The Debate: Philip Rivers vs. Eli Manning

     When Eli Manning was drafted by the San Diego Chargers with the first overall pick in 2004 after stating that he would not play for them, then was traded to the New York Giants for Philip Rivers (taken three picks later), there was no doubt that the two would be compared to one another throughout their careers and that some day, when both athletes had put together a large enough body of work, we would be asking the question of who was the better quarterback. Not surprisingly, Giants fans will say it is Manning. Chargers fans will claim it is Rivers. Either way, the fact is that both have put together very strong resumes thus far and have had successful careers. But this doesn’t answer the question. So, who is better?

     The bottom line is this: it’s Philip Rivers, and it really isn’t even that close. To be honest, that isn’t meant to discredit Manning or anything he has achieved during his career, but he is not on the same tier that Rivers is. This statement wouldn’t really hold any water without backing, so let’s take this time prove that as of week 11 of the 2010-11 NFL season, Rivers truly is the better quarterback. Unfortunately in order to do this, we first have to disprove something else: Manning’s Super Bowl ring and MVP award.

     Of course, this isn’t to say he didn’t win them, because clearly he did. This is simply disproving that him being named MVP of the big game or winning a ring means that he is better than Rivers for not having done so. It really shouldn’t be an argument, but when the debate between the two quarterbacks gets brought up, Manning supporters instantly cry “Super Bowl MVP!” and “Manning has a ring, Rivers doesn’t!”, and generally refuse to speak logically about anything else while hiding behind that one trophy. So that is the first order of business to take care of.

     First off, the “ring vs. no ring” stance is essentially futile. Why? Because great players such as Dan Marino, Fran Tarkenton, Jim Kelly, Barry Sanders, and Eric Dickerson never won a Super Bowl. Because great athletes in other sports such as Ted Williams, Karl Malone, Marcel Dionne, Patrick Ewing, Ty Cobb, and Charles Barkley never won a championship in their respective sports either. Because Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson, Jeff Hostetler, Jim Plunkett, and Doug Williams all started at quarterback and won Super Bowls during their career, and no one would consider any of them better than Marino, Kelly, or a number of other quarterbacks for owning a ring. And because so much hinges on how good a team is as a whole, especially in sports like football and baseball, that a player being great doesn’t always translate into a title. For example, Derek Jeter is one of the best postseason performers of all time, but if he had spent his career with the Pirates instead of the Yankees, he probably never would have even sniffed the playoffs. Winning a ring is often dictated too much by the conditions of circumstance to be used in an argument comparing two athletes.

     Then there is the argument of Eli Manning not only winning a Super Bowl, but being named its Most Valuable Player as well. For starters, although it is on the grandest stage, being given this award just claims you were the best for one game. Next, that last point is only further proven when someone like Dexter Jackson can win it. But most importantly, just because a championship MVP is awarded to someone does not mean it was deserved. The Super Bowl MVP award is mandatorily given out every year, and not every game has even one player that deserves it. And when that happens, the award generally goes to the quarterback position by default, which is apparent by the fact that out of 44 Super Bowls played, the award was won by a quarterback 23 times. Even though the Giants’ defense as a collective unit was the most valuable aspect of Super Bowl XLII, you can’t give the award to the entire defense, so Manning won the award because he was under center. It should also be noted that 20 percent of the MVP voting comes from the fans, and it is obvious that when fans are allowed to vote in any sports atmosphere, the winner is simply the product of a popularity contest more often than not. 

     Most Manning backers will argue that he deserved it because he led them on the game-winning drive in the final minutes, but it can’t be overstated on how fortunate he was that the Giants were able to come away with a win. Here is the second part of why the Super Bowl MVP award can’t be used in favor of Eli Manning against Philip Rivers, a play-by-play breakdown of the Giants’ final drive en route to winning the Super Bowl. You can view this video of the drive as a visual aid throughout the analysis. (Game situations of each play before the following analysis are indicated by down-distance, field position, and time remaining.)

