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| Kiss the ring, Tyler. |
My Rebel Sports Radio colleague Tyler Bischoff read my piece on Eli Manning yesterday ("Why Eli Never Gets His Due") and simply had to respond. You can listen to Tyler on Rebel Sports Radio's The Show Up North. He has way more talent than I. -Jake
By Tyler Bischoff
Among active quarterbacks, Eli Manning is one of the best in
the playoffs. He has led the New York Giants to an 8-3 post season record and
was named super bowl MVP in both of the Giants super bowl victories. His .727
postseason winning percentage is tied with Tom Brady for the best among active
quarterbacks, and he beat Brady and the New England Patriots twice in the super
bowl. Despite all of this success, Manning isn't considered elite or Hall of
Fame worthy league wide. The reason for this? Manning is simply average in the
regular season.
In the regular season, Manning has won 58 percent of his career
starts. Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers, has won 67 percent of his
starts. Eli’s older brother, Peyton wins 68 percent of the time, and Brady sits
at 78 percent. Of top tier quarterbacks, Drew Brees has won 58 percent of his
career games, same as Eli, but since tearing his labrum and joining the New
Orleans Saints, Brees has won 61 percent of his games.
Manning even falls behind quarterbacks in his own draft
class. Ben Roethlisberger has won 70 percent of his games as the Pittsburgh
Steelers quarterback, and Phillip Rivers has won 62 percent of his games for
the San Diego Chargers.
Manning comes up short in touchdown to interception ratio as
well. Among the quarterbacks mentioned, Eli Manning has the worst career ration
at 1.4 touchdowns per interception. Rodgers tops the list at 3.5.
Roethlisbeger(1.8) and Brees(1.9) are the only other quarter backs under 2.
In terms of yards per game, Eli Manning is behind all of
these names again. He throws for 231 yard per game, Roethlisbeger is close with
235, but Rodgers, Brady, Peyton Manning, and Brees are all averaging 20 yards
more per game. This isn’t a case of the other quarterbacks throwing the ball
more often. Eli averages 33 attempts per game, more than Rodgers(31),
Rivers(31), and Roethlisberger(30), and the same as Brady. Only Peyton(35) and
Brees(36) attempt more passes per game.
All of that is objective, and a main reason why Eli Manning
never gets praised as a top tier quarterback. But clearly opinions,
subjectivity, matter too, as Jake Adams pointed out.
Jake’s first reason for why Eli is hated is that he went to a
lesser known, lesser accomplished school, rather than play at a major college
football power. This wouldn’t make him more hated. Most people love under dogs.
Who wasn’t cheering for George Mason in the Final Four? Who has more haters,
the New York Yankees or the Houston Astros?
Maybe, nationally, Ole Miss is hated, but a majority of fan
bases believe that the national media hates their team. When Ole Miss deserves
the spotlight, they get it. Wasn’t Jevan Sneed on the cover of Sports
Illustrated? What about after beating Florida in 2008?
Jake's second point, about being in a family football dynasty,
is probably a cause for hatred. Eli will always be compared to Peyton. And
short sighted people will believe that Eli didn’t earn everything he has
accomplished, when in fact he has. Although, I will venture to guess that most
20-something year olds, outside of the southeast, do not know very much about
Archie Manning.
Jake's final point about Eli being too nice could also cause
unwarranted hate. For example, look at Tim Tebow, and the division among fans
perception of the Jets quarterback. Being too nice, or even keeled can annoy
people that pour their emotions into cheering for and against teams.
Ultimately, we judge star QBs on championships. Manning has
delivered in that aspect, twice. Because of that, I believe Manning should end
up in the Hall of Fame. But in today's NFL he is in the second tier of
quarterbacks because of his regular season numbers.
*I do not consider
Rivers and Roethlisberger top tier quarterbacks. They are simply used as
comparison from the 2004 draft class.
Jake's Response: Leave it to Tyler to go straight to statistics and numbers. Like those mean anything! Just kidding. I simply point to 2011 when Eli was at or near the Top 5 in nearly every important statistical category in including passes completed, yardage, touchdowns, etc., and he won the Super Bowl...for the second time. He's hardly second tier. The argument for greatness should end at two Super Bowls and two Super Bowl MVP's, but if we must come up with still more reasons for Eli's elite status I simply point to his 4th quarter comebacks. Eli is 3rd among active quarterbacks with 24 of them, which is also good enough for 11th all time. Clutch means something doesn't it, Tyler?
And I don't think it's the underdog status of Ole Miss bringing Eli down. I think it's Ole Miss itself. For some reason, and maybe it's because it's in Mississippi, or perhaps because of the 1960's but there's a bias toward the Rebels that is deep in the conscience of the national sports media. I think that bias plays a small factor in the absolute refusal of some to acknowledge Eli as one of the greatest quarterbacks in the sport.