Eli vs. Peyton Who's Better Argument on Inside The NFL

He said something like "I used to think when you go on the road for a playoff game, pack a good defense and running game. Now, all I would pack is Eli."

Period.

At first it was used to ridicule Eli, now some people are using it to put down what Peyton has done for his career.

QB in the game right now.

when one of the two didn't even play for the year. people have short memories on how good Peyton is/was. Comparison is so stupid.

better than petyton I am not sure, however after this season I am fully convinced that Eli is the only QB i would want in the league playing for the giants.

He plays big when you need to.

He carries the team when the team needs it.

He is really our season MVP no question.

The true comparison should be Eli vs. all other Giants QB's.

that eli is definitively the best clutch qb in the game right now. The consensus used to be that it was Brady, but after beating Brady three in a row, two in the super bowl it is Eli by far. Not to even mention his 4th quarter touchdown record

Both have proven you can win a Super Bowl with them on your team. How can you go wrong with either one??

Peyton Manning fan as well and I think the argument is silly. I think Eli plays better and looser in dire clutch moments. But people act as if Peyton can't lead a comeback. The guy is second all-time in comeback wins and is one away from tying Dan Marino.

Peyton has had some BAD defenses and some atrocious teams. His team had an 11 game swing this season without him. That is insane.

Has Peyton come up short at times in the playoffs? Of course. But it takes an entire team to win a Super Bowl.
I'm not takign anything away from Eli, who is the most instrumental piece in winning the Super Bowls, but if the Giants didn't have a defense that could stifle Brady, the results could be very different.

From the Eli Manning era.

Colts look like they'll finish with one from the Peyton Manning era.

Advantage: Giants.

as Eli is, and I do think he handles the pressure of the end of the game as well--if not better-- than any quarterback in the league. It is his biggest strength. His sense of calm.

However, the other great quarterbacks are able to jump out to huge leads throughout the game, and so the clutch abilities are not needed as frequently.

The Giants were 9th in scoring in the league this year, and averaged 10.4 points fewer than the Packers who led the league this year.

What I don't understand, though, is that if Eli is so great at the end of the game, and can seemingly get that score when necessary, then why does our offense tend to flag for quarters at a time throughout the game?

Peyton is a better QB than Eli, but Eli is the better closer.

I really do think it's that simple, and you can debate which one you'd like more (I wouldn't trade Eli for anyone, including his brother), but Peyton is a top 3-5 QB in NFL history, and putting Eli on that level (right now) is just silly.

You make a great point. How many games did the Giants score first in, or lead after the half.? It seemed like they sputtered at the beginning of most games so it took Eli heroics at the end to pull out a win.

..

Five-time 1st Team All Pro, Three-time 2nd Team All Pro. He's been to eleven Pro Bowls, and six times he was voted AFC Player of the Year...and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

I love Eli, and there's no other QB I'd rather have on my team when the money's on the line, but as individual accomplishments go, Peyton is far and away the superior QB.

the ninth inning, there's no one I want more than Mariano Rivera.

But if I have to play an entire game, I'd rather have a guy like 1999 Pedro Martinez or any of the elite starters in today's game who typically go 7-8 innings

Cruz vs Larry Fitzgerald.

ELi has only had 1 elite year.

who is nearing the end of a great career. Eli is just hitting his prime. If Eli plays the next 5 or 6 years like he did this season...the comparision will be much more interesting.

when the media kept harassing him about bragging rights at home having two SBs. He said, no way, Peyton has 4 MVPs to rub in his face and that they just don't get into it.

I don't know why this is even a thing.

Who gives a shit who is better?

I don't know why people keep obsessing over "ranking" QB's. It can all change in a year. Just last summer, you would have been laughed at for even trying to have this debate.

A year ago, this would only have been brought up in jest. Winning a Super Bowl is awesome.

split stats for domes vs outdoors?

What matters more than Super Bowl wins? Peyton has had a better career statistically, regular season W/L, he's more celebrated, has a more significant place in NFL history. But for Colts fans, what's the bottom line? One Super Bowl Championship and multiple crushing playoff defeats, including a Peyton Manning pick 6 that sealed defeat in Super Bowl 44.

In a fantasy world where you could choose any quarterback in his prime to build a team around, you'd choose Peyton Manning over Eli Manning. Anyone would. But based on their actual careers, what do you choose as a fan?

