New York Sure is a Fickled Town

During the first eight games of the NY Giants 2006 season, every sports media outlet announced that Eli Manning had arrived as the next great quarterback. He was a fantasy stud. He had better stats than his Pro Bowl brother Petyon. He was the new superstar QB. In the first 8 games, Manning had 14 TDs and 8 INTs to help the Giants get off to a quick 6-2 start.

Things turned for the worse though for Eli after his leading receiver Amani Toomer (32 catches, 302 yards and 3 TDs in 9 games) and starting left tackle Luke Petitgout were lost for the season to injuries.

In the next 8 games that followed, the media turned on the team and Eli as the Giants went 2-6. Manning's passer accuracy rating plummeted along with 10 TDs and 10 INTs in the last 8 games.

Now, the media classified Manning as one of the biggest busts in NFL history. He was also said to be the centerpiece of the worst trade in Ernie Accorsi's 30+ year as a GM. as he was traded for 3 Pro Bowlers in Philip Rivers, Shawn Merriman and Nate Kaeding. To even think that the Giants would have drafted Merriman and Kaeding and to equate that Eli had been traded straight up for 3 Pro Bowlers is completely ridiculous

It's also short sighted to say that Eli is the biggest bust in NFL history. It's NY's way of "what have you done for me lately" as Manning's stats were not bad in the least. He finished the season with 3,244 yards, 24 TDs and 18 INTs. They aren't great numbers, but they are on par with other NFL QBs. Manning's 24 TDs was tied with Marc Bulger and Tom Brady for 4th most in the league. Those are two pretty good QBs to share company with. His yardage total was 11th best in the league. His 57.7 completion percentage, while better than last year's 52.8 completion percentage was near the bottom of the league and that's one of the reasons that people see Eli as a bust. To put it simply, Eli Manning has shown steady improvement in his play in his last three years.

• 2004 - 9 games, 95 for 197, 48.2 completion percentage, 1,043 yards, 6 TDs, 9 INTs
• 2005 - 16 games, 294 for 557, 52.8 completion percentage, 3,762 yards, 24 TDs, 17 INTs
• 2006 - 16 games, 301 for 522, 57.7 completion percentage, 3,244 yards, 24 TDs, 18 INTs
  

I'll admit that he gets rattled in the pocket a lot, no doubt due to the fact that Petitgout - the lineman who guards his blind slide - was injured for half the season. He makes inaccurate throws to receivers, but some of the time, his receivers like Jeremy Shockey drop balls that are thrown right in their chest.

After Toomer went down for the season in Week 9, Manning's WR options were Tim Carter (12 catches for 115 yards), Sinorice Moss (5 catches for 25 yards) and David Tyree (14 catches for 125 yards.) Those three receivers definitely aren't up to par with Toomer. As a result of the ineptness of these three #2 WRs, Manning was faced with forcing the ball constantly to Plaxico Burress who consistently double covered by NFL secondaries.

I know injuries are not the only reason for the poor way that Manning threw the ball late in the season. Needless to say, he has showed flashes on numerous occassions of the star QB that he can be during the past two years....Like his late game heroics last year against the Broncos, Cowboys and Vikings and his heroics this year against the Eagles in their first matchup this season.

I can't explain why he's not accurate all of the time, why he always sees the pressure and throws off his back foot. Maybe it's bad coaching, maybe it's his inexperience as a QB and maybe he will never put it all together. All that I know is that the pieces are there for a great QB and the NY media and fans should give this guy a break, considering that his stats are near the top half of the other QBs in the NFL today.