Eli Manning: New York Giants Quarterback isn't Going To Change

A win is a win, but the Giants' 28-16 victory over the St. Louis Rams on Monday night was a bit on the ugly side. 

While there is no need for panic today with Big Blue improving to 1-1 on the season, the performance of Eli Manning seems to have only produced more questions instead of answers.    

ESPN's Ian O'Connor offered up his summation of Eli and his performance in relation to his brother, Michael Vick and the Giants' health:

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"Eli will never make it look Peyton pretty, or Michael magnificent. The younger Manning is a prisoner of his own limitations, not to mention the leader of a team that is physically breaking down around him."

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At this point, isn't it safe to say that Eli is Eli?

After seven-plus seasons, it's fairly clear what you are getting each time he steps on the field. By comparison, across town, the Jets are still trying to figure out if Mark Sanchez is a game manager or a potential franchise quarterback. Within this season and next, it should become clear where he will net out, but with Eli, we keep getting roughly 3,500-plus yards and 20-plus TDs, and before last year, no more than roughly one interception per game.

Granted, it's never pretty, but Eli is not one for style. He will run you through the ringer before winning a ballgame and has been doing this since his college days at Ole Miss.

Meanwhile, looking back, would the Giants have been better off with Phillip Rivers, who each year gets a lot of attention and MVP consideration, yet has failed to get his team further than the AFC championship game? 

What about Ben Roethlisberger? He does have two Super Bowl rings to his credit with three appearances in the big game with the Steelers, yet what are the odds he would have managed to do the same in New York?

Winning a Super Bowl doesn't earn Eli a free pass, but no matter what he does, it's never enough. Eli always seems to be portrayed as an aloof consolation prize from the Manning gene pool, and with Peyton likely out for the foreseeable future, it only becomes all the more glaring. 

Even Eli's own father, perhaps by accident, hinted as much.

"My guess is Peyton's got plenty of time to counsel [Eli] now," Archie said of his older boy, the one who might be lost for the season after multiple surgeries on his neck. "I'm sure he will. They'll talk. They don't overdo it...I'm sure he'll be a sounding board for Eli. He always has been. I don't wear that hat because Peyton's a lot more qualified than I am."

This week's matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles will be a good indicator to see where things are going for the Giants this season as a team. Regardless of whether the Giants win or lose on Sunday, the road for Eli Manning will likely be rough, but it's time to accept the fact that no amount of coaching, booing, brotherly love or pass-rushers pulverizing him week after week are is going to change him all that much.

The Giants may need Eli to step more than ever before, but the odds of that happening seem unlikely.