Yeah, I know, the Giants lost, and believe me, I'm depressed as hell. But saying that the Chargers got the better qb is also ridiculous. Why vilify Eli because the giants defense is horrible? Im not saying take the stats from one game, in fact, i'm saying you shouldn't do it, but if you did, who had the better game? I believe Rivers threw two picks? Please, this article is ridiculous, and though i normally appreciate Judge's articles, I just don't get it. I know Rivers won, but I also know the Giants have been giving up the pass play for the past four games. God I miss Kenny Philips.
Who has better career passing stats? Who's the QB with the worse Turnover Ratio? The Giants won the superbowl on the back of their defense, the Chargers lost in the playoffs because of their defense.
I agree - how much more outrageous can you get? To say Phillip Rivers who has still won nothing and barely put together a decent regular season, let alone playoff run, is better than Eli Manning or Drew Brees is bordering on insane. Eli Manning has had to adjust to losing his biggest weapon in Plaxico Buress. Manningham and Smith are decent, but far from the game breaker Buress was. In the NFL, your sucess is largely judged on whether you have ever won a Super Bowl. Just ask Dan Marino. The Giants have neglected the offense and should have tried to get Braylon Edwards from the Browns when he was put out to the highest bidder. The Jets gave up relatively little and I'm sure if you ask Eli, he would take the Charger's receivers over his own any day. I believe CBS Sports encourages their writers to make ludicrous arguements just to get football fans riled. It's as if these writers don't know anything at all!
Rivers is better. The guy has always put up the numbers, has been consistent. Who knows what you're going to get out if Eli. Look no further than the end of this game, when both QBs needed to get their team in the endzone, Eli to seal a victory, Rivers to snatch that victory. One got the job done at crunch time, one didn't.
A Browns fan using Super Bowl wins as basis for comparing QBs has to be one of the funniest things I've ever seen.
Rivers hasn't put together a great year? Right, let's ignore last year, when Rivers led the NFL in QB rating, touchdowns, and yards per attempt and also topped 4,000 yards for the first time in his career, and wasn't selected for the Pro Bowl. Not only did he lead the NFL in QB rating, but his rating was just over EIGHT points higher than second place, Chad Pennington.
Eli Manning didn't win that Super Bowl, and don't try to tell me that David Tyree won it either; if the defense doesn't play out of their minds against Brady and the Patriots, the Giants lose that game by three touchdowns and we all know it. The Giants' front seven won that Super Bowl. Eli will never be an elite quarterback because he doesn't have the arm, poise, or leadership abilities, not to mention this year where he has little talent around him (I maintain that any success this year is attributed to his stellar offensive line).
Until you actually know what you're talking about, please step aside and let the men discuss.
Why vilify Eli because the Giants defense is horrible? Is this not the same defense that made a run to the superbowl a couple of years ago, The same defense that shutdown the most explosive offense in NFL history? I think it's fair to say Eli is good but to say he's btter then both Ben and Phillip that like saying Dilfer is better then Marino. Like the guy above me said, superbowl rings can't be credited to a QB, it's a team sport but what he does on the field can. And Eli resume, minus the years and ring is no better then Tarvaris Jackson.
Here's the thing Browns fan, in addition to Rivers' stats being ridiculously better than Eli's, we also watch the game. We've all seen Philip Rivers and Eli Manning play and it's not even close. Rivers is elite, Eli is average. According to your Super Bowl argument here Brad Johnson, Trent Dilfer, Mark Rypien, Jeff Hostetler, Doug Williams and Eli Manning are all better than Dan Marino, Dan Fouts, Jim Kelly and Fran Tarkenton. Rivers put up those ridiculous numbers last year with Antonio Gates being injured, Chris Chambers falling off the face of the earth and LT becoming mortal. He took the team to the AFC Championship game the year before with a torn ACL and with LT and Gates injured. Gave New England a run for their money in that game too. You should watch more Charger games and more football altogether because you're coming off as being ignorant as hell here.
Look at his Super Bowl wins - Eli Manning -1, Phillip Rivers - 0 - Case Closed!!! Look at his Super Bowl wins - Eli Manning -1, Phillip Rivers - 0 - Browns playoff appearances in the last 14 years- 0 . Case Closed!!!
A Brown's fan chimming in on quarterbacks...That is friggin hilarious!!!! Phillip Rivers is the best quarterback in the league right now. Who do you guys have as a quarterback? No one! Better go check to see if Brian Sipe or Bernie Kosar want to play because they are better right now at about 50 years old than the losers you have their now.
Why vilify Eli because the Giants defense is horrible? for the same reason he got all the credit for riding on the curtails of an AMAZING defense & a spectacular catch to win the superbowl. everyone who defends eli as being better than rivers brings up the fact that manning has a superbowl ring. well why does he get credit for winning a ring off the the giants fantastic defensive effort, but cant get blamed when the giants defense isnt so good? it should work both ways should it not?
im not manning hating, & im not a Chargers fan, & both of them are good quarterbacks, but from a neutral perspective, rivers is the better passer.
