What a week to be Eli Manning.
Since he has been inserted as the Giants starting QB [which was a bad move by Tom Coughlin], the Giants haven’t won a game and have fallen out of the playoff race. He’s had to face the Eagles, Redskins, Falcons, Ravens...all great defenses [the Eagles, Redskins and Ravens are 3 top NFL defenses]. In the last 3 games...the Giants have lost each by at least 21 points.
Now he gets to face off against the Steelers...another darn good defense. Oh yeah...and across the field will be Ben Roethlesberger. Big Ben has been the antithesis of Eli this season. Ben stepped in for the injured Tommy Maddox in a Week 2 loss to the Ravens. Pittsburgh hasn’t lost since. While Ben has had a surprisingly good season....he is helped by having a great team around him. A great defense and a solid, deep rushing attack enables Ben to pick and choose his spots. Don’t get me wrong...we he has to pass it, he does a great job.
You could argue that the rolls could be reversed. The Giants could have picked Roethlesberger with the #4 overall pick. Instead, they drafted Philip Rivers and dealt him [along with their top pick in 2005] for Eli Manning. Would Eli have had success in Pitt?? Would Ben struggle in NYC?
Meanwhile, the Chargers, the team Eli refused to play for, will be playing for the AFC West title this Sunday. Rivers has spent the season waving in play calls.
Oh....and Sunday night....his big brother, Peyton Manning, could break Dan Marino’s record for TD passes in a season. The elder Manning is having an MVP season...and the Colts are a team with a very good shot at winning the Super Bowl. Peyton has 4 more touchdown passes [46] than Eli has completions [42].
Manning, Eli that is, has only completed 42 of 110 passes. Only one of those completions went for a TD. At that rate, it would take 184 games for Eli to match Peyton’s 46 TD. Six of his passes were picked off. He’s thrown a tad over 500 yards...and has a NFL worst 33.8 QB rating....including a big ZERO rating last week against Baltimore. .
If you added up Eli’s and Peyton’s TD passes...it would still be one short of Marino’s mark.
This isn’t all Eli’s fault. The offensive line, which was suspect at the beginning of the year, has been banged up. The receiving corps hasn’t played well at all. And it isn’t fair to throw a rookie into a lion’s den of defenses like that.
So, as the two rookie quarterbacks prepare to square off....Eli wants to taste victory for the first time. Roethlesberger knows nothing but.
10 comments:
Eli Manning may one day be even better than Big Ben, and maybe even his brother(Peyton), but Tom Coughlin didn't do him any favors by giving him the starting nod. Sure, Kurt Warner seemed to be going back to his fumbling days before being benched in St. Louis in favor of the very average Marc Bulger, but the fact was this.....the Giants were winning! The only real action Eli should have seen this year, should have been holding a clip board on the sidelines.
the coach of the gaint tom what ever his last name is sold his team down the tubes and gave up on the season to early he lost a possible playoff berth for the gaints,tom c showed that he thought the gaints were done with there season when he put eli in, he should be fired, I could coach and win,thats the trouble with the nfl they let the same marginal coaches, coach get some new blood in there, give chuck florio a shot he can't do any worse.
Eli might not be brother Peyton or even Big Ben.
I've been to many Giant games and now I live in Indiana.
Eli plays outside in the cold swirling winds of Giant stadium. The Giant receivers combined could not come even close to having as much talent and heart as Marvin Harrison.
Peyton plays inside the environmentally controlled RCA dome and is blessed with many excellent receivers.
Coach Coughlin may just have ruined Eli's career. He should have stayed on the bench all season and watched and learned.
Bad move Coach...
Has everyone taken a stupid pill??? If Eli Manning was on the Steelers, he would do what Big Ben is doing!!! It's the same situation as Phil Simms vs Joe Montana.
Joe Montana would NOT have survived past the 1st half of the 1st game playing for the Giants with their pathetic offensive line, no receivers ...... etc and Simms
would have won 6 or 7 Super Bowl MVPs with the 49ers (Bill Walsh preferred Simms over Montana). IN ANY CASE, Manning ( Eli or Peyton) NOT worth what Giants gave up in order to trade up. AND, with Giants valueable 2005 1st round pick going to San Diego (who'll probably draft the next Lawrence Taylor or Julius Pepper), No Manning( Eli or Peyton) will get past the Chargers for Super Bowl for the next 8-10 years. The Patriots are a better model for how to draft. As Jay Leno
would have put it, "What was Ernie Acorsie thinking when he made the deal with San Diego???"
As a San Diegan, I can't help but chuckle a little cruelly at Eli's fate. He thought he was just too good for us, but NY was worthy of him. Now that's what I call karma. The good news for San Diego, is we didn't really need him after all. We just needed a little faith in who we already had. And Eli may have had his NFL career effectively destroyed by the Giants who have made him the laughingstock he thought he would be in San Diego. Sorry Eli.
go dolphinsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
who is the fricking idiot that wrote this article the kid is in the nfl with a marginal o-line for the first year but lazy 400 pounders sitting on their cumfy computer chairs playing monday morning quarterback eating doritos and sucking down mr. pibbs have nothing better to do than criticize theunsuccess of a first year nfl qb get a life this kid(eli) put up higher numbers than his brother at mississippi so all you non-believers just wait his first year jitters are subsiding and a star will be born when your heinz-berger is already a memory.
You would think Eli would get better structure and educated if he got the benefit of Kurt Warner finishing the season. I mean my God, Warner only won a Super Bowl was MVP in this league twice and still is a very good QB and actually is a Great field General on a football field. I only hope and pray Warner gets onto a team that has "No" Shadows ( like Bulger, and Eli ) This man has not been treated fairly and watch if given a chance again will win another Super Bowl and Georga and Marks ( Rams ) and Tom C. will see how follish they're thinking is. Ed Joseph
Has everyone taken a stupid pill??? If Eli Manning was on the Steelers, he would do what Big Ben is doing!!!
Comment from mwolmstr - 12/16/04 5:28 PM
I think you've missed the point. I'm not saying Eli Manning sucks....in fact, he should be one heck of a QB for many years. Tom Coughlin sucks for making the move to start Eli when he did. Why take out Warner when the Giants were 5-4 [althought they had lost 2 straight] and insert a rookie against THOSE defenses. It is completely stupid. (A) the Giants were in the playoff hunt. (B) You can't just throw a rookie out there against the Ravens, Eagles, Redskins. (C) Of course if the roles were reversed....Eli would be a god for getting Pittsburgh to a 12-1 mark and Big Ben would just be looked at more as a project. Who knows? Tommy Maddox may have had the Steelers at this 12-1 mark.
Eli had BETTER win!!! Home field advantage for the Patriots is riding on this, and, if the Pats play the Steelers, I'd much prefer it be played in cozy Foxboro.
That Roethlisberger kid is scary! I mean, New England beat Pittsburgh in two out of three playoff games (and should have won that third one, but lost 7-6), because the Steelers had a sucky QB like Kordell Stewart.
But Roethlisberger? Rookie of the Year for sure! That kid is GOOD! The Patriots will have to play 100% PERFECT to beat him!
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