If nothing else, can we put the Eli is physically in decline

In comment 11876020 Big Blue '56 said:

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In comment 11875994 Riggies said: Quote: they're probably going to win a decent amount of games, assuming you also have a non-historically-terrible defense in play. The actually good to great QBs are the ones who aren't dependent on the run to be successful or at least not play like one of the worst QBs in the NFL. As though Brady and Peyton would have done anything to speak of with the OL we've had the last two years

I don't know whether they would have or not. I've been more than clear, in general, that I've thought Eli was handed a pretty terrible hand though and that he'd have been (and, frankly, still very well may be) better off splitting ways from this team while he does still have the physical tools.

My comment was in reference to djm's post about how Eli can win games if he can lean in the run game -- most non-terrible QBs can do that, assuming okay defense. Saying he can, implying he needs that, isn't a compliment to him or defense of him.

Eli looked the same to me as he did five years ago. Give him time and a solid running game and he will perform well. His accuracy improves when he steps into his throws and he still has good,not great,velocity. The problem we have is that our o-line,and receivers aren't very good and Eli isn't athletic enough to buy time to help the o-line and receivers.

gotcha

There are the fans that supported drafting him that are apologetic towards schemes and players around him and view his SB accomplishments as validation that he is the goods.

And then you have the fans that hated the pick that have seemed to root against him at every point in his career when he isn't winning a super bowl. At any opportunity they try write him off typically only to be proven wrong.

In comment 11876022 rocco8112 said:

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...the franchise QB. He plays better the bigger the game. He can make any NFL throw that a coach can draw up and he will do so under duress. He is level headed at all times regardless of in-game or season wide results. He makes all around him better, you think Donnell would be lighting it up with most QB's? How many under the radar TE's producing will it take for everyone to realize Eli plays a large part in making these guys better. Imagine if he had a real top notch TE? I do not understand how anyone can question Eli? Nassib? The odds of him being a QB a fraction as good as Eli are almost zero. There are no QB's playing today whose resumes exceed Eli's. Picks? Who cares really, the guy is a gunslinger. Where you cheering when he hit Tyree in '07? Where you cheering when he hit Manningham in '11? Those were two of the best plays in Super Bowl History. Eli has done them both. The reason he has made these great plays is the gunslinger mentality. Now that Eli is in a new system, and it seems it has taken him all of two games to look like he has been playing in it his whole life, he will have the precious completion percentage and QB rating that so many put so much stock in. Once that happens what will the excise be? What will fans and "experts" use to bring him down a notch? Truthfully I ham curious to see what they will use. Eli in my opinion is one of the most underrated players in the NFL. Ask yourself this, think the Texans would take Eli? How about the Rams? How about any team looking to make noise. The crosstown Jets? Would Eli make them better? I think so. Eli is a once in a generation talent and he plays for our favorite football team. The Giants can roll Eli out in a wheelchair at 40 plus for all I care, at least I know he will give the team a punchers chance to win.

Outstanding post

In comment 11876022 rocco8112 said:

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...the franchise QB. He plays better the bigger the game. He can make any NFL throw that a coach can draw up and he will do so under duress. He is level headed at all times regardless of in-game or season wide results. He makes all around him better, you think Donnell would be lighting it up with most QB's? How many under the radar TE's producing will it take for everyone to realize Eli plays a large part in making these guys better. Imagine if he had a real top notch TE? I do not understand how anyone can question Eli? Nassib? The odds of him being a QB a fraction as good as Eli are almost zero. There are no QB's playing today whose resumes exceed Eli's. Picks? Who cares really, the guy is a gunslinger. Where you cheering when he hit Tyree in '07? Where you cheering when he hit Manningham in '11? Those were two of the best plays in Super Bowl History. Eli has done them both. The reason he has made these great plays is the gunslinger mentality. Now that Eli is in a new system, and it seems it has taken him all of two games to look like he has been playing in it his whole life, he will have the precious completion percentage and QB rating that so many put so much stock in. Once that happens what will the excise be? What will fans and "experts" use to bring him down a notch? Truthfully I ham curious to see what they will use. Eli in my opinion is one of the most underrated players in the NFL. Ask yourself this, think the Texans would take Eli? How about the Rams? How about any team looking to make noise. The crosstown Jets? Would Eli make them better? I think so. Eli is a once in a generation talent and he plays for our favorite football team. The Giants can roll Eli out in a wheelchair at 40 plus for all I care, at least I know he will give the team a punchers chance to win.