Statistical greatness, four league MVP awards, however many Pro Bowls/All Pro teams, multiple 12+ win seasons, one Super Bowl in 13 years?
- OR -
Lesser stats, a worse regular season W/L record, fewer Pro Bowl appearances, no All Pro teams, no leauge MVP awards, with two Super Bowl Championships and two Super Bowl MVP's in 8 years?

You have to go with Eli, right? For fans it's all about the Super Bowl - ultimately the New York Giants Eli Manning era has had two big payoffs, while the Indianapolis Colts Peyton Manning era only had one. That matters.

It doesn't mean Eli Manning is the better quarterback, I don't think he is and I'm sure most Giants fans don't either. But Eli Manning brought home the biggest prize twice, and he's still going. Peyton only managed to win one Super Bowl and his career in Indy appears to be finished.

If his last name was not Manning, there is no doubt in my mind not only would he get the respect he deserves but some of these analysts would be saying he's the best QB in the game.

and his beautiful wife. They produced two future HOF QBs. No need to bicker as to who is better among all-timers.

was better. And he was better for much longer.

Eli had the better team. Peyton is the better QB.

I still see a pretty big gap between what Peyton was doing for 10 years and what Eli did this year.

was doing it with guys picked off the street. For the majority of his career he had the likes of Edge, Harrison, Wayne, and Clark.

has been a better QB over the course of his career. He's done incredible things. He's been a better technical player than nearly anyone in the history of QBs. Physically, nothing about Eli really stands out as overly positive or negative except his durability.

What does stand out is how clutch he is. He is the most clutch QB I've ever seen, moreso even than Montana. Because of that I wouldn't trade Eli for any other QB. Rodgers, Brady, Brees, Peyton...all phenomenal players with their own unique skill set. All technically superior to Eli.

But if I need to win one game...

Look at what Peyton did with those types of players. Eli is getting really really really close to having that same type of weaponry around him.

I suspect higher stat years than even this year are coming for Eli.

but until this season no one would argue he was in the same universe as Peyton. This season, Eli made it close.

Peyton kicks his brother's ass when it comes to making commercials.

But when the game's on the line, Eli's performed better.

having said that

1) Peyton plays at least 50% of his games in a dome

2) Peyton had Harrison and Wayne for years

Now that Eli SHOULD have Nicks and Cruz for years, Eli at the end of the day might be the better of the two

Let's sign Peyton, have him play the 1st 3 quarters, and bring Eli in for the 4th?

There both great, why the need for these types of comparisons...when often times there is no clear cut answer. Peyton has a far better regular season body of work especially when you factor 3X league MVP. @ SB appearnces with 1 win. Eli is 2 for 2 in the SB. If Eli's career ended today, Peyton had the better career. Eli however probably has at least 5 good years remaining so it really is TBD.

is in the part of his career when he becomes extremely underrated. Unless he comes back with a monster year, he'll likely remain so until his career is ending and he gets a bounce from all the retrospective stories that will be written.

from stats to determine a player's quality. There are so many exterior factors that determine stats.

but if I'm getting my honeydew signed it better be by Peyton!

Enuff Said!!!

NYC needed you in 50's with the whole Mickey, Willie & the Duke debates. Imagine sports fans comparing players, who ever heard of such a thing

Because the playcalling is extremely conservative to start. He has always been great in the no-huddle/hurry up offense. From day 1 he has excelled in that area. However, we tend to play a conservative game until we have to come out of that shell, for whatever reason.

That is not meant to take a shot at Gilbride, although I have some big time issues with his playcalling. I mean, in the Super Bowl Eli needed to tell Gilbride they couldn't run certain plays because they had no TEs left. Gilbride should be aware of these things.

Peyton is a great QB. But he has never been great in big games. He is 9-10 in the playoffs, and I believe he holds the record for 1 and done. He was also 0-4 against Florida while at Tennessee. The year after he left Tenn. won the National Championship with Tee Martin.

Peyton is the better pure passer. Eli is the one I want leading my team. If Eli played in spread/more aggressive offenses like NO and GB, the guy's stats would be out of this world. And he'd score all the points everyone thinks we leave on the field now.

In many cases they're worthless and can be skewed to a debater's delight..Phil Rivers was never better than Eli. His stats were, but he wasn't. Yet, many argued that he was..

numbers exploded once Peyton took over. I have no idea who to give the credit to.

The Colts had a far worse defense than what the Giants had on their two runs, yet the Colts went 141-67 with Peyton Manning and that includes his 3-13 season as a 22 year-old rookie.

