November 30th, 2010 
Jesse Bartolis 
Posted in Welp, another week another Eli Manning is overrated controversy.
This week it comes at the hand of Terry Bradshaw of Fox’s Sunday pre-game Show. This past weekend TB ranked his top Quarterbacks under the age of thirty, and even though TB didn’t use the word “overrated” he might as well have as he ranked Eli Manning the #9 Best QB Under thirty in the league.
This does not include the thirty or above crowd like Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady meaning at best TB thinks that Eli Manning is the 12th best QB in the league?
Is he right?
Of course you all know that my answer is a Big Giant No!
Eli Manning is the Rodeny Dangerfield of the Quarterback business.
Now obviously this is NOT Eli Manning’s best season. Through 11 games he’s been at the root of 21 turnovers (coincidentally? The other season he had the most turnovers in 2007?). Which is definitely not good. He thrown 16 INT (regardless of who’s fault the interceptions were) so that’s the main reason people are down on Eli.
But let me counter that with these numbers.
Eli Manning is FIRST IN THE LEAGUE IN TD PASSES This Season.
Let that sink in for a moment for all of the flack that Eli has receved this season, Eli Manning his tied for first in the league in touchdown passes. I haven’t seen that mentioned Anywhere.
Brett Favre has made a Hall of Fame career out of leading the league in Touchdown passes while throwing careless interceptions.
Then there is more:
7th in the league in yards
10th in yards per attempt (although he’s fifth for Quarterbacks with more than 300 passes)
3rd in the league in plays over 20 yards
3rd in the league in sacks taken (and the Giants offensive line has been beat up all year)
And he’s lead this offense to top 10 in all major offensive categories (yards per game, points per game, and passing yards per game, rushing yards per game too, but that doesn’t necessarily reflect on Eli Manning)
And the scary part about this is ALL OF HIS OFFENSIVE RECEIVERS/TE are Green.
The Giants have probably the youngest set of skilled players in the league. The two veterans of the group have only been in the league since 2007.
His WR were in the league in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2009, 2010, 2010.
His Tight Ends are 2007, 2009, 2009.
The only team that is comparable to the lack of true veterans among their offensive receivers (WR and Tight Ends) that is an effective offense is the Eagles.
The Chargers have Gates and Patric Crayton Malcom Floyd and Vincent Jackson are all more experienced then the Giants weapons
The Patriots have Deon Branch, Wes Welker who are very experienced.
Every team has multiple WR or Tight Ends who have been in the league longer than 2007 except for the Giants and Eagles, which to me is something that is never mentioned, but is something that ABSOLUTELY Makes a difference.
I think younger players working with a QB are much more prone to miscommunications, lapses in judgement, lapses in concentration, can be confused by things a defense does, and also have not learned to maximize their abilities.
Still Eli Manning is on pace to throw for over thirty touchdowns, and it’s not like his team is losing a ton of games.
The problem people have with Eli, I think is he doesn’t throw a great ball, he doesn’t run around the field after each big completion, and he was the first overall pick and he is related to Archie and Peyton Manning.
The N.F.C. East has consistently been the best division in football from top to bottom (maybe the A.F.C. South) since Eli entered the league, but Eli has still taken to the Giants to the playoffs FOUR times out of five years as the full time starter!
Eli has won the most games in the N.F.C. since 2005.
Eli Manning is the only NY Giants QB to go to the playoffs four years in a row in their history(I just heard this while watching Bob Papa’s Giants Chronociles)
Eli Manning doesn’t throw the greatest ball I’ve ever seen, but he does a lot with circumstances much better pass throwers couldn’t handle. Who knows what Phillip Rivers or Sam Bradford could do in the New York media?
Or what Eli could do if he got to throw the ball in San Diego every year or with a more pass friendly offense like the ones run in Green Bay and San Diego. By that I mean simpler concepts, better play callers and less risky throws.
The Giants WR are suppose to have route adjustments based on coverages, and can do certain things at the top of each of their routes that few teams require of players in today’s N.F.L.
Eli is NOT having his best season this year because he’s had a lot of turnovers. But these WR and Tight Ends are VERY young, probably the youngest in the league and I think that over the next five to seven years this will be Eli’s worst year, which is saying a lot because as of today Eli Manning still LEADS THE LEAGUE in TD Passes.
I can’t believe how little notice this gets?
Sure he’s tied with three other players all with 23 TD passes, but check out these three players he’s tied with
Phillip Rivers, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and ELI MANNING.