One of the best posts I've seen on here in a long time.

In comment 11876042 Marty866b said:

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Eli looked the same to me as he did five years ago. Give him time and a solid running game and he will perform well. His accuracy improves when he steps into his throws and he still has good,not great,velocity. The problem we have is that our o-line,and receivers aren't very good and Eli isn't athletic enough to buy time to help the o-line and receivers.

I don't mean to nitpick your post as I totally agree with your premise... but I hate your use of "five years ago" It's really only been 1.5 years of poor play that coincidentally has coincided with the collapse of our offensive line.

Some here act as if it actually has been 4 or 5 years since Eli was a good football player. Less than 3 years ago He was hosting the Lombardi.

Again, I have zero issue with your post and it's premise, but I feel like some of us (not you) need a reminder to how recently Eli has been a dominant star QB.

Was an apologist early on, became more critical of him as his career advanced. Never got to the point where I advocated moving on, im at the point now where he needs a year here to avoid it

if we are being honest, he hasnt been as good individually as I expected coming out of ole miss. But a better qb doesnt guarantee the 2 sb wins we have, so I have no regrets. He has had a weird career that makes classifying him almost impossible. Game in game out, week in week out, season in season out, this has been an average to a tick above average qb for the better part of his career save 2011 and 2013 (throwing out his rookie year), with two very well timed month stretches that completely change the conversation.

By Brett Favre's picks nearly as much. Eli has another SB than he and it will be interesting to see how he gets in to the HOF so easily while people question Eli. Moving to more of a WCO probably just extended Eli's career about 2-3 years. Also for all of his supposed lack of athleticism he's missed how many games while getting the shit beat out of him the last 3 years?

Dude is a tough SOB and he gets zero credit for it. Especially from some Giant fans. The OL is still not the greatest but w this offense he will make it look good enough. Without Eli this team wins 2 games last year and wouldn't have a shot at anything this year.

we have to establish this season is that Eli is a quarterback around whom we can build the next championship-contending team. So far, so good.

Maybe it's just because it's something new, but I'm really enjoying this new offense - particularly the design of the passing game. Like other West Coast systems, it seems like there are at least five "gimme" completions every game, rather than everything being intermediate or deep routes. I was among those worried about Eli being built for that type of attack, but he's doing great with it. Can't wait for Beckham to settle in - we're one receiver short right now.

..disagree that Eli has been average or just above average. The majority of his career.

His resume is outstanding. It speaks for itself.

Call me a homer if you will but it Eli's career is average, what does a great career look like?

averaged 3.5 ypc, 85 yds a game. This was overcome and overshadowed by Eli's performance --more than 4,700 passinbg yards -- on the way to the SB championship.

In comment 11876103 MarshallOnMontana said:

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Was an apologist early on, became more critical of him as his career advanced. Never got to the point where I advocated moving on, im at the point now where he needs a year here to avoid it if we are being honest, he hasnt been as good individually as I expected coming out of ole miss. But a better qb doesnt guarantee the 2 sb wins we have, so I have no regrets. He has had a weird career that makes classifying him almost impossible. Game in game out, week in week out, season in season out, this has been an average to a tick above average qb for the better part of his career save 2011 and 2013 (throwing out his rookie year), with two very well timed month stretches that completely change the conversation.

