Since when is this baseball? Eli Manning didn't beat Favre, Rodgers, and Brady -- the New York Giants beat the Packers and the Patriots. Besides, both times the Giants have beat the Packers in the playoffs, the Packers just played lousy. Favre had several men wide open and threw to the one man who was double covered. The Packers gave away the ball how many times yesterday? As I said before, the Giants played exceptionally well yesterday, but to give Eli Manning all the credit for that would be silly.
When we are talking about elite quarterbacks, I was talking about this year. Statistically speaking, Eli Manning was a top-10 quarterback this year. However, several quarterbacks -- including Tony Romo -- threw for more yards, more touchdowns, and fewer interceptions, not to mention had a higher passer rating, than Eli Manning this year. In terms of win/loss record, the team was mediocre, barely squeaking into the playoffs in a thoroughly underperforming division. Obviously, part of that was their defensive woes through the first half of the season, coupled with an abysmal running game; but Aaron Rodgers faced similar obstacles and still put up six more victories this year. In terms of individual performance, then, I would say my top 4 quarterbacks were Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Matthew Stafford. Eli Manning would be ranked somewhere around No. 7 or 8 -- top 25 percent, certainly, but not elite.
I find it endlessly amusing that the only other exception people can point to is the Saints -- the same exception I have already admitted. Two exceptions (assuming the Patriots make the Super Bowl this year) don't invalidate a correlation. Occasional outliers are always to be expected. Until a trend of high-powered offenses coupled with porous defenses starts making the Super Bowl with regularity, we can safely assume it is not a trustworthy formula for championship success.
Originally Posted by: Nonstopdrivel