That would make their QB, who is only going to be above average anyway, better by giving him another half second to get the ball to his WRs downfield.
As far as Philip Rivers, the guys trying to talk some sense into you are correct. I live in ACC country and saw tons of Philip Rivers games. The guy is smart and accurate, but the guy was a 3 star recruit and wasn't even considered the top QB coming out of Alabama that year for a reason; he lacks arm strength. He doesn't even have the ability to put the zip on short and certain intermediate routes that Tom Brady does, who only lacks arm strength on deep routes but can put very good velocity on practically everything else in the right offense.
In order for Rivers to have a successful career, he needed to either play in a warm weather team or in a dome, because he lacks the arm strength throw into the wind. So in New York, with 8 home games in New Jersey (which is where the Giants actually play) plus games in Philadelphia and Washington ... that is a good portion of his schedule that is almost guaranteed to be in nasty conditions outdoors, and that doesn't even count the road games out of the division. Taking Rivers would have meant losing virtually every home game (and the division road games) after late November, and that would have had everyone calling Rivers the bust.
Good NFL GMs consider things like that. You may be able to argue that the Giants should have taken Roethlisberger over Manning, but not Rivers.
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