I agree with most of this, but I don't think he was "a tick above average" save for those elite runs. I think Gilbride's system was such that it made it difficult for him to put up the elite QB percentage and avoid INTs (he usually was very good with the yards and TDs). Gilbride's system encouraged chemistry perhaps more than any modern day coordinator's. As a result, when Eli was in sync with his receivers we were unstoppable. When he wasn't, we looked like the biggest joke in the NFL.

I do agree about him being unclassifiable though. There was recently an article posted here that grouped all the NFL starting QBs into different groups. Something like: Elite, Solid, Mediocre and Poor... except Eli Manning had his own category because who the Hell knows what you're gonna get. He really is in a category of one.

Was a 3x consecutive mvp. The only one in the history of the league. Threw for over 500 tds including 9 seasons with 30 plus (compared to elis 1) despite playing the overwhelming majority of his career before the passing numbers got silly.

There is no comparison with regards to hall of fame chances, favres half decade heart of his prime was one of the best qb primes in history, arguably the best of the 20th century. The only similarity is they are both pick prone, but eli even moreso in an easier time for qbs

..

In comment 11875884 Jay in Toronto said:

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Eli will play close to his brother's longevity and our next QB will be then Badger Austin Kafentzis (assuming we can get him). You heard it here first!!!

You really think they'll take him if Stan "Stinky" Kuntzantookus is available?

He takes entirely too much criticism from the national media - ESPN and NFL Network in particular. People see him as a punching bag, which I think is ridiculous. The fact that he's never missed a game due to injury should earn him the ultimate respect as a "gamer" among his peers, and the rings should of course earn him the respect due a champion. How some people could deny him that is beyond my comprehension.

Week in and week out though, it's been more of a roller coaster than I thought. I figured we'd pencil in 4K yards and 35 TDs every year, with more Pro Bowl appearances and MVP votes. But I sure as hell would've signed up for what we've gotten.

that when Eli has had enough time, (and a running game) he pushed a number of otherwise so-so receivers substantially better: Steve Smith flourished with him. 3-4 TEs. And this year, working with a below-average wr corps and TEs that were supposed to be a disaster, he has made them all look very good when they weren't dropping the ball.

Without the 5 drops last week including 3 by his supposed star receiver, this two-week run would be one of his best ever--still without star wr's or TEs and with an OL still a work in progress.

Especially when durable. Thats not an insult. Save 2011 and 2013, I think thats generally where his career lies. You can do a lot worse. There is a desire to associate an elevated level of greatness to him to explain the superbowls. I dont feel the need to do that. He was certainly no bystander on those teams. But we have to be real about the fact that there was a good degree of randomness and fortune involved in those 2 months too. I happen to think if we could somehow simulate this eli era 1000 times, 2 sb wins would be about the most amazing outcome imaginable and that happened to be the one that played out.

arm strengh easily there, and he's still moving around like he always has after surgery on that ankle. Mentally, I have always felt his understanding of the game is second to none.

The guy keeps himself in great shape obviously.

I've said this since his second year, you need to put good players around Eli, and if you do, there will be big time plays.

Right now, the talent is a bit lacking but I have to admit I am a bit optimistic how he is running this offense, and the progress they have made from Week 1.

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In comment 11875879 spider said:

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Eli had much more of a focused look yesterday ... The goofy, aw shucks, WTH is going on look was gone and he looked much more comfortable with the game plan. It was one of those days where it looked the brothers switched teams.

So this is the weekly shit on Eli thread. I was wondering where all the haters went? Two super bowls and you call your QB goofy look.
Nice!

In comment 11876192 MarshallOnMontana said:

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Especially when durable. Thats not an insult. Save 2011 and 2013, I think thats generally where his career lies. You can do a lot worse. There is a desire to associate an elevated level of greatness to him to explain the superbowls. I dont feel the need to do that. He was certainly no bystander on those teams. But we have to be real about the fact that there was a good degree of randomness and fortune involved in those 2 months too. I happen to think if we could somehow simulate this eli era 1000 times, 2 sb wins would be about the most amazing outcome imaginable and that happened to be the one that played out.