1-10 NYG17 (2:39): Manning starts the drive by throwing into triple coverage to Amani Toomer, with the ball nearly getting swatted away before hitting its target. Despite the triple coverage, this throw was a dart and actually a good pass.

1-10 NYG28 (2:09): Manning overthrows Plaxico Burress in double coverage over the middle and is lucky he doesn’t get his receiver killed.

2-10 NYG28 (2:04): Manning back peddles and makes a Favre-like decision to throw across his body 20 yards away into double coverage, while overthrowing his receiver and having the ball go off Rodney Harrison’s fingers for what could have been a game-ending interception.

3-10 NYG28 (1:59): Manning throws the next pass low but is helped out by a diving Toomer to make the catch. The low throw brings the Giants a yard short of a first down, whereas a good throw would have moved the chains plus a couple of yards extra.

4-1 NYG37 (1:34): A Brandon Jacobs run converts the fourth and one by about six inches (if you check the replay, it’s possible that his knee may have even been down before obtaining the first, but it’s too tough to tell; no complaints with the call here). Because it was so close, the clock has to be stopped so the officials can determine the spot of the ball, letting the Giants get up and prepare for the next snap, while allowing them to save a valuable timeout.

1-10 NYG39 (1:28): Manning scrambles for five yards while carelessly running with the football in one palm, rather than securing it with both hands, nearly resulting in a strip fumble by Adalius Thomas during the run.

2-5 NYG44 (1:20): After a Giants timeout, Manning badly overthrows David Tyree as the ball goes right to Asante Samuel, who somehow doesn’t intercept the ball. It can be argued that Tyree runs an incorrect rout, but either way, this is the second time that Manning could have been picked off, and in reality, this play should have sealed the deal.

3-5 NYG44 (1:15): Directly after a moment in which the game should have ended, the famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) helmet catch is made. On the play, Shaun O’Hara, David Diehl, and Rich Seubert all commit extremely blatant holding penalties that amazingly aren’t called by the refs (if you watch this play and somehow don’t see any holding penalties, then you probably also believe that the sky isn’t blue, unicorns exist, and that Elvis is still alive). The holds help Manning escape three players that have a firm grasp of his jersey (it can also be argued that half of the time that defenders have this firm a grip on a quarterback, the refs blow the whistle and stop the play so he doesn’t get killed). Manning then cocks back and chucks up a prayer (on the screen you can see four Patriots surrounding one lone Giants receiver) that is somehow, possibly by an act of God, held onto as Harrison fully swats the ball right when it hits Tyree’s hands. The ball then proceeds to stick to Tyree’s helmet as he holds it, despite Harrison smacking his arm and in the process refutes science and the laws of physics that when two rounded objects meet with a sufficient amount of friction, they won’t stick to each other unless some sort of adhesive is involved. No matter what side of the Manning coin you reside on, and despite this undoubtedly becoming one of the most iconic plays in Super Bowl history, this truly is the luckiest throw and catch of all time, not to mentioned that it should have been called back for the (at least) three holds that the Giants were never penalized for.

1-10 NE24 (:59): After taking their second timeout, Manning scrambles and gets sacked before nearly getting back to the line. Thomas would have gotten the sack five yards deeper if not for Diehl getting away with yet another flagrant holding call.

2-11 NE25 (:51): Following the Giants’ final timeout, Manning again throws across his body in the pocket, the ball flutters in the air way too long, and for the third time on the drive, goes right off and through the hands of a Pats defender that could have/should have iced the game with a pick.

3-11 NE25 (:45): Manning completes a throw to a wide open Steve Smith on the sideline.

1-10 NE13 (:39): The touchdown. Ellis Hobbs displays poor coverage on Burress (with a big assist to a nice move by Plaxico, admittedly), and all Manning has to do is throw a soft lob to the wide open receiver for the touchdown; a throw that any NFL quarterback should be able to make in the preseason. (He actually underthrows Burress enough to turn him around. Definitely a nitpick here, but hey, it happened.) Revisionist history makes this seem like a better play, even though it wasn’t exactly Montana to Clark.

