- Nov 19, 2001
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Good article in today's NY Post about Eli.
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I think I completely agree with this article. Eli is not a bad QB. Did the Giants give up too much for him? Certainly. But he can be a winning QB in this league.
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LAST week's buildup decreed this was the game to determine Eli Manning's football worth. Beat the Cowboys and Tony Romo or else get dumped into the garbage with the rest of the bum quarterbacks.
The Giants lost, Romo outplayed Manning and that was that, until this week, when the next Game of the Season arrives in Detroit and Manning in the minds of many must rebound from that shame.
Degrees in psychoanalysis must come cheap, as the line of those eager to get into Manning's head and heart and declare those cavities devoid of the right stuff starts up in the press box and stretches clear around Giants Stadium. If Manning throws three touchdown passes and torches the Lions in Ford Field, the ?Cool Hand Eli" headlines make a reappearance, and if he tosses three interceptions, the rabble will want to start scouring the NFL Draft for another arm out of the bullpen.
Here's the deal with Manning: He's a good quarterback. Those who declare the Giants can't or won't win a Super Bowl with him at the helm are clueless or else they've never heard of Doug Williams or Trent Dilfer or Brad Johnson or even Kurt Warner. Those who continually compare him to older brother Peyton are misguided, as Peyton is among the top 10 quarterbacks ever to play in the NFL and Eli is never going to approach that exalted status. Of course, before last season Peyton was classified as the greatest quarterback to never win the big one, until he won the big one.
Those who put together graphics and charts comparing Eli to 2004 classmates Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers have to give it a rest. At this time a year ago, the noise grew deafening that Rivers was superior to Manning. How's that assessment looking now? Roethlisberger in his second year won a Super Bowl with the Steelers, leaning heavily on a punishing running game and surviving the worst statistical performance (nine completions, 123 passing yards, two interceptions) for any Super Bowl champion quarterback.
Roethlisberger was dreadful last season, has been phenomenal this season and, looking back, would have been a great choice for the Giants with the No. 4 pick in the 2004 draft rather than trading away three valuable picks for Manning. That's on former general manager Ernie Accorsi's legacy and has nothing to do with Eli Manning.
Manning gets no pass for his inconsistency. He gets no pass for not getting in and out of the damn huddle to prevent three ridiculous delay-of-game-penalties against the Cowboys. Eli scoffed at the Chargers, refused to play for them and forced his way into New York; this is what he wanted and he's no sympathetic figure. He also has never complained about the football firestorm he's living. Anyone who says the 31-20 loss to the Cowboys was all about his failures is lost or apparently not watching when he made some outrageous throws.
He's firmly in the second tier of quarterbacks. Many more than half the teams in the league would eagerly grab him up and instantly install him as their starter. Fans are harsh with him, but that's part of the biz. Fans are exceptionally frustrated with him because he ?aw-shucks" his way from week to week, reacts not with sweat and testosterone but with calm and perspective.
When he says of the Cowboys, ?They're a good team, in both games we played 'em we were in it at the end, it's not like we are getting blown out," fans want to cringe. They want fire, passion, outward disgust with losing. Manning keeps it all inside. Despite accusations, he doesn't have a deer-in-the-headlights look. His bland look is just his look and it doesn't mean he's intimidated. He might spend a dozen years with the Giants and not reveal much more of himself than he already has. Or there might not be much more to reveal.
He's not an enigma. He hasn't been a quick study, despite his bloodlines, and he's also not a finished product. He's improving in steps, not bounds. He can make all the throws, few of the scrambles. After 48 starts, he's got the same record (26-22) as Peyton did in his first 48, 10 more touchdown passes (and one more interception) than Phil Simms.
If you want inspiration, go see a movie. Eli gives you his effort and his performance. He's good enough, and it's up to the Giants to make that enough.
I think I completely agree with this article. Eli is not a bad QB. Did the Giants give up too much for him? Certainly. But he can be a winning QB in this league.