He's certainly better than Favre, who was one of, if not the most, overrated players around. Talk about interceptions, big-game-losing brain farts, and one, count 'em one, SB victory. The MVPs are impressive, but may be due as much to the ESPN hype machine as anything else.

with the Eli debate is that supposedly intelligent posters seem to completely underestimate the importance of a offensive line. They'll pin the INT's on Eli saying that he threw the ball without pressure. Well, if you are Eli and constantly flushed out of the pocket, you will force balls to try and make plays.

A lot of people don't understand the "why" behind the mistakes. They are much like the NFL talking heads who see the stats and make sweeping arguments.

I watched the game yesterday with a bunch of Panther and Steeler fans, and there was a discussion about why eli takes shit. They were saying he's the only 2-time SB winner to get plowed by a lot of people, and even they understood the OL issues. In fact, one guy drew a really good parallel to Big Ben in that his play has suffered over the past two years because the Steeler line is a mess.

Yet, Eli gets killed by his own fans. Fans who should recognize what a poor o-line can do and fans who should be able to have seen - twice - what Eli has done.

But I don't get it. Even when eli was winning two SB's, you have some jacknuts here trying to say at one time or another that Eli was no better than Sanchez, Freeman, Romo, Cutler, and other players who either fit into the group of players who have won nothing or are now out of the league.

It really boggles my mind the backlash he gets, almost as if winning two SB's makes some fans irrationally think he should win one every year.

Spoken like someone who only recalls the back portion of favres career, which still compares favorably to elis prime

Eli over favre for prime, peak or career is one of the dumbest things ever uttered in the history of western civilization. Lowest common denominator ring counting is about the only thing to cite.

Comparison that pissed me off. What a tool that guy is who said that. Also some clown called him captain scattergun! These are Giants fans? This guy gave us two Lombardi trophies.

I was a big fan of the analysis somebody did trying really hard to show that sanchez "leading" the Jets to two AFC Championship games was much more impressive than Eli winning two SB's, replete with commentary on how Sanchez was the driving force behind the wins while Eli was simply a "game manager".

To me, that was the epitome of somebody looking to bash eli unnecessarily. It was radar-like in its attempt to be contrary. Any other 2 time SB-winning QB is an icon, yet even his own team's fans try to lessen the achievements. How the fuck is that possible?

Im pretty sure youre referring to me, in addition to completely botching what I said. Be nice if you both mentioned me and didnt willfully slant what I said

I said sanchez play in those 2 postseasons was roughly equivalent to elis run in 07. I stand by that. I didnt say anything about 2011 (this whole back and forth even took place before 2011, talk about willfull dishonesty). And I never said sanchez was better than eli. Keep knocking down those strawmen though

and interceptions are usually the result of multiple factors. Rarely is all blame on the qb. But given eli manning is the leader since 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12 and 13, (yea, not a typo, make the cutoff whenever you want, literally any year since he began) its fair to say the constant might just be that he is pick prone. But I know, he won 2 sb, so.........

is the notion that there was some randomness to Eli's great 2011 postseason. I think we all knew we'd have a puncher's chance in the playoffs, given how ridiculously well Eli played that year from start to finish. They key was finding our way in, which was much harder than it should've been. I was not surprised in the least with the way he performed that month. I actually thought the San Fran and New England wins would be more lopsided.

The rest doesn't matter IMO. Peyton Manning broke every record last year...if I were a Bronco fan I wouldn't care.

I have no idea if that is you or not. I'd hope it wasn't since you normally have some decent insight.

My point is that the lengths people seem to go to discredit or lessen Eli's achievements is pretty embarrassing. If you still stand by things like that - maybe I've misjudged you.