     The above testimony, along with the visual guide provided, should be more than enough to prove that Manning’s Super Bowl ring and MVP trophy cannot be fairly used in a debate claiming that he is better or worse than another quarterback. With that argument finally refuted, let’s get back to the original topic here of Rivers against Manning.

     In comparing statistical evidence between the two quarterbacks, Rivers wins by a landslide. Some stats are a little tricky, if only because it has to be noted that Rivers backed up Drew Brees during his first two seasons (throwing just 30 passes over that time), and is currently only in his fifth year as the starter, whereas Manning took over halfway through his rookie season and is essentially in his seventh. Because of that, some of the total numbers are deceiving because Manning has more playing time, so we’ll have to divide up some of the stats into percentages. Of course, quarterback rating and completion percentage already come pre-calculated. Take a look at some of the career numbers (it should again be stated that all statistical evidence is current as of week 11 of the 2010-11 NFL season):

• A main statistic used to define proficiency in quarterbacks is quarterback rating, which factors in pass attempts, passes completed, passing yards, touchdowns, and interceptions thrown. Eli Manning’s career QB rating is a solid 80.2, good for a share of 57th on the all-time list at the moment. Philip Rivers’ career passer rating? An astonishing 97.3, a whopping 17.1 points better than Manning, and good for first place all-time. First! Better than Montana, Marino, Young, Elway…first. As far as trends go, in the past three years (2008 through the current 2010 season) Manning has posted ratings of 86.4, 93.1, and 88.4, which are all well above his career average. Rivers, as you might have guessed by now, has faired even better over the same time span: 105.5, 104.4, and 105.

• Quarterbacks are also judged by how well they can get their teammates the ball. At this moment in time, Manning owns a completion percentage of an even 58. Not bad, good for a tie of 61st all-time. Rivers, however, checks in at over five points higher, completing 63.4 percent of his passes, while being listed as the tenth most accurate quarterback ever.

• In taking a look at career passing yards per game, it’s only fair that we don’t take anything Rivers posted during his first two years into account, because he didn’t start in those games. Even though Manning did start half his rookie year, let’s even wipe those nine games off his slate, which was his worst year as a pro. So with those factors in place, Manning is averaging 224.4 passing yards per game over his career, while Rivers is way ahead with 242.9 yards per contest. To put it in prospective, Brett Favre, the NFL leader for most passing yards ever, and has averaged 241 yards per game as a starter. (If you wanted to get real technical and use every game the quarterbacks have appeared in, which is very unfair toward Rivers because it factors in his games as a non-starter, he’s still ahead 232.4 to 214.5.)

• Under these same guidelines, Rivers has a higher touchdown per game rate than Manning (1.7 to 1.55). Rivers has two seasons with a higher touchdown total (34 and 28), than Manning’s best (27).

• As for interceptions, and using the same system, Manning throws 1.05 picks per game compared to Rivers who throws a much lower 0.71 (getting real technical again, Rivers leads 0.69 to 1.05). An even more telling stat is their touchdown-to-interception ratio. Rivers has thrown 75 more touchdowns than interceptions, with Manning coming in at plus-45 (and Rivers leads 75-42 with complete career totals). In addition, when all of the touchdowns and interceptions are added up, Rivers throws 2.4 scores for every pick, while Manning averages just 1.4 for every ball thrown to the other team. That’s one entire touchdown per interception, which is a pretty dramatic difference. To look at things in a different way, Rivers throws a touchdown once every 17.5 passes, but gets intercepted only every 42 passes. On the other hand, 21.5 of Manning’s passes go for a touchdown, while just needing 30.2 passes to turn the ball over.

• Staying in the turnover department, the fumbles favor Rivers as well. Counting only seasons in which the two quarterbacks started for a full campaign, Manning’s lowest season fumble total (five, committed twice, one of which is during the current year) is only one notch lower than Rivers’ highest (six, committed three times), while Manning has four different seasons with a higher total (nine and seven, both committed twice). This also means that Rivers’ high of six is lower than four different Manning seasons. Also, combining both fumbles and interceptions, and using the same system above, Rivers is averaging one turnover per game, while Manning is averaging one-and-half. This means that over the course of a 16-game season, Manning will give the ball away an extra eight times.