Eli is 69-50 as a starter including his 1-6 rookie season as a 23 year-old.

I know the NFC East is and has been a far tougher division than the AFC South, but Eli would have to do some serious winning over the next few years to match what Peyton did with the Colts.

Eli had two magical postseason runs, there is no doubt about it. But outside of that, his seasons have been inconsistent.

If anything, I think Eli's career path going forward makes him closer to a Tom Brady than Eli. Now that they are truly building around Eli, I think his best seasons are ahead of him.

Peyton Manning is the best quarterback I've ever seen.

Eli Manning is the most clutch quarterback I've ever seen.

(And I hope the NFL is able to get a group discount from the sculptor, because they're both going to have busts in Canton 5 years after they're done playing)

... is like comparing Gretzky and Messier in my mind (complete with Mess' uncanny playoff ability)

perspective, Eli gets crushed by the Giants game plan.

Specifically, Eli likes to throw deep passes as much as anyone in the league and he does so as well as anyone in the league. However, like guys who make deep risky passes (like Peyton and Brees), he will rack up more interceptions than quarterbacks who throw shorter, more conservative passes like Brady.

However, when the Giants do get near the end zone, it seems ( I dont have the stats to back me up) that the Giants like to run and pound it in more than the teams who like to throw like Peyton's Colts and Brees's Saints.

As a result, Eli racks up the interceptions from the aggressive deep passes without getting the "stat-padding" from the low-risk, "goal-to-go" passes. This not only hurts Eli's TD totals, but it makes his interceptions appear worse, and it doesn't boost up his passer rating.

That's not the entire story, but I believe it is an underreported factor that shouldn't go unrecognized.

Starr, Montana, Brady, Staubach and Eli..Unitas would be knocking at tge door

but Peyton is the better QB at this point. If you swap Peyton w/ Roethlisberger Peyton probably has 3+ rings right now. Same thing if you swapped Brady and Peyton. I think Peyton gets unfairly dinged to a certain degree because of the coaches and defenses he's played with throughout his career.

However, the clutch factor is definitely in Eli's favor. Eli still has several years left to make his case as well. If Eli continues to improve statistically and wins another or multiple rings before he retires, I think the argument becomes very interesting.

Earlier in their careers, the argument for Brady vs. Peyton was always about the championships. Why can't Eli be the beneficiary of the same type of argument?

like comparing Arod and Jeter. Yes, Jeter is a winner and has come through in big moments, whereas ARod has been inconcsistent in big spots (people like to say he isn't clutch, and they do so by ignoring the playoff series where he dominates). But in terms of talents as a baseball player, I don't think they are on the same planet.

If Arod were on those late 90's Yankees, he would have a handful of rings as well.

Why can't we just appreciate both?

the better QB.

But Eli could easily wind up having the better career. That is very much in play right now.

he's an all time great, Top 10 of all time.

Eli is just (and I say "just") very good. Extra points for being cool in the clutch, which is a big time measure of your QB.

But if Eli wins one more and puts up another three huge statistical seasons, he passes peyton

However Eli is actually better.

I think Rodgers, Brees, Eli, Peyton, and Brady are all great and really close. Then there is a drop to Big Ben and Rivers.

but how they are special are completely different so it is hard to make a comparison.

Peyton is more consistently great
Eli has lapses but is good enough to get to the big moment
Eli's the best there is in the big moment

Look, Peyton has had the better career he's an All-Timer. People forget, but if he beats the Saints in that Super Bowl everybody was ready to give him the title of GOAT. Peyton is one of the best ever.

But I'm always a big fan of the "Space Jam" example that I think I read from a Bill Simmons column. Aliens come from another planet and challenge you to a single football game with the planet on the line. (For arguments sake the Aliens are comparable to us athletically). You get to pick the best of the best to play in this game, all the great players in the NFL will play in this single game.

Is there any other QB you'd rather have in that spot than Eli? I think he's pretty much locked up the best big game QB in the league title, can it really even be argued right now? Eli's the best in the league when everything is on the line.

in the regular season, eli in the playoffs.

that's like asking what car is better a bentley or a bugatti

But ultimately, it's like debating between lobster and veal. It's all great.

how much of Peyton's "one and dones" have to do with the fact that the Colts earn byes and rest their starters in the final weeks, so that they are generally rustier.

There could be something to the Colts overall philosophy of resting Peyton and the offense so much in Week 17 and then having a bye going into the playoffs.

I hope Eli & Peyton both just never lisyen to it... if thats humanly possible.