In comment 11876330 bceagle05 said:

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is the notion that there was some randomness to Eli's great 2011 postseason. I think we all knew we'd have a puncher's chance in the playoffs, given how ridiculously well Eli played that year from start to finish. They key was finding our way in, which was much harder than it should've been. I was not surprised in the least with the way he performed that month. I actually thought the San Fran and New England wins would be more lopsided.

I agree with you about San Fran and NE. I thought both would be 10+ point wins. I thought we had an awful game plan in XLVI and should have aired it out a lot more against their weak secondary.

Also, Eli took a huge step in 2009, partly forgotten due to Sheridan. He was great in 2010 as well, but had a ton of picks (and had a shitload of bad luck that year - more than any other, imo). He really put it all together in 2011.

That sanchez play in the 09 and 10 postseasons combined was highly comparable to eli in 07. Absolutely. Difference being sanchez defense had a letdown that elis never did. Its not really an outlandish position to view their performance individually in this select rough handful of games that way, unless you want to just throw made up strawmen on top of it as you have.

Eli had much more ownership of the 11 team

Eli is by far my favorite athlete of all time, isn't the whole point of EVERYTHING that is done by each NFL franchise to win a Super Bowl? That is all that matters, that is the goal and the Coughlin/Eli administration has done it twice.

I'm a Giant fan and I'll always be appreciative of Eli and anyone on those SB teams. This is all I need to know, go rewatch the NFC title game from January 2012 and the beating Eli took in that game. I'll remember that and not the picks in November.

yesterday he was incredibly accurate, got the ball away fast and was really good. Have been saying the new offense doesn't suit Eli's skill set. Guess I was Wrong.

In comment 11876272 MarshallOnMontana said:

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Spoken like someone who only recalls the back portion of favres career, which still compares favorably to elis prime Eli over favre for prime, peak or career is one of the dumbest things ever uttered in the history of western civilization. Lowest common denominator ring counting is about the only thing to cite.

Wrong on all counts.

makes boneheaded plays. For some reason, Eli's boneheaded plays stick in our heads. My 'fave' is one from several years ago: a left handed basketball style alley oop INT in the endzone.

Let's be fair: Eli has always been an erratic player. Around the time of our last SB ring, we were hoping he finally stabilized. and then it turned out he hadn't. He gets more blame than deserved, and he also gets more credit than deserved. IMO, there's nothing wrong with saying he's a very good QB who falls short of HOF elite.

It's been bantied about quite a bit in the past that while Eli isn't a scrambler, he is shifty. Only the blind can miss that he has an ability to shift around the pocket, or even roll out. Watching him take off and run is a horror show, and far too many people mistake that for being shifty.

In comment 11876356 MarshallOnMontana said:

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That sanchez play in the 09 and 10 postseasons combined was highly comparable to eli in 07. Absolutely. Difference being sanchez defense had a letdown that elis never did. Its not really an outlandish position to view their performance individually in this select rough handful of games that way, unless you want to just throw made up strawmen on top of it as you have. Eli had much more ownership of the 11 team

Joe. his statistics were comparable to Eli. But Eli's 07 Super Bowl run becomes no longer comparable to Sanchez's run(s) because... they weren't Super Bowl runs. This isn't hiding behind Eli's rings to prove a point. I could easily pick a handful of players without any effort that put up similar statistics to Eli in postseasons they didn't advance to the Super Bowl in. The whole point is meaningless at best and flat out wrong at worst.

in brutal weather.

I wouldn't compare anything Sanchez ever did to that.

In comment 11876382 fkap said:

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makes boneheaded plays. For some reason, Eli's boneheaded plays stick in our heads. My 'fave' is one from several years ago: a left handed basketball style alley oop INT in the endzone. Let's be fair: Eli has always been an erratic player. Around the time of our last SB ring, we were hoping he finally stabilized. and then it turned out he hadn't. He gets more blame than deserved, and he also gets more credit than deserved. IMO, there's nothing wrong with saying he's a very good QB who falls short of HOF elite. It's been bantied about quite a bit in the past that while Eli isn't a scrambler, he is shifty. Only the blind can miss that he has an ability to shift around the pocket, or even roll out. Watching him take off and run is a horror show, and far too many people mistake that for being shifty.