• Of course, the quarterbacks’ win-loss records have to count for something as well. Rivers has a career record of 54-25 (.683) and Manning’s is 56-42 (.571). In close games decided by seven points or less, Manning has faired a little better (21-15 as opposed to Rivers’ 17-17), but in games where the margin of victory is 15-plus points, Manning is 19-18 (.513) while Rivers is a whopping 23-3 (.884). This statistic exhibits that Rivers keeps the Chargers in just about every game, while showing that just as often as Manning blows a team out, Manning can’t dig his team out of a hole when the same situation occurs against the Giants. In the all-important games against divisional opponents, Rivers is 22-7 (.758), whereas Manning is 21-16 (.567), although it should be noted that this stat could be considered skewed because the Giants face tougher opponents in the NFC East than the Chargers do in the AFC West, and is a topic that will be touched upon later.

• Two more win-loss stats that have to be highlighted. The first is that Eli Manning is 0-2 against the Chargers, despite playing well in those contests (Rivers is 1-0 in these games; Drew Brees was still the starter in San Diego for the first meeting). The second shows that while it is true that all the games count the same in the end, it really isn’t how you start, but how you finish. Manning can usually start hot, posting a 32-12 career record during September and October (accentuated by an extremely good 20-4 October record), while Rivers’ record over the same span is 18-19. The strange thing here is that Rivers’ numbers in September are still higher (quarterback rating of 92.1 to 89.6), and significantly better in Manning’s best month of October (104 to 89.6). However, finishing up a season is a much different story. Manning is just 23-29 in November and December, while Rivers goes out with a 34-5 mark over that stretch, and an unbelievable, undefeated 18-0 in December. It just goes to show that as the expression goes, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

• There are other important situational stats that should be mentioned in these types of comparisons as well. In the final two minutes of a half, Manning has 11 more touchdowns than Rivers (27-16), but also has nine more interceptions (17-8). It has to be noted, though, these numbers can be a bit skewed because the Giants are locked in tight games during the last two minutes, while Rivers and the Chargers usually have business taken care of by that point and aren’t trying to score. Considering this, it should be believed that Manning has way more comebacks and game-winning drives than Rivers, but the fact is that despite getting many more opportunities plus an extra year and a half of work, he's only slightly ahead, with 13 fourth quarter comebacks and 16 game-winning drives, while Rivers checks in with 11 and 14, respectively. Also, their passer rating in that situation is nearly identical (80.8 to 80.2 in favor of Rivers). In the fourth quarter, Rivers has the big advantage in quarterback rating (96.5-80), and his touchdown to interception ratio is 36-15 while Manning’s is 40-30. This also means that despite starting for two less years than Manning, Rivers has just four less fourth quarter touchdowns, while having half the interceptions. It’s not a surprise that both quarterbacks play good when their teams are leading in games (Manning’s numbers in this situation consist of an 83.2 rating, and 52-28 in touchdowns-interceptions, while Rivers has a 102.8 rating and a 46-15 ratio), but the two are different when trailing. Rivers’ quarterback rating when behind in games is 96.9, and he throws twice as many touchdowns as interceptions (59-25). When losing, Manning’s rating is 77.9 and his touchdowns aren’t far ahead of the interceptions (68-57). Rivers is also better on third downs, posting an 89.9 rating to Manning’s 78.1.

