Manning's mediocrity, Gibbs' gaffe, Garrard's growth

Eli Manning completed 21 of 49 passes for 273 yards, one touchdown and four picks in the Giants' loss to the Vikings. Nick Laham/Getty Images

FOXBORO, Mass. - Musings, observations and the occasional insight on Week 12's storylines, as we await the latest Patriots-palooza of points at Gillette Stadium ...

• After 50 regular-season starts and just more than three full years of watching his every move, can we just all agree that Eli Manning is what he is? He's never going to be Peyton Manning; and by now, it's our fault if we don't realize where he fits into the pecking order of NFL quarterbacks.

He's a good, but far from great passer, who can still struggle mightily at times to see the field accurately and put the ball where his receivers -- as opposed to defenders -- can catch it.

Manning has never played worse than in the Giants' 41-17 homefield flameout against Minnesota on Sunday, which happened to occur in his 50th regular-season start since being selected first overall in 2004. He threw four interceptions against a Vikings pass defense that was ranked worst in the NFL coming into the game (288.4 yards allowed), with a league-record-tying three of those picks being returned for touchdowns.

Manning now has a ho-hum 16 touchdowns and 15 interceptions this season, and he's just 27-23 as an NFL starter since taking over the No. 1 job in New York on Nov. 21, 2004 -- the 10th game of the Giants' season that year. Factor in his 0-2 playoff mark, and Manning's 27-25 starting record is almost the definition of mediocrity.

The problem, of course, is that .500 records and so-so statistics aren't really allowed when you're drafted No. 1 overall, especially when the team that you play for traded a boatload of picks (and quarterback Philip Rivers) to acquire you. Giants then-general manager Ernie Accorsi gave up so much in that top-of-the-draft deal with San Diego in April 2004, because Manning, hailing from the NFL's first family of quarterbacking, was considered such a safe bet.

Manning has had his moments of superb play, and he does deserve credit for helping New York make the playoffs in both full seasons he has been a starter. But the highlights have been too few and far between, and the struggles too frequent to consider Manning an NFL success story at this point in his career.

He's a Manning, so he'll never completely escape the comparison game. But he's not Peyton Manning, and it seems to be past time for us to stop expecting him to make that distinction disappear. To quote that noted bard from Foxboro, Eli is what he is. And maybe that's all he will ever be.

• Same old Cardinals. They're doing it to us again. Just when you thought Arizona had played its way into serious playoff contention, along comes the bunch that always finds a way to give away a game it had no business losing. When it's all said and done this season, a delay of game penalty that wiped out a chip-shot Neil Rackers game-winning field goal in overtime might end up being the difference between the Cardinals making or missing the postseason.

• How ironic that it was 49ers linebacker Tully Banta-Cain who fell on that Kurt Warner fumble in the end zone, giving the 49ers a 37-31 victory over the shell-shocked Cardinals. Banta-Cain, the ex-Patriot, hurt his former team with the game-winner, because San Francisco snapped its eight-game losing streak and in the process broke out of the tie it was in for the No. 2 draft spot next spring.

New England, of course, owns the 49ers first-round pick in 2008, as part of the trade that landed San Francisco an extra No. 1 in 2007.

• That's the Kurt Warner who thrilled us with his pinpoint passing in his glory years in St. Louis. And that's also the Kurt Warner whose sloppy ball-protection skills have haunted the Rams, Giants and Cardinals since 2002 or so. Letting Warner drop back into the end zone in overtime is just asking for trouble.

• What am I missing? You kick it to Devin Hester, you pay for it. You don't, you don't. The Bears would not have been able to even dream of beating the Broncos without the help of Denver's punter and kicker. It's that simple.

• Nice NFC wild-card chase. It was no thing of beauty in Week 12, to be sure. The Lions (6-5) have lost three in a row and were blown out at home by Green Bay on Thanksgiving. The Giants (7-4) get embarrassed at the Meadowlands by the Vikings. Washington (5-6) came out flat and lost at Tampa Bay. Arizona (5-6) gave one away at home to the lowly 49ers. And I'm going to go ahead and assume there's a beating coming for Philly (5-5, for now) at New England on Sunday night.

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