That play always gets brought up and don't get me wrong it was a bad decision. However, like many of his plays Eli is, was an will always be a bit of a gambler trying to make plays. The year prior he made the exact same play in the St. Louis game and it went for big yardage. When he gambled the first time it came up big and the second time it did the opposite.

I appreciate his career. That doesnt mean I find him above criticism, believe his job security is above question regardless of how this year goes, or act like his two sb make him better than any qbs with less by default

this site sometimes is crazy defensive about this player. Dude is coming off an atrocious last year and a half, strings 2 solid games together, and now we are calling out anyone who had the nerve to knock his play, painting them as fringe loons. Please

Eli played a ridiculous fourth quarter against the Pats using basically Tyree, Smith, and Boss. Thanks to Plax for "falling in the shower" the night before and being a non-factor until Gilbride got him a play even he couldn't fuck up.

In comment 11876382 fkap said:

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makes boneheaded plays. For some reason, Eli's boneheaded plays stick in our heads. My 'fave' is one from several years ago: a left handed basketball style alley oop INT in the endzone. Let's be fair: Eli has always been an erratic player. Around the time of our last SB ring, we were hoping he finally stabilized. and then it turned out he hadn't. He gets more blame than deserved, and he also gets more credit than deserved. IMO, there's nothing wrong with saying he's a very good QB who falls short of HOF elite.

It's the system that made him look erratic. Would anyone look good in the Gilbride run and shoot hybrid? Where the receivers had to read a defense like a QB? Let's see the numbers he puts up in this system before you label him as not a hall of famer QB. (Shakes head)

Before last year, I was always a bigtime Eli supporter and believed that he was a special player. The only time in Eli's career that I ever doubted him was that Pick-tastic Vikings game in '07, I didn't go crazy and rip on him but I started to believe that he was just another guy. Well he went on a brilliant stretch right after that game to lead us to a Super Bowl and I've been riding the bandwagon ever since.

But last year was brutal and made me question what he still had left in the tank. I think we all know that he had awful offensive support last year. Our OL was maybe the worst in the league, our supposed #1 WR in Nicks played like utter garbage, our RB situation was a mess, and our TE was awful.

I get all that. Eli's situation was crap. But...

28th ranked Offense in Pts
28th ranked Offense in Yds
32nd ranked Offense in TOV's
18 pass TD -- 27 INT (that -9 differential!!!!)

Even when everything around your Franchise QB is shit, you'd still hope that your Franchise QB could perform a little bit better than THAT. In 2014, a -9 Pass TD to INT difference is almost impossible with the new passer friendly rules. Our offense was 28th in PTS but they were even worse overall than just the PTS ranking because of all the turnovers they committed that set up easy points for the opponent.

- WE HAD ARGUABLY THE WORST OFFENSE IN FOOTBALL LAST YEAR
- QB is by far the most important position on an NFL team

It's really that simple. Eli had crap around him but he was also playing like crap. Even when he had time last year, he was making inaccurate throws and dumb decisions. I love Eli but I think it's perfectly fair to give him a share of the blame for last season. When your Franchise QB can't make your offense any better than the 30th ranked unit in the league and has a TD:INT ratio straight out of the 1960s, you question if he's a part of the problem.

I never gave up on him, but I did view this year as an extremely important year in Eli's career. I felt like this a was a make-or-break season. One of the biggest complaints for years with Eli has been the antiquated offensive scheme that Gilbride used. People (including me) believe that Gilbride's offense was holding Eli back. So I wanted to see how Eli would perform in a cleaner more modern passing offense predicated on quicker/easier throws. But if I saw Eli perform the same way this year as he did last, I would've been willing to move on to another QB at the end of the year.

