Not sure how Eli is part of these problems...

What we saw today was a QB with an astounding lack of offensive support who more often than not put his teammates in a position to succeed. Without expecting the unreasonable, such as Eli morphing into Vick when the pocket breaks down, I'm not sure there is much more that Eli or any QB could do.

Yes, Eli threw an interception. Without the benefit of instant replay I'll assume it was a poor throw (perhaps after review it will appear to have been more catchable). Welcome to football- every QB throws interceptions (see Brady, Rodgers, etc al). To expect every pass attempt to be complete and perfectly placed is to expect the unreasonable.

I'm sure most can agree that Eli was victimized by drops of both the egregious variety (Marshall x2, OBJ) and those due in large part to key defensive plays (Engram). Without these drops you're looking at a very accurate and efficient night with many of these throws having been pushed down the field. I'll add that it's presumptuous to assign guilt to Eli for the failure of fourth down conversions without knowing A) if Eli had time and, B) if receivers were open deeper down the field. I'm not quite sure what certain posters or fans might be referring to if you argue that Eli left plays on the field.

Of course, the elephant in the room remains the OL which not only tangibly hampers the outcome of each play, be it through pressure/sacks/no running game, but also distorts the internal clock of our quarterback. I don't know that any quarterback can survive a constant pass rush onslaught without having it influence their comfort within the pocket (case in point, Brady week 1). Five sacks and however many additional pressures? To expect any human being to not rush throws after that level of pressure is again, to expect the unreasonable. Each game and each pass are also not conducted in a vacuum- the psychological and physical effects reverberate longer. I'd argue that the hit Eli suffered in Washington last year spent his confidence in that offensive line and the same might soon be said for this protection scheme.

It's frustrating to read posters acknowledge that the offensive line is a sieve but then also criticize Eli with the typical refrain of, "he's part of the problem." I really do not know how one can cast aspersions to the true talent level or performance of a quarterback when playing under such dire circumstances. This isn't the chicken or the egg- if a play is broken before it starts then it's disingenuous to subsequently penalize a QB thereafter for not making salad out of shit. For example, Aaron Rodgers didn't forget play football this past Sunday- he was simply overwhelmed by a defense that never allowed him to actually operate. Is it a referendum on his play? Hardly. If a quarterback is not given time to progress through reads and throw then I struggle to grasp how they can be considered part of the problem.

What we can deduce from Eli's play behind such a porous line is that he remains as tough as ever (ex. hit taken during Shepard pass), he keeps his eyes downfield while avoiding the rush (ex. Engram), and he does an admirable job sidestepping defenders when possible.

Finally, the arm talent clearly remains. The incompletion to Engram near the end zone was a beautiful pass as were a pair of incompletions to Marshall. This is not Peyton on a swan song, rather Eli is still dishing passes that a large portion of NFL quarterbacks would struggle to make.

It's frustrating to read posters admonishing Eli for having a "terrible" first half (7-9 passing with a TD is terrible in some alternate universe) or for being part of the problem or for being "limited." I simply ask, what plays were there for the making that Eli missed? Please, be specific. Mentioning the poor results of a play or even a game does not suffice as evidence without citing specific instances or alternative options that Eli disregarded. Which open receivers did Eli miss or poor passes did he make within a reasonable context?

Tonight was a microcosm in effect for many games dating back to last season. I find it incredibly difficult to assign blame to he quarterback when he is not given a fair opportunity to succeed. Assigning guilt by association is simply lazy analysis. I won't begin to pretend that Eli is in the same category as Rodgers or that he never throws an errant pass but to lay blame at his feet because he cannot overcome a complete lack of support is unreasonable, in my opinion.