Down by a score, two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, and you need the win to make the postseason.
Who is your quarterback?
Aaron Rodgers? Tom Brady? Drew Brees? Peyton Manning?
Those are certainly all great choices, as these players have proven over and over that they can lead their team to a win late in the game.
As for me, I’m going outside of the box.
Give me the other Manning. That’s right, give me Eli.
Ok, before you sound the alarm and tell me I’m crazy, let me hit you with some truth. There was no other quarterback in the NFL in 2011 who led more drives to come back and win in the fourth quarter than Manning did with the New York Giants. There were eight times in 2011 New York entered the fourth quarter trailing in the game, and Manning led the Giants on the comeback to pull out the victory.
That includes both the NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers, and the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots. Both of those were game-winning drives.
Simply put, Eli Manning is clutch. So go ahead, you can take Rodgers, Brady, or the older brother. Heck, you can have all three. Just give me Eli, the newest member to the club of elite quarterbacks in the NFL, but in a class all his own when the game is on the line.
There are few quarterbacks in the NFL that have the capability to take it to another level when the game is on the line. And even fewer who look as if they prefer it, or even thrive on the fact that they know it’s now or never.
Manning has certainly proven that he is a fourth quarter machine, and should not warrant anymore criticism otherwise.
Of course, in this ‘what have you done for me lately’ league, a couple years of mediocre football and that would all change.
But as of now, entering the 2012 NFL season, there isn’t another quarterback I would want to lead my team on a game winning drive.