• Here are some of their places on past single season league leaders lists: Manning has been selected to one Pro Bowl; Rivers has been selected to two Pro Bowls and an alternate in one more (it should be a complete three, considering he was somehow only selected as an alternate in 2008 despite having the best quarterback rating and most touchdowns in the NFL, going down as one of the biggest snubs in pro sports history for an all-star game). Manning has been named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month once; Rivers has been awarded the AFC’s version of the accolade three times. Manning finished in the top ten for passing yards in 2005 and 2009 (fifth and tenth, respectively); Rivers was also top ten in the same category in 2006, 2008, and 2009 (ninth, fifth, and eight), and is currently on pace to finish first in 2010. Manning was listed toward the top in touchdown passes in 2005-06 (fourth both years), 2008 (tenth), and 2009 (eighth); Rivers was eighth in 2006 and sixth in 2009, while leading the league in 2008 and currently holding a place for first again in 2010. Rivers finished eighth in passer rating in 2006, first in 2008, third in 2009, and is currently second in 2010. Manning had the second most in interceptions in 2005, fourth in 2006, led the league in 2007, and is on pace to finish second in 2010; Rivers finished ninth in this dubious category in 2007, and is on pace to finish tenth in 2010. Manning was ninth in passing yards per game in 2005 and is currently on pace for tenth in 2010; Rivers was seventh in 2008, eighth in 2009, and is on pace to lead the league in 2010 for passing yards per game. In percentage of passes that result in touchdowns, Manning ninth in 2008, sixth in 2009, and is on pace for eighth in 2010; Rivers came in seventh in 2006, led the league in 2008; was third in 2009, and is on track to be second in 2010.

     Even after reading through this plethora of information in which every indication points to Philip Rivers being a better quarterback over Eli Manning, people will still say, “Who cares about all that regular season stuff. Manning has a Super Bowl and is way better in the playoffs.” Well, hold on a second, that’s not necessarily true. In fact, even with the title ring on Manning’s finger, the two are pretty similar. Both quarterbacks have started in seven playoff games, with Manning holding a record of 4-3, while Rivers has a record of 3-4. Both have thrown only eight touchdowns in those games. Both have identical 58.5 completion percentages. Rivers has nine interceptions as opposed to Manning’s seven, giving both a high interception rate. Rivers’ quarterback rating drops way bellow his regular season average to 79.2, while Manning’s falls to 77.6. San Diego’s opponents’ combined record in playoff games is 84-28, with New York’s opposition posting a total mark of 81-30-1. The Chargers have averaged a poor mark of just below 20 points per game in Rivers’ starts, while Manning has led the Giants to a ridiculously low 16.5 points per game, including a shut out on his playoff resume. In contrast, the Giants’ defense surrendered just 16.25 points throughout the four playoff games during their Super Bowl run. Speaking of defense, they are close as well, with the Giants unit giving up 19.4 points per game, while the Chargers allow 20.5. New York’s defense has never given up more than 23 points in any of Manning’s starts, and San Diego’s have only let up more than 24 once (35 at Pittsburgh in 2008). Rivers has only won one playoff game in which his defense has required him to score more than 20 points, while Manning has never been able to do it when put in that position. Of course, Manning does own the hardware that comes with winning the Super Bowl, but he has never won another playoff game aside from that one magical post-season run and has basically stunk in those losses (posting passer ratings of 35 and 40.7 in two of them). All of this doesn’t excuse Rivers, either, who has notched three games with ratings of under 70, but certainly shows that just because Manning has that one Super Bowl doesn’t necessarily mean he’s really played better. People can lay claim that Rivers and the Chargers choke in the playoffs, but it’s difficult to make a case for Manning as being much better when he and the Giants have been ousted in their first playoff chance three out of four tries. Again, in any argument where a supporter of Manning says he is a better playoff quarterback than not only Rivers, but anyone else, it can't be overstated enough that Manning has never won a playoff game outside of that one Super Bowl year.

     It can be said that Rivers benefited from being able to sit on the bench and learn for his first two years in the NFL under the direction of Drew Brees, which would certainly be a valid point, in contrast to Manning who was injected into the starting lineup halfway through his rookie season. However, Manning has had the opportunity to gain guidance from his father, Archie, a former quarterback in the league, and of course his brother, Peyton, who is on pace to be one of the greatest at the position ever, and is one of the all-time great preparation artists. Having assets like that at Eli's disposal has to make the burden of quarterbacking in the NFL a little easier. 

