Barstool Sports

2/11/12 - “Feb. 5, 2012 — the day Eli Manning surpassed his big brother, cemented Tom Coughlin’s legacy and damaged Tom Brady’s and Bill Belichick’s reputations with another scintillating, fourth-quarter touchdown drive…The victory Eli Manning engineered inside The House Peyton Built could dramatically change, for the worse, the narrative on three of the biggest names in all of sports (Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick)…Eli’s preseason proclamation of elite status is the equivalent of Namath’s guarantee.”

9/18/12 - ”Despite his two Super Bowls and terrific play in the fourth quarter, Eli is not elite. Football coaches know this. The belief now among many coaches is the rules are so stacked in favor of the passing game that you can win it all with an average QB and a below-average running game as long as you’re willing to throw the ball 65 percent of the time. John Harbaugh believes Joe Flacco is every bit as good as Eli Manning. Andy Reid thinks Michael Pick is every bit as good as Eli Manning. Harbaugh and Reid might be right.”

*if you called him “Michael Pick” on purpose, kudos to you, you fat, hypocritical idiot.

So, Jason, what exactly changed your mind? What happened over the course of the offseason, preseason & 2 regular season games since your last column lauding Eli Manning as the QB who engineered the most significant Super Bowl win we’ve ever witnessed and single-handedly rewrote the legendary tales of his big bro, Brady & Belichick? Whose ascension to elite status was comparable to Joe Willie’s historical Super Bowl guarantee? Those are your words, not mine. Oh, I know, it must’ve been this past Sunday where he tossed 295 second-half yards & drove his team to 3 TD’s in less than 7 fourth-quarter minutes to complete yet another comeback.

Now all of a sudden Eli’s average. He’s no hero, he’s just your average Joe Blow lucky enough to be on a team who couldn’t run the ball or defend the pass last year so he just closed his eyes, aired it out 65% of the time (even though the stats show 59%, but whatever) and had his second championship ring & MVP trophy fall into his retarded lap. The new Super Bowl formula. Strange because there were a couple of teams with the same makeup & arguably better quarterbacks he dismissed from the postseason along the way. Maybe Jason meant the key is to actually have a WORSE signal-caller. Only then will your team be able to hoist a new banner.

Listen, I’m not saying #10 is hands-down the best QB in the NFL. I have no problem with people putting him behind Rodgers, Brees, and Mr. Uggs. But there’s no argument he’s top-5 right now, and that’s elite status. Is there a 2-time Super Bowl MVP not in the Hall of Fame? Pretty sure Canton’s got some elite players there. The debate is over, and Jason Whitlock knows it. He’s just another one of those sports writers that no one gives two shits about until their next asinine statement garners the public’s attention. Just a chubbier, blacker Skip Bayless.

@610Barstool