Those are the three biggest M.V.P candidates, but right there at the top of the list for getting his team in the End Zone the most sits Eli Manning.
The fact that people just look at his tempermeant and his sometimes careless mistakes and classify Eli as an average QB is beyond me.
Let’s not forget to mention that he’s the second most durable QB in the league as well.
Oh and by the way people who don’t know with all of this Aaron Rodgers love fest.
Eli Manning vs Aaron Rodgers from some statistical measures that lead directly to team success
Entered League: Eli 2004 Aaron Rodgers 2005
TD passes last three seasons:
Eli 23, 27, 21=71
Rodgers 20, 30, 28=78
Sacks Taken:
Eli-12, 30, 27=69
Rodgers- 21, 50, 34=105
INT:
Eli-16, 14, 10=40
Rodgers: 9, 7, 13=29
Team points scored:
Eli: 277, 402, 427=1106
Rodgers: 269, 461, 419=1149
Wins:
Eli=7, 8, 12=27
Rodgers=7, 11, 6=24
The numbers are pretty similar, but everyone treats Eli Manning like he’s an average QB and like Aaron Rodgers is the next coming.
Rodgers has an easier offense to run (in my opinion) in an easier divison to play (in my opinion) with more established WR and a similar defense but the numbers are pretty close, there’s not this huge discrepency that everyone makes it out to be.
Eli throws too many interceptions and Rodgers runs around holding the ball forever taking a lot of sacks. He gets beat up a lot and I’d be worried about that beating over the long haul.
Is Rodgers better than Eli?
Probably more physically gifted, but I’m going to wait for him to do SOMETHING other than making the playoffs one season before I crown him the King.
Just my thoughts about Eli being UNDERRATED if he’s the 9th best QB under the age of thirty.
love these numbers. I also saw TB rank the qb’s…no way is Eli number 9 let alone behind mark sanchez. His stats are great this year minus the turnovers
Preach on brotha. Preach!
PS: I agree the west coast offense is incredibly QB friendly. Eli has a much harder time of it since he’s always throwing the ball down the field. I hate how Drew Brees and Peyton Manning get congratulated for having 70%+ completion percentages but a third of their passes are dump offs.
It’s interesting to note that you compared Eli to Rogers. It would be better to list him againsts Rivers.
That would make a very strong case that we should have kept Rivers in 2004 and the all the draft picks we gave up. I am not a real Eli hater, but I continue to think that we gave up way too much for him back then. I thought it was a mistake to take a weak armed QB when half the game are played in windy Giants Stadium. I watch a lot of his film clips during his college days ar Ole Miss and the majority of passes he through were flutter balls (although most were accurate). I felt with the closing speed that the DB’s in the NFL have, that would be trouble.
Eli’s leadership has lead us to a Super Bowl championship, while Rivers can’t win a HOME playoff game in sunny San Diego against the Jets (with all the Giants draft picks from that trade might I add), and you’re still debating the decision? You should be ashamed to call yourself a Giants fan, do you even appreciate what this team did in 2007 and what they could be poised to do in the future?? Rivers had the best running back and tight end in the league for YEARS (in addition to a top tier defense) and amounted to not even one Super Bowl appearance, but go ahead, believe the hype, just don’t call yourself a Giants fan in the process.
First off JasonC’s argument is valid. Second there is some truth in it. The thing that bothers me is when fans comment and say things like “you should be ashamed..” or “you are not a true Giants fan” every time someone is critical of Eli. Eli’s critics are justified. To assume you know more or as much as professionals like TB and others is presumptuous at best. Eli has many faults and is just as likely to cost you a game as he is to win one in the clutch. It is not as if Eli operates in a vacuum and that he is the sole reason we win or loose. Rightfully he should only be compared to what QB’s skill set requires them to do. Can he hit moving targets as well as other qbs, how does his arm stack up, is he athletic, can he read defenses, is he tough, is he a leader, does his team respond, how does his accuracy stack up? While this list is not all inclusive it is a more realistic indication of comparative skill set then comparing this qb on this team with that qb on that team. This is because obviously there are an infinite number of variables that have to coalesce before one qb’s traits come to fruition as apposed to another qb. Some qb’s have been ruined by their environment, by their maturity, by their coaches, even by local media etc.
