The Giants won 37-20 On Sunday against the championship Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in Wisconsin. The historic venue has been the hardest place for away teams to play no matter what the sport, which made the win even more impressive. The game was highlighted by Eli outperforming Rodgers who struggled to play like his usual self and seemed rusty after not having live action in several weeks. The Green Bay defense looked equally as rusty as well while Eli Manning played like a man on a mission to prove himself an elite quarterback. 

Rodgers was just 26 for 46 in the game for 264 yards and 2 touchdowns. Rodgers did lead the team in rushing, sadly , with 76 yards on the ground. He and the Green Bay offense turned the ball over a total of 4 times in the game. 2 of those were by Rodgers who was picked and lost a fumble in the game. The 4 total turnovers nearly matched the 6 turnovers the team had the entire season. Rodgers seemed rusty because he was and rightfully so. Rodgers and the Pack were on a bye last week and the previous week Rodgers sat out of the game in what maybe now looking like a bad Idea. That is nearly 3 weeks of no live football for Rodgers. The numbers are even more glaringly bad as you look at his leading receiver. That man was veteran Donald Driver who had just 45 yards and a touchdown on the day. This is simply a statistic you will not see in the box scores of any previous Packers game this season. 

What we should really look at though is the other quarterback, Eli Manning, who backed up his statement earlier in the year when he self-proclaimed himself as an Elite quarterback in the NFL. This put himself in the category with Rodgers and Sunday's game proved that to be true. Eli was nearly perfect in the game as he threw for 330 yards completing 21 of his 33 passes. He found several different receivers including Hakeem Nicks who went off for 167 yards and 2 scores in the game. The performance well out-dueled that of Rodgers while Eli put his money where his mouth is. 

The only question that may remain for some is whether or not the same would have occurred if Rodgers had been playing more recently. Unfortunately, that just seems to be how things have gone for the young Eli in his career and i do not see that changing. For me though, I will give credit where credit is due. The NFL is a no excuses league and Eli has earned the right to be considered elite in my book. 

A. Rekitt