Eli Manning vs. Tom Brady

So which quarterback would you rather have this weekend, Tom Brady or Eli Manning?

Tom Brady has thrown 39 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and passed for 5,235 yards leading the Patriots to a 13-3 regular season. So after seeing his performance this season it would be easy to choose the future hall of famer.

Tom Brady has been known to be one of the hardest working athletes in football. His three Super Bowl wins and numerous record breaking seasons should be enough to convince anyone to expect the Patriots to be on their way to a fourth Lombardi.

 Yet Tom Brady struggled to even get into the Super Bowl. After routing the Denver Broncos, Tom Brady seemed to disappear versus the Baltimore Ravens. The same QB who had torched the Broncos was finding it hard to drive on the Ravens. In fact had it not been for a sorry excuse of a kicker I would be talking about Joe Flacco and not Brady.

Now on the  other side is the "Elite" quarterback Eli Manning who has thrown 29 touchdowns, 16 interceptions and passed for 4,933 yards leading the Giants to a 9-7 regular season record. With Tom Coughlin's job on the line and the Giants appearing to be dead in the water.

Nevertheless the Giants somehow managed to pick up their heads and win three of their last four games, in order to make it to the playoffs. Due in part to Eli's second half heroics and his determination to will the Giants into the post-season.

 Eli has been labeled lucky due to his ability to escape sacks and make incredulous passes.  Unlike Brady, Eli has the capacity to take the sacks, to be hit by pass rushers and be unfazed by the defenses he faces. In fact the final series of the 2008 Super Bowl Eli did just that as he made one of the most ridiculous passes in history to help seal the Patriots fate.

So now who to pick? Well, if Tom Brady's offensive line doesn't allow a single person to touch him expect it to be raining touchdowns as the Patriots light up the Giants. However, it would be silly to expect the Giants to allow Tom Brady to sit in the pocket. So I'm choosing Eli Manning as I expect him to once again shine against the Patriots, whose defense by the way, was ranked 31st during the regular season. Eli Manning will endure everything that Bill Belichick can throw against him and will once again find a way to show that he has what it takes to win.