     That leads to the next point: the Manning last name. There is no statistical evidence to prove the value of a last name, but it is no secret that being part of a successful family lineage holds an athlete to a higher standard than the rest of his or her peers. Whether it helps or adds pressure to the player isn’t the important in this case. The point is that the media, fans, and general observers are automatically inclined to put these performers on a pedestal, whether they are deserving of it or not. Face it: many spectators blindly predicted Eli to be great when he came out of college solely because Peyton was so good. The fact is, if Eli Manning’s name was John Smith and he didn’t have a brother heading to the Hall of Fame, the Rivers/Manning argument might not even exist because no one would have held Eli in such high regard to begin with. Fans of the Giants may scoff at that viewpoint, but it’s a stance that probably holds more water than we give it credit for. 

     An argument can be made in favor Manning that he plays in a much tougher division and weather conditions than Rivers. To counter the ladder point, Rivers has played well away from San Diego, posting a 96.4 rating and a 70-29 touchdown-pass ratio, so it’s not as if he’s putting up stats only in Qualcomm the way Rockies’ hitters do at Coors Field. And while it’s obvious that the NFC East is better as a whole and is more consistent than the AFC West, the Chargers don’t exactly play an easy schedule. Firstly, all divisional games are tough no matter who they are against because of the frequency in which the teams see each other, which is why Patriots/Bills, Colts/Jaguars, Vikings/Lions, etc. are usually close games. Throw in the fact that Oakland, Denver, and Kansas City are historically three of the tougher places to play in, and that’s three games right there that should be difficult. It should also be factored that at least one of the home games against the division aren’t going to be smooth sailing. In addition, the Chargers always play a first-place schedule, meaning they see the Patriots, Colts, and Steelers/Ravens every year as if they played in the same division. Toss in that every other AFC division is normally good and has two other competitive teams aside from the first place team mentioned. Plus, three of every four years where they don’t draw the NFC West, they’re in for another two or three difficult games. The concept of any NFL team constantly playing weak opponents is a myth, aside from teams that play last-place schedules, which obviously Rivers’ Chargers are the opposite. 

     For the Eli Manning supporter that doesn’t like to buy into stats, even though it’s 2010 (which for the most part is ridiculous because even though statistical evidence doesn’t always tell the whole story, they certainly give a pretty close guideline to what’s going on out there), they might say that Philip Rivers is just a fantasy, stats, and numbers quarterback, and that it doesn’t show the intangibles. That’s a fair point if it’s being argued in comparison to someone like Ben Roethlisberger or Michael Vick, who can change the game in ways other than just throwing the ball, but there really aren’t any intangibles that Manning brings to the table that Rivers can’t make up with his own set. It can’t be said that Rivers isn’t fragile, considering that he’s never missed a game due to injury. It can’t be said that he isn’t tough, because he tore his right ACL in a playoff game against the Colts (an injury that usually puts people immediately on injured reserve), stayed in and won the game, had minor surgery during the week, and still went out and played in the AFC championship game on the same badly injured knee. It can’t be said that he can’t scramble, because he gets away from pressure and throws in traffic better than most quarterbacks. None of this is to say that Manning doesn’t have his own set of intangibles. He has arguably the best hard count in the game, uses play-action well, can scramble out of pressure with the best of them, and also doesn’t miss games. But with all of the numerical evidence heavily in Rivers’ favor, it’s not as if there’s something non-statistical that really casts Manning aside. 

     Another sore subject with Giants fans is when Eli’s leadership is questioned, which is insulting toward Manning, because any quarterback that has had a good deal of success in the NFL has to have good leadership qualities. No one really knows what Manning says to his team behind closed doors that gets them ready to play, but all that we can call is what we see on the field, and Rivers’ demeanor on game-day personifies the term “field general”. Although it is true that his in-game banter can go overboard every now and then, it’s widely known that he is one of the best motivators in football and that he gets his team to rally behind him. Again, it’s anybody’s guess what Manning discusses with his team when there are no cameras around, and chances are it’s something worth listening to, but when all we can judge is what we see with our own eyes, it’s no wonder that Eli’s on-the-field persona is generally linked with the phrase “aw shucks”. 

