Big Ben vs. Eli Manning, or why Big Ben is an elite QB and Eli is not (Part 1)
Don't get me wrong, I DO like Peyton Manning, I like the Giants, and I don't think Big Ben has of yet proven he is the next Steve Young, when I say elite, I mean out of active QBs in the game today.
So, Big Ben vs Eli huh? To the mental equivalent of the great unwashed they seem similar. Each was a 1st round 2004 pick, both are about the same age and height, both won a conference championship, and both won a SB mainly on the rest of their team's performance. No real difference right? WRONG!!!
They are as different as night and day.
They have both started a similar number of games, but the differences are significant.
Ben has won 45 and lost 20 (.692) Eli won 34 and lost 28 (.548)
(abbreviated B & E respectively hence)
Career passer rating B 92.5 E 73.4
Career Completion percentage B 63.2 E 54.7
Career Yd/reception B 8.1 E 6.3
Career TD% B 5.8 E 4.3
Career INT% B 3.8 E 3.5 Ben's figure is inflated by the 4.9% crash year- 3.5 IS average for Eli
Playoff winning % B 71.4 E 66.6
Let's also look at consistency by year
In 2004 Ben had 8 games at >100 passer(1 at 158.0:0.3 from perfect) and had 1 games at <60 passer rating
In 2004 Eli had 2 games at >100 passer and had 4 games at <60 passer rating (1 at 16.9)
In 2005 Ben had 7 games at >100 passer (1 at 158.3 perfect)and had 3 games at <60 passer rating (including SB)
In 2005 Eli had 3 games at >100 passer and had 4 games at <60 passer rating (& 1 at 62.2)
In 2006 Ben had 5 games at >100 passer and had 5 games at <60 passer rating (accident abberration year)
In 2006 Eli had 3 games at >100 passer and had 4 games at <60 passer rating
In 2007 Ben had 7 games at >100 passer and had 0 games at <60 passer rating
In 2007 Eli had 5 games at >100 passer (2 in playoffs) and had 4 games at <60 passer rating
B27>100 9<60 41% of his games played at >100 passer rating 13% less than 60
E13>100 12<60 20% of his games played at >100 passer rating 19% less than 60
All this show that Ben has consistently performed at a high level with very few bad games. Eli has been wildly inconsistent and has had about as many bad games as good. Ben's numbers compare to Peyton and Brady (except yardage due to the run 1st Steeler philosophy) and Eli's compare to Brian Greise and Phillip Rivers.
