Before the season started Giants quarterback Eli Manning was asked if he was in the same class as Tom Brady and responded with, “I consider myself in that class.” Many people, including myself, called him crazy. Manning was coming off a season where he threw league-high 25 interceptions and Brady was a unanimous MVP with his league-high 36 touchdowns and four interceptions. Even a person without knowledge of football could tell that those two players weren’t in the same class.
Eli Manning has had a great year reaching his second Super Bowl of his career.
This year, however, Manning has improved his game and has some wondering if he’s better than his older brother Peyton. While I think that’s ridiculous, it just shows how much he’s improved considering there are even talks about it.
In the 2011 season, Manning threw 15 fourth-quarter touchdown passes, an NFL season record. He also threw for 4,933 yards as he tried to support the Giants offense. Usually the Giants are known for a strong run game, but this year they ranked dead last in average rush yards per game. That meant Manning had to put his team on his back and he succeeded by leading his team to the playoffs.
In the Giants last four games, which have been win-or-go-home games, Manning has thrown for an average of 317 yards a game, 11 touchdowns and just one interception. He has a great receiving corps of Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz, who both surpassed 1,000 receiving yards on the season, to help him in the pass game. In the post-season, Manning has found Mario Manningham as the two have connected for three touchdowns.
Like any playoff team, the offense is just as good as their defense. In the regular season the Giants defense wasn’t that great. They were among the bottom in points and yards allowed per game. In the playoffs, however, their defense has been healthy and they have been playing great football. They slowed down the Packer’s top offense and have played great throughout, especially when they held Atlanta’s offense to zero points.