How much does overrated cost?

In the last few years, the most purely clueless sports town in America has gotten even worse. If you've ever lived around fans of New York teams, the Mets and Giants especially, then you've probably never seen a less knowledgable fan base that combines their lack of knowledge with little knowledge for the sport they follow or the games they're supposed to be watching. The Giants fan's problem is that they don't understand system football, the sum of mediocre parts equaling successful cohesion, or what Patriots fans are used to. The possible admission that players like Eli Manning or Justin Tuck would be terrible on other teams is simply too much for them. Tuck is a system player, and very productive piece of Steve Spagnuolo's defense, but he is NOT an elite defensive lineman in the NFL. That though, doesn't come close to how much better other quarterbacks in the league are than Eli Manning.

In 2007, the year the Giants went 10-6 and won the Super Bowl (the first ten-win Super Bowl Winner in twenty years), Eli Manning led the league in interceptions. Even with a field-stretching receiver like Plaxico Burress. In fact, every time Eli Manning has been forced to make a football decision with the football in his hand, he's thrown an interception. Think back to the last time he was forced to make any tough decisions before that Super Bowl run, November 25, 2007 against the Vikings (see also October 13, 2008 against the Browns). The Giants success comes mainly through the run and stopping the run. Any defensive pass rush they get is extra, but their overall success certainly doesn't come from their quarterback play. The outright joke of the 2007 season was Eli manning's questionable Super Bowl MVP. His 19-34, 255 yard performance is only more egregious than Peyton Manning's 24-38 247 yard MVP performance the year before, but since that time, Eli Manning has been viewed as an elite quarterback, and now he's paid like one.

Since Plaxico shot himself, the decline, or reality could have continued, but Giants head coach Tom Coughlin and their staff refuse to let it happen. In the one game when the Giants rushing attack sputtered miserably after Burress left the team, November 30, 2008 against the Redskins, Eli Manning had his breakout game of the season, 21-34 305 yards, one touchdown, or a slightly below average day for Drew Brees, Kurt Warner, Peyton Manning, Jay Cutler, or the player he was traded for, Philip Rivers. Basically, Eli manning at his best is still maybe tenth-best in the league. Usually though, the Giants use a three-headed rushing attack, which diminishes Eli's role immensely, and all of the quarterbacks we mentioned aside from Rivers do not share that luxury. But all of those quarterbacks can be counted on to rescue their teams in times of crisis. When the Giants are in crisis, their goal is to make sure Eli isn't the one who has to come to their rescue. That's great coaching.