My point is Eli has earned criticism over the years and an SB MVP award has belayed that dubious right of passage for some but not others who understand it takes an entire team effort to get that prize. It takes two to tango and even when arguing in his favor regarding this years ints the truth is I don’t recall anyone deflecting a pass that was put in the bread basket into the db’s hands. There was the spectacular Steve Smith attempted catch between two dbs that was taken out of his hands during the tackle and fall but other then that (which was an Eli under throw by the way), I can think of only high passes careening off the fingertips of leaping or fully extended hands of receivers most of the time wide open. Some of us have a problem with that. Does that make Eli a bad qb? No, but you have to wonder sometimes what would Phil Simms do in this offense with this team’s talent? You see IMO Eli would not stack up well in that scenario. All the other variables really are subject to discussion even though there is no indication that these other qbs would fail or under achieve in this environment anymore then there is proof Eli would flourish in their environments. It is just the stuff sports talk is made off. So stop with the you are a traitor if you criticize Saint Eli.
PS – I am probably a typical Eli fan, love and hate baby love and hate LOL.
Sorry, I wanted to say BluemanFLA was valid as well. Forgive the oversight.
Sorry I upset you Alice. I’ve been a Giant fan since they played in the Polo Grounds. (You can look it up 1952), so don’t give me thos Ashamed garbage. Have I ever been ashamed that I was a Giant fan???? Yes, when Ray Handley was coach (you can look that up also rookie). The super bowl arguemeny doen’t wasj either. It was Spags leadership that took up to the superbowl (look up DEFENSE). So since you seem to think you are the only true Giant fan, have at it. I have said my piece.
Last I checked Eli led a game winning drive against a team that had no losses to their record (they had a pretty good defense too I’m guessing??), so you can give Spagnuolo all the credit you want, but the game was won ON THE FIELD. I’m not here to argue, all I was saying is if you really want Philip Rivers as your quarterback, there’s a perfectly good team in San Diego for you to root for. As for me, I’ll stick with Eli he’s done more with less than what Rivers has in his arsenal, he’s even starting to put up the big numbers. I know it seems like it gets tiring that whenever someone is supporting Eli they bring up that one year when the team got everything rolling for a great playoff run, but a Super Bowl MVP IS a big deal. As for Ray Handley, I know all about him, I might be younger than you, but you can stop insulting my knowledge of the game. I appreciate the past as much as the future, unfortunately, there’s too many old timers that don’t feel the same for the latter.
Rivers would have imploded in NY !! He does not have the temperment for that media market. Rivers has played in a much less competetive division then the NFC East, how nice it would be for Elis stats if he got to play the Chiefs, Raiders and the Broncos twice every year ! And Rivers has missed some games because of injuries… Manning has not missed one !! I think I will stick with a proven winner that will only get better.
Only Giants fans can appreciate Eli, and I’m fine with that, let everyone else hate on him, put him down, and rate him lower than guys like Sanchez (who’s benefited from more dropped interceptions than legally possible), Rivers (who probably has more home playoff losses than this whole list combined), Bradford (probably a good future, but he hasn’t even done anything yet), Rodgers (zero playoff wins…), Flacco (who still hasn’t learned to read a single NFL coverage) and Josh Freeman(really????). The funny thing is, you take Ben out of the list (who apparently Terry’s made ammends with?) and Eli has won one more Super Bowl than the entire list combined, probably more playoff games than the whole list combined, and people still continue to say he’s overrated. Fine, I’ll take my overrated QB, good luck in January with your Philip Rivers…
Eli is the man. I think in the last game I saw his first real over throw to a wide open Hagen. He is solid back there and when he is on he is dead on. The TD pass to Manningham was pretty amazing in the last game. Did you know where he was throwing that? In the run to the Super Bowl Win his efforts in the playoffs were extraordinary.
And he is still growing as a quarterback. OK so he should slide.
He doesn’t fist pump and run to the endzone to celebrate touchdowns. He gets with coaches and reviews defenses.
Some turnovers this year were clearly due to the rookie corps. of receivers changing patterns and shying away from getting plastered.
There is no way he is numero uno. There is no way he doesn’t become numero uno in the years to come as his team gets some experience. Manning/Nicks could become Manning/Harrison but better. We need to draft around protecting him as our O line is showing it’s age.
We get Smith and Nicks back the offense is basically unstoppable.
GO ELI!
[...] and Phil Simms (55) and not all that far behind Donovan McNabb (64) and Brett Favre (67). …Eli Manning #9 Best QB Under Thirty?Giants Gab [...]
This list was compiled by Terry Bradshaw, people. He always has been and always will be, dumb as a brick. Just win another ring Eli. That will shut them all up. Again.