Is There Anything Left For Philip Rivers & Eli Manning?

Carson Palmer Retires After 15 Seasons!

  Two greats were drafted in the year 2004. Their careers started with drama. Then the two turned drama into success. Both Eli Manning and Philip Rivers have achieved a lot so far in their careers. But just an year before the two were drafted, their was another quarterback who came into the NFL, as the number one pick with a lot of expectation. That quarterback was Carson Palmer who, came out of USC and went to Cincinnati Bengals. He was expected to be the next Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, or at least be the third best quarterback in the NFL just behind them. Also, he was expected to take Cincinnati Bengals to the playoffs for the first time in over a decade and then win games there! In 2005, Palmer did get to end the Bengals' fifteen year drought of playoff appearance. He had a spectacular year statistically, but he couldn't get to help his team win a playoff game. He got hurt on the first play of the game. Then in the next few years he went to stretches where he struggled often and failed to get his team to the playoffs until 2009. In 2010, Carson Palmer and Cincinnati Bengals suffered their worst year together since he was drafted in 2003. After a horrendous year, Palmer felt that the organization and management of the Bengals weren't doing enough to give him enough help to succeed. So he requested a trade which, was first denied by the Bengals' owner, but by midway of 2011 season, after the rookie quarterback Andy Dalton led the Bengals to 6-2 record, the owner and management finally decided to trade away Carson Palmer. They traded Palmer to the Oakland Raiders where, he only played for one and a half year. In his time with the Raiders, he had an 8-16 record in twenty-four games. Then, it seemed like his career was over and his body had given up on him. The Raiders decided to go to a different direction and therefore traded Palmer to the Arizona Cardinals for picks. Him and his career got a new life when he got to Arizona where, he was coached by the offensive guru, Bruce Arians. With help from Arians, Palmer in his three of the last five seasons passed for over 4,000 yards. Palmer had his best year in 2015 in which he led the Cardinals to number two seed with a 13-3 record in the regular season, and he took them all the way to the NFC Championship Game, where him and his team suffered a beat down at the hands of the Carolina Panthers. In 2016, expectations for him and the Cardinals were high! They didn't live up to it. In fact, they weren't even close. Expectations for the Cardinals was to go all the way to the Super Bowl, yet, they ended up missing the playoffs with a 6-8-1 record. Then after this past season, in which Palmer's season was cut short with an injury to his left arm, he decided to hang it up. Palmer after having back to back disappointing seasons with the Cardinals, thought that he couldn't play much more at a higher level, or maybe he thought, there was no point to play anymore this late in his career. So he retired after fifteen seasons into his career. Next year is going to be fifteenth year for both, Philip Rivers and Eli Manning. Could next season be the last of their careers? Do they really need to play next year and couple more years after that?

Philip Rivers - The Competitor.

 

