First off, I don’t expect Eli Manning to be slowed down at all from the plantar fascists injury that he sustained Sunday against the Chiefs. I believe at worst the Giants may rest him against the Raiders. Eli is a gamer and will be ready for New Orleans in two weeks. The first quarter of the 2009 season for the New York Giants has been quite an unexpected one to most people. The first of the two biggest questions coming into this season were if the Giants receivers could step up and replace Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer. The second was, can Eli Manning carry this offense on his shoulders and I believe both questions have been answered by Eli and the Giants offense.
Eli so far is having another great season. I believe he is having the best of his career thus far. There are still three quarters of the season left. But, if Eli keeps up the pace he is at right now he will be in the discussions for NFL MVP by the end of the season. Lets look at his stats compared to other MVP worthy QB’s.
Eli Manning – 63.2 Comp% 1039 Yards 8 TD’s 2 INT’s 104.1 Rating
Peyton Manning – 70.8 Comp% 1,336 Yards 9 TD’s 3 INT’s 114.5 Rating
Drew Brees – 67.4 Comp% 1,031 yards 9 TD’s 2 INT’s 108.4 Rating
Eli Manning’s NFL Rankings
* Passing Yards – 8th
* Touchdowns – 3rd Tied
* Completion % – 12th
* QB Rating – 4th
Eli Manning’s NFC Rankings
* Passing Yards – 2nd
* Touchdowns – 2nd Tied
* Completion % – 9th
* QB Rating – 3rd
He has been the leader and captain that has taken over when he has needed to. He did it against the Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys who both dared Eli to beat them with the pass and he did just that. Eli has teamed up with Steve Smith to help Smith lead the NFL in receiving yards (411), touchdowns (4) and receptions (34). All I can see is look out as the Giants will get back to playing tougher opponents come week six in New Orleans.