     In terms of help on the field, so far Rivers has had a stellar Antonio Gates (a tight end) and the benefit of the end of LaDainian Tomlinson’s (a running back) greatness. Other than that, he’s had absolutely no help at wide receiver, save for one good year out of Vincent Jackson, and no one else who can really even be considered above average, yet he still finds a way to perpetually throw the deep ball better than anyone in the league. Even in the current season, he’s been down to his fourth, fifth, and sixth receiver without even Gates due to injuries and hold outs, and he’s still on pace to put up historic numbers. The only constant is Gates, and that’s almost always somewhere underneath. In fairness, Manning hasn’t had too much better on his side, but possibly still slightly more depending on how you evaluate it. He’s had the help of some Plaxico Burress, Jeremy Shockey, a go-to guy in Amani Toomer, and a really good year from Tiki Barber, currently followed up by one of the best young receiving corps in Hakeem Nicks, Steve Smith, and Mario Manningham. Rivers has had the two future Hall-of-Famers but no one else, while Manning has had more total weapons at his disposal, so it probably favors Manning a bit. Either way, it’s probably moot, but it is a factor in the debate that cannot be looked past.

     As for help off the field in terms of head coaches, Eli Manning has a solid one in Tom Coughlin. Not many would say that he is great, but he is better than serviceable. He wouldn't be someone that anyone could really attribute Manning's success to, but also isn't anyone who would help bring him down. Things have been a bit different for Rivers, whether it be for better or worse. In his first season as a starter, Rivers was under the head-coaching tutelage of Marty Schottenheimer, who had comprised an astounding regular season record over his career (200-126-1), but was notorious for his playoff failures (5-13). Not surprisingly, the Chargers went 14-2 in the regular season, then promptly lost in their first playoff game. After a coaching change, the decision to bring in Norv Turner, which could be considered questionable at best, was made. Turner's career numbers aren't horrifying (regular season of 95-103-1; 4-4 in the playoffs), but there aren't any known statistics that judge his actually ineffectiveness as a head coach. He can mis-manage the clock with the best of them, make the strangest play-calls that end in failure while also making the blandest play-calls that end in failure, crumble under the pressure like few others, and in an instant, turn chicken salad into chicken you know what. There are no statistics for this; he's just Norv Turner. Of course, blaming any post-season failures that Rivers has had on his coaches seems like a petty cop-out, but certainly some of the blame has to fall at their feet for their proven track record of shortcomings. 

     The only real knock in this column that will be made against Eli Manning is an obvious one: he’s too fickle and it shows. Every quarterback is entitled to bad moments and games, but when Manning has one, it can be brutal to watch. It’s just strange that he can look like a million bucks for two straight weeks, and then on the third week come out looking completely uncoordinated with his body and seem as if he hasn’t played in a month. The same goes for moments in a game when he looks great on a drive, and then makes one head-scratching play that no one can figure out why he did it. Over his career, Manning's decision making has progressed, but it still isn't where it needs to be for a quarterback to be considered elite. If anything, it’s that inconsistency that has kept him from reaching the next level. 

     After scouring all of the evidence provided, hopefully all of the testimony here has been reasonably acknowledged and digested in a thoughtful, open-minded manner. Considering that it is mainly Giants fans that have blindly put up their noses at Philip Rivers in favor of Eli Manning just because he’s their own guy, it is possible that they still will find a way to dispute the facts. It’s just a shame, because to any level-headed sports fan, there’s really not much in favor of Manning’s case. If there’s one thing that can be learned, though, it should be that one improbable, albeit magical, four-game stretch leading to a championship should not take precedent over another athlete’s amazing body of work as a whole.

(Thanks to pro-football-reference.com, espn.com, and yahoo.com for the stats provided.)