His career went from up to down, then down to up, and then up to down. Philip Rivers was supposed to be the future quarterback of the New York Football Giants. But, his draft-mate, Eli Manning, who was projected to go number one by most NFL experts (which he did), didn't want to play for the San Diego (now LA) Chargers, who had the number one pick in 04. So Chargers had no choice but to trade Eli Manning after they drafted him. By the end of the draft night, the Chargers found a trading partner with the New York Giants, who drafted Philip Rivers with the fourth overall pick. First it would seem like that, neither the Chargers or the Giants wanted Rivers. If the Chargers really wanted Rivers, they would have picked him number one. If the Giants really wanted Rivers, they would have never traded him along with other picks to the Chargers for Eli Manning. I don't know if Rivers ever mentioned his honest thoughts to the media and reporters about the draft night trade, but I'm pretty sure it burns him from the inside. I mean, who wouldn't be furious with knowing the fact that, both teams wanted the other guy over him and the team who couldn't get the other guy, had to settle for him? Maybe that's one of the reasons why Rivers plays with lots of passion and fire. He played every game like it was his very last game. The game which best defines Rivers' attitude, was the 2007 AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots. In that game, even though the Chargers lost, he was seen as a hero as he played the entire game with a broken knee. Talk about guts, playing hurt, and giving it all to get to the big game! His rage and burning desire to win helped him do a lot of great things for his team, but he never got to take them to the very top. Rivers has beaten a lot of good teams in regular season and early in the playoffs, but he never won deep in the playoffs. In 2007 he defeated a very good Indianapolis Colts team, led by Peyton Manning, but then in the AFC Championship game, he lost an ugly game to the 17-0 Patriots. The same Patriots team were then beaten two weeks later by Eli Manning in the Super Bowl. Then an year later, Rivers beat the Colts again in the playoffs, this time in the wild-card round, but then lost in the second round to the eventual Super Bowl Champs,  the Pittsburgh Steelers. After the 2008 season, he went to the playoffs again for the fourth straight season, but since then, he's been to the playoffs only once in eight years. When he was drafted by the Chargers, he was expected to take them to the playoffs on a consistent basis, just like how Brady and Peyton Manning were taking their teams to the playoffs almost every season. Rivers did get to the playoffs in his first four years, but since then he has been playing like Jay Cutlers of the world! There have been some seasons in which him and his team missed the playoffs by only one game, or by losing a tie-breaker to one of the other three teams in the division. He also missed the playoffs this past season in which, he led his team to a 9-7 record after starting off slow with on 0-4 start. This year, his overall numbers weren't that bad, as he passed for over 4500 yards and tossed twenty-eight touchdowns to only ten interceptions, but couldn't get his team to win the games, which they really needed to win. So one could say that this season was a disappointment for Rivers and his Chargers, as the team was loaded on both sides of the ball. The Chargers have an extraordinary running game with Melvin Gordon, they have weapons at the wide receiver and tight end positions, and their defense, led by Joey Bosa, is loaded with first-rounders. Yes, he did have a good season statistically and almost led his team to the playoffs, but 'almost' is not good enough in this kind of a league. Imagine if Aaron Rodgers had a team like this? Imagine if the former Charger, Drew Brees had this team? Just imagine if Tom Brady had a team like this? Yea, you know what my point is. Rivers is a very good quarterback who will one day make it to the hall of fame, but he is not an elite quarterback. With all that said, do I believe if he could have one or two more good years, all finally take his team to the promise land? I am not guaranteeing that he will get to the Super Bowl and win it, but he certainly has a chance. This offseason is going to be very important for him and the Chargers. They need to make tiny changes, nothing crazy, but they need to set up their plan straight. If Rivers change his offseason routine and have himself fully zoned into going for a Super Bowl run, he has a great shot.

Eli Manning May Not Be The Greatest, But He Is A Great Player.  

  So if Rivers is a hall of famer with over 50,000 passing yards, 342 touchdowns to 166 interceptions, with a completion percentage of 64.2 percent, and a 4-5 record in the playoffs with no Super Bowl appearances, then Eli is definitely a hall of fame player too! Eli Manning also has over 50,000 passing yards, 339 touchdowns to 228 interceptions (that's a lot), with a completion percentage of 59.8 percent, and has a playoff record of 8-4 which includes, two Super Bowl wins. Yes, Eli has played twenty more regular season games than Rivers and has inferior numbers compared to him, but he has a winning record in the playoffs and he has the jewelry. At the end of the day, football players compete in the NFL to win Super Bowls and Eli has done it. Those who say, Eli doesn't deserve to be in the hall of fame because he turns the ball over a lot, they are just completely dismissing his Super Bowl seasons, his streak of playing 210 consecutive games, which is the second-longest by a quarterback in the history of the NFL, behind only to Brett Favre, and him playing and winning with far less talent on offense than Rivers had in San Diego from 2006-2012. Even now Rivers has better offensive weapons and a better overall team than Eli does. Also, if Eli doesn't deserve to be in the hall of fame with so many interceptions, than how in the world is Brett Favre in the hall of fame? Favre has the most number of interceptions in NFL history and he is way ahead of the quarterback with the second most interceptions. Plus with all those interceptions, Favre has one Super Bowl win. Eli with over hundred less interceptions than Favre, has two Super Bowl wins with two Super Bowl MVP awards. The two Super Bowls which Eli won, were against the greatest quarterback of all time - Tom Brady! I know in football, quarterbacks don't go toe to toe, but still, there is always pressure on the quarterback whose defense is going up against an elite quarterback and a high-powered offense. I believe it takes a lot of time, effort, and commitment for a player to go to big games against the big dog, then produce and do everything in is his power to help his team win. That means something. However, it doesn't mean that Eli, is the greatest or at least the second greatest since, he beat the GOAT twice in the Super Bowl! Tom Brady the GOAT is, far more consistent than Eli has been throughout his career. Brady has more wins, touchdowns, yards, better touchdown to interception ratio, and better completion percentage than Eli in regular season and post season. Also, Brady currently at forty, is playing at a much higher level than Eli and looks way younger than him. Seriously, it seems like Eli can't move that much in the pocket, as he did in the past. Granted, he has a bad offensive line, but elite quarterbacks make up for bad offensive lines every now and then. When Eli Manning doesn't have a good offensive line and a decent running game, he struggles mightily. My uncle who is a lifelong New York Giants fan, said: "if you give Eli a good offensive line, a running game, and couple weapons at the wide receiver position, he will play just as good as Brady, Rodgers, and Brees." When I hear something like that, I think in my head, 'wouldn't every single quarterback look elite if they have all that?' So yes Eli is a very good quarterback but he's not an elite one, nor he's a below average quarterback. Can Eli play one or two more years in the NFL and take his Giants back to the Super Bowl? I think he is slowing down, losing his arm strength, and isn't as accurate as he was before, but I think he could play one more solid year for the New York Giants. Also, we need to see if the Giants are going to keep him for the next year and let him play in Pat Shurmur's offense or not.