I'm happy to see him and this offense slowly getting in a groove. I'm feeling a lot more confident about Eli. But it's still only been 3 games, with 1 of those games being an awful offensive performance. So it's still early, but I've already seen signs in 2014 that I didn't in all of 2013. I'm happy for Eli that he's proving doubters like me wrong, but I also feel no shame whatsoever for doubting Eli and viewing him as a question mark entering this year. Because he was a 33 year old who played like utter crap last season and was entering a contract year. This was/is an enormous season in Eli's career when it comes to reputation and legacy. I hope he continues to build momentum in this new offense and does big things the rest of the way.

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Difference being sanchez defense had a letdown that elis never did. Its not really an outlandish position to view their performance individually in this select rough handful of games that way, unless you want to just throw made up strawmen on top of it as you have.

Why should strawmen even exist? I'm not even sure why a poster would put together comparisons that are meant to lessen Eli's achievements in teh first place. That is sort of a strawman in itself.

The oddest thing to me is that Giants fans have to even go out of their way to defend eli from OTHER Giants fans!

The guy just goes out and does his job, never complains, doesn't get into trouble, isn't raping people or sending pictures of his junk to others, he just is part of a 2 ring run, and he gets shat on a lot.

It is one of the most perplexing things I have ever seen. If you ask other team's fans, like we did this weekend with Panthers and Steelers fans, and they don't get it either. Pretty sad when other teams fans have more compassion for eli than his own supporters.

football is a game of inches in a lot of ways. an inch or two one way or another is often the difference between a great throw and an interception. And then are dumb throws. I don't care if that throw worked before. Gambling of that sort, in the endzone, into a crowd, is a dumb throw every time (only exception would be if it's guaranteed to be the last play of the game, and you positively lose if you don't throw it).

Every QB has them, but for some reason Eli is given no slack by many fans, the press, or the so-called experts.

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....It's really that simple. Eli had crap around him but he was also playing like crap. Even when he had time last year, he was making inaccurate throws and dumb decisions. I love Eli but I think it's perfectly fair to give him a share of the blame for last season. When your Franchise QB can't make your offense any better than the 30th ranked unit in the league and has a TD:INT ratio straight out of the 1960s, you question if he's a part of the problem...

You can't have it both ways. You can't have an atrocious line AND assert that he was playing like crap. There's a cause and effect here..He played like crap BECAUSE he had an awful OL the last 2 years..Did he make mistakes anyway? Sure, he tried to do too much, but as FMiC pointed out, this is what you get with a gunslinger mentality..Even when the OL protected Eli on a consistent basis, he played like crap at times..That dreadful OL caused him to play like crap MOST OF THE TIME..

Dude has an army of defenders here who have absolved him of any and all blame for anything ever, according to at least 1/3 of the posters here he has never thrown a pick that was his fault. Hes never had a poor game that wasnt someone elses doing. These fans have no problem throwing other giant players and coaches under the bus to prop up the franchise. Gets compared with a straight face to first ballot hofers because of 2 months that were well timed.

If 99 % of what passes for eli criticism on this board is to be considered over the top and unfair, its only because youre sensitive

In comment 11876413 Go Terps said:

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Eli played a ridiculous fourth quarter against the Pats using basically Tyree, Smith, and Boss. Thanks to Plax for "falling in the shower" the night before and being a non-factor until Gilbride got him a play even he couldn't fuck up.

Plax wasn't satisfied with almost costing us that game, so he went ahead delivered a death blow to our whole season the following year. On a side note, he's probably wishing he was back in the clink during those SNY interviews with Chris Carlin.

Gilbrides offense and his refusal to change it hurt this team and QB more than anything the last few years. WRs who had no idea how to get on the same page with the QB. No running game or line these are the things that lead to the failures
But hey let's blame Eli cause he has never won with a good supporting cast?