What a week to be Eli Manning.

Since he has been inserted as the Giants starting QB [which was a bad move by Tom Coughlin], the Giants haven’t won a game and have fallen out of the playoff race. He’s had to face the Eagles, Redskins, Falcons, Ravens...all great defenses [the Eagles, Redskins and Ravens are 3 top NFL defenses]. In the last 3 games...the Giants have lost each by at least 21 points.

Now he gets to face off against the Steelers...another darn good defense. Oh yeah...and across the field will be Ben Roethlesberger. Big Ben has been the antithesis of Eli this season. Ben stepped in for the injured Tommy Maddox in a Week 2 loss to the Ravens. Pittsburgh hasn’t lost since. While Ben has had a surprisingly good season....he is helped by having a great team around him. A great defense and a solid, deep rushing attack enables Ben to pick and choose his spots. Don’t get me wrong...we he has to pass it, he does a great job.

You could argue that the rolls could be reversed. The Giants could have picked Roethlesberger with the #4 overall pick. Instead, they drafted Philip Rivers and dealt him [along with their top pick in 2005] for Eli Manning. Would Eli have had success in Pitt?? Would Ben struggle in NYC?

Meanwhile, the Chargers, the team Eli refused to play for, will be playing for the AFC West title this Sunday. Rivers has spent the season waving in play calls.

Oh....and Sunday night....his big brother, Peyton Manning, could break Dan Marino’s record for TD passes in a season. The elder Manning is having an MVP season...and the Colts are a team with a very good shot at winning the Super Bowl. Peyton has 4 more touchdown passes [46] than Eli has completions [42].

Manning, Eli that is, has only completed 42 of 110 passes. Only one of those completions went for a TD. At that rate, it would take 184 games for Eli to match Peyton’s 46 TD. Six of his passes were picked off. He’s thrown a tad over 500 yards...and has a NFL worst 33.8 QB rating....including a big ZERO rating last week against Baltimore. .

If you added up Eli’s and Peyton’s TD passes...it would still be one short of Marino’s mark.

This isn’t all Eli’s fault. The offensive line, which was suspect at the beginning of the year, has been banged up. The receiving corps hasn’t played well at all. And it isn’t fair to throw a rookie into a lion’s den of defenses like that.

So, as the two rookie quarterbacks prepare to square off....Eli wants to taste victory for the first time. Roethlesberger knows nothing but.