Who Needs To Play More Professional Football Among The Two?

  Our consensus answer would be, Philip Rivers needs to play couple more seasons and win at least one Super Bowl for himself and his Chargers. Indeed, if the question is to win rings then yes Rivers needs to play more and prove everyone, that he isn't just a numbers' guy. However, I believe Eli Manning needs to prove more. Yes, Manning has two rings and holds all the important team passing records for the New York Giants. But, since he won his second Super Bowl in 2011 season, he has been really bad! Rivers, doesn't have the rings and hasn't been to the playoffs that much either since Manning last won the Super Bowl, but he produces every year with great numbers and at times, puts his team on his back to lead them to victory. Manning on the other hand, has had only one or two good seasons and made it to the postseason, only once since 2011. The season when he last made it to the playoffs, was last year in 2016 and it was mostly because of the extraordinary defense he had on his side. That Giants' defense made a whole lot of plays throughout the season. Late in the year, the defense shut down most of the opposing offenses it went up against. So there are a lot of people and football experts, who believe that Eli Manning is just an average quarterback and has been fortunate enough to play with, and rely upon extraordinary defenses to win games. Manning doesn't need to go out win a ring, but he needs to have a winning season in which he puts up great numbers. He needs to have at least, one monster season to show the world that, he could put the team on his shoulders and guide them to a winning season.

 

If Manning really wants to win his third ring before retiring, then he should think about leaving the Giants. I don't see the Giants winning in the near future. However, I do see the Jackosniville Jaguars winning a Super Bowl next year or so. All they need, is an experienced quarterback like Manning or Rivers. Both those guys could win at least one Super Bowl ring with the Jags, but I think Manning has a better chance. The Jaguars are coached by Doug Marrone, but the man who's in charge of the team, is Manning's former head coach - Tom Coughlin! The Jaguars are pretty much run the same way as the two Giants' teams, who won Super Bowls in 2007 and 2011. Rivers could win with the Jags too, but the LA Chargers aren't that bad either. I think Rivers has a better shot of winning a Super Bowl with the Chargers than he has with the Jags. The Chargers' defense might not be as good as the Jags', but they are very talented and will have a better chemistry by next year. Plus, the Chargers have better weapons for Rivers than what the Jags have to offer him. So if Rivers can't win with the Chargers, I don't think he could with Jags or any other team in the NFL.

What Happens If Both Manning And Rivers Struggle In 2018?

  They should just follow Carson Palmer's path and retire! There would be no point for the two to play more after this upcoming season if they struggle. Their legacies are set and they have made a whole lot of money with their professional football careers. Plus, no team would want them if they don't perform well or play worse than last year, as there are better and younger players available for the quarterback position. Hope they do well!