Big news from the NFL in week 9. In the NFC, Big D used its D to stop the Eagles and their two game win streak and take over the top spot in the East. New Orleans stayed perfect but started very slowly against the Panthers who need to very seriously look at who they want under center. Arizona absolutely wrecked the Bears in Chicago behind monster days from Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald. The Bucs got off the snide and laid a big hit on the reeling Packers. And in the battle of who cares the Seahawks came from behind to beat the Lions.
The bigger storylines, however, were in the AFC. The Patriots continued their dominance over the Fins and put the smack down on the wildcat. The Bengals proved they’re for real against a stumbling Baltimore team that looked in the beginning of the season like it was going to run away with the division. The Colts barely got by the Texans and remain undefeated going into week ten for the third time this decade. And the Chargers shocked the Giants in the final minutes and won by a point in the Meadowlands. Leading up to the San Diego/New York game the media made a huge deal about the draft in 2004. What I’m wondering is if anyone was as appalled about Eli’s refusal to play for San Diego as I was. You can make an argument five years later that both teams were winners. Eli led the Giants to their first Superbowl since 1990 in 2007 when they beat the Pats and San Diego ended up with two additional draft picks which turned into perennial pro-bowlers Shawn Merriman and Nate Kaeding. What stands out to me was the reasoning behind Eli’s refusal. He simply didn’t want to play in the same conference as his brother. Eli and his agent crafted that deal to get him out of the AFC because it was Peyton’s turf. He was the top dog, the Colts were coming off a 12-4 season where big bro threw for over 4,000 yards and 29 touchdowns. Eli knowing that he couldn’t compete and fueled by the Indy/San Diego rivalry simply stated that he wouldn’t sign. He even did an interview AFTER HE WAS DRAFTED saying that he was hoping for a trade. Now let me get this straight. You are a highly touted college quarterback, you get picked first overall, you are about to sign a contract that will make you the highest paid rookie in league history, but you won’t sign with the team that drafted you because you don’t want to have to put up numbers against your big brother? Well I got news for you buddy…it doesn’t matter where you play, you’re a Manning and you’re gonna be compared against other Mannings for the rest of your life!
It’s impossible to say what the league would look like now if Eli had in fact signed with the Chargers and Rivers had ended up with the Giants, but I think you can make a major argument that Rivers would have the ring right now and Eli would be sulking his way through another early playoff exit in San Diego. Intangibles aside (and I do grasp the importance of leadership), Rivers is the better quarterback. He has a higher career passer rating, he’s thrown for more yards and fewer picks, and if you get real crazy and start looking at splits Rivers, has him beat there too. He’s got a higher completion percentage and passer rating in the final two minutes of games and he can make the big throw as evidenced by his 56% completion rate on throws of 20 or more yards. Put simply, Rivers isn’t winning in San Diego because he has greater competition. Every year the playoffs go through New England, Indy and Pittsburgh, because these teams are perennial powerhouses. They have terrific personnel in the front office, they are coached well and their players are seasoned winners. When Brady and Peyton start to slow in their ripe old age, we are going to be set up for some incredible Ben Roethlisberger/Phillip Rivers match-ups, and Rivers will get his ring. They will be the best two quarterbacks in the AFC, but right now there are just two many good QB’s standing in the way.
When you come back to last night’s game in New Jersey you are left with one thing: leadership. Eli has always been labeled the leader, while Rivers has been called the distraction, but last night, under pressure and faced with a long field, Rivers crafted a masterful drive, going 80 yards and completing 6 of 8 passes. He ran the offense through a no huddle two minute drill and threw the winning score to Vincent Jackson with 21 seconds left on the clock, leaving Eli no time to get his team into field goal range. He showed poise, guts, a killer instinct, and I think what is sometimes lost with Rivers: passion. He gets his team fired up, and yes, he can sometimes run his mouth which makes him a target, but more importantly it takes the pressure off of his teammates. This is what I think makes him a good leader. He knows what his team needs and how to get it. At the end of the day, Rivers was there, with a lightning bolt on his helmet, leading his team to victory.