New York Giants: Why Eli Manning Will Be Elite Against Dallas

This past offseason, Giants QB Eli Manning was asked a not-so-simple question. He was asked if her thought he was in the same elite class as Tom Brady. Without hesitation, Manning answered, "Yeah, I consider myself in that class and Tom Brady is a great quarterback."

At the time, many people, including Giants fans, scoffed at the notion that he was a top-tier QB in the NFL. They are scoffing no more. Though his team is just 6-6 and backed into a corner of must-win games, Eli Manning has been the one constant in the offense.

A man that was being mentioned in regards to how short he would come to Dan Marino's passing yards record. Imagine that—a Giants QB being mentioned in the same breath as Dan Marino's passing record. It's unfathomable for a team with such a rich history of ground-and-pound style of offense.

Yet, here we are discussing the fact that a Giants QB is just 295 yards from his third consecutive 4,000-yard passing season. In Giants history it would be the fifth such season and Manning will have three of them. In fact, he is 368 passing yards away from tying Kerry Collins for the most in a single season at 4,073. With four games left, I like his chances of shattering that mark.

Last season, he passed Charlie Conerly in all-time passing yards at 19,488. This season, just a few games ago, he passed Conerly for career TD passes with 173. He now stands at 179 and will pass the legendary Phil Simms next year when he reaches 200.

He also will be right on Simms' heels for total passing yards by the end of next year and looking to break Simms' record of 33,462 yards passing at some point the following season in 2013.

With all of this elite talk and the stats backing him up, it's easy to see why he is quickly building an argument for the greatest QB in Giants history.

Fast-forward to present day. He leads the current Giants into Dallas for a pivotal game against the Cowboys with playoff implications. The Cowboys are not an easy team, but even they know the greatest weapon the Giants have: Eli Manning. Manning's Giants were 3-4 against Dallas in his first four seasons.

Since, he defeated them 21-17 in the 2007 playoffs, though it has been a very different story. They are 4-2 against them and 2-1 in Dallas, including the Cowboys' new stadium unveiling in 2009. The Giants—and Manning, especially—have been a thorn in their side and a big reason Cowboys QB Tony Romo has not been able to have success at the next level.

Of course, there is that fumble in Seattle and other lapses in concentration he has shown from time to time, but make no mistake, the Giants have hurt them just as much in key points of their seasons.

Manning has 3,106 yards passing in his career versus Dallas in 13 games. He has 26 TD passes to 17 INTs. That's nearly a two-to-one ratio—not too bad. The Eli Manning of the past few seasons, though, has seemed to "get it" against them.

In the last four games versus Dallas, he has had three 300-yard games and at least two TD passes in all four. One of those games he had four TDs. He has turned it on, especially against the Cowboys. This is not a fact that has been lost on Dallas. The Cowboys know the Giants have weapons and that Manning knows how to use them.

Earlier this week, Cowboys safety Abram Elam had this to say: "You've got a lot of guys to account for, and you always have to be aware that they can beat you with the big play in the passing game."

When combined with a rushing attack that ranks 32nd (dead last) in the league and a passing game that ranks fourth in the NFL behind only Green Bay, New Orleans and New England, it's safe to say the Cowboys know whom they have to stop.

Their problem is they haven't done it in years.

In fact, no one really has this season. Manning has passed for at least 250 yards in every game but one this season. In Week 2 he passed for 224 yards against the Rams. Even then, though, he threw two TD passes.

Dallas has to know he is the heart and soul of this offense—almost as if he were an elite QB. If opposing defenses are treating him like he is elite, maybe he is. Maybe Eli Manning has it right and the writers and fans that scoffed all have it dead wrong.

He is in that class and he is the star pupil sitting in the front row by the blackboard. Class is in session.

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