If Eli played in the AFC west his numbers would be as good as or better than Rivers.
Eli's stats against the AFC west this year - 53 of 67, 680 yards, 10.2 YPA, 7 TDs and 1 Int in 3 games.
Eli clearly outplayed Rivers in this game. He spent most of the game scrambling to avoid sacks and dealing with penalties that put the Giants in 1st and 25 type situations and still kept the Giants moving and scoring. The majority of his incompletions were intentional to avoid sacks. He even had to deal with the Giants moron of a kicker taking 3 points off the board due to pure stupidity. Yet he still completed 75% of his passes and had the Giants up by 6 with two minuted to go. And with 15 seconds left he hit Smith right with a near perfect 40 yard pass that would have put them right on the edge of FG range if it hadn't been dropped.
The Chargers won that game because the Giants were undisciplines and they were playcalling not to lose instead of to win. Rivers had a decent game, but the only reason he got the chance for that final drive is because the Giants refused to go for the throat. Instead they resigned themselves to a FG as soon as they got called for holding and never gave Eli a chance to put it in the end zone.
If Tynes doesn't botch that early FG, or the Giants don't shoot themselves in the foot with 100 yards of penalties, and the Giants win then this article would be about how Eli outplayed Rivers, even if nothing changed about the way the two of them actually played.
Yes, Rivers threw 2 interceptions. And yes, ONE of them was his fault. Still, he had 4 passes dropped (2 by Gates, 2 by Floyd) that would have gone for approximately 75 yards (and I'm not talking about drops like the one Smith supposedly had with 15 seconds left - he was mugged and there are very few players in the history of the league that could have made that catch - I'm talking about ACTUAL drops).
If that one pass convinces you that Eli had the better game, so be it. It has no bearing over what they've each done over the last few years, though.
There is absolutely no way that any sane, objective person would ever agree that Eli is a better quarterback than Rivers. The proof is in the pudding as the say. There's not a single statistic in which Manning is even comparable to Rivers, much less better. Teams win championships, so I don't want to hear about Eli winning the Super Bowl. I'm sure most of you haters are fully aware...but Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl. As did Brad Johnson. And Ben Roethlisber (in 2005), who had quite possibly the worst performance of any winning QB in the history of the SB.
Be objective, people. If you know much about football, simply watching a few games (even if you've never even seen the stats) should tell you that Rivers is a FAR better quarterback.
This is awesome. There is no way that anybody can prove that Eli is better than Rivers. The question wasn't "Who has won more Superbowls"
The Giants are a great organization, and the year they won the Superbowl was special. But, I can't see how a Giants fans would pick Eli over Rivers if they could choose right now. The biggest problem for Rivers, is that he is with a team that has a very stubborn GM, a garbage coach, and a team that is very injury-prone and soft at times.
If Eli played here blah blah.. If the kickers hadn't botched the kick blah blah blah...If the Giants had gone for their throats blah blah blah.. If the Giants didn't have so many penalties blah blah blah.. If the Giants had never had to punt and scored on every possession blah blah blah.. If you have to use more than one "if" statement to defend your team and quarterback you are not making a good argument... If Gates hadn't dropped 2 key passes, 1 directly leading to an interception the Chargers "may" have blown the game out... Both teams had plays that if the had gone the other way could have affected the score of the game and that is just the way the game goes.. The better team and QB won this one..
<span></span> <span class="QuoteMessage"><span>Rivers is elite, Eli is average. According to your Super Bowl argument here Brad Johnson, Trent Dilfer, Mark Rypien, Jeff Hostetler, Doug Williams and Eli Manning are all better than Dan Marino, Dan Fouts, Jim Kelly and Fran Tarkenton.</span> </span> Although I agree with you somewhat Dougie, I have to add that neither Doug Williams or even Eli belong with the other "superbowl winning" quarterbacks you've listed. For one Doug Williams was one heck of a QB and a hopeful hall of famer. But by far the worst quarterback to ever win a superbowl has got to be Trent Dilfer. I think I could've played QB for that 2000 Ravens team and still come out with a ring.<br /> <br /> <br />
Eli clearly outplayed Rivers in this game. He spent most of the game scrambling to avoid sacks and dealing with penalties that put the Giants in 1st and 25 type situations and still kept the Giants moving and scoring.If the Giants kept moving the ball, then why did they only score 20 points? Sure you point out the Giants mistakes but what about the Charger mistakes....Rivers had 3 easy passes dropped by usually reliable receivers. Those catches would've went for big gains. Tough breaks go both ways but the Chargers were able to win in the end.
