Last postseason, Eli Manning famously made it through the entire postseason–which he played entirely on the road–while only throwing one interception. This, of course, discounts the botched pick by Asante Samuel that would have given the Patriots the Super Bowl victory, but it was nonetheless an impressive feat for someone who, up until that point, was known solely for his postseason failures. Then, with the Giants emerging early in this season as a potential perennial powerhouse, the talk of Eli being a bust as a quarterback all but dissapeared. He was, afterall, reigning Super Bowl MVP, who could question that?

It became painfully obvious, though, this past Sunday that Eli has barely improved over the course of his four years in the league. He throws the ball behind receivers’ backs, over their heads, at their shoe tips, and a lot of the time, directly into the other teams’ hands. He is a successful NFL quarterback who has never really thrown the ball at his receivers. He just throws it in their general direction, yet he is a Super Bowl champion.

Which is why he owes his career to Plaxico Burress. Burress, of course, shot himself in the leg on November 28th of this year while at a nightclub in New York City, but he effectively shot Eli in the arm that same night, as well. Look at Manning’s stats for December compared to the rest of his season. His rating dropped from the mid-90s down below 70. He was sacked more, he had a worse completion percentage, and less yards per catch.

Watch a Burress highlight reel and you begin to realize what a weapon he really was. Manning could throw a five yard dump pass which Burress could turn into a 50 yard touchdown. Then you’ll see him skying over two defenders for a jump ball, diving for a throw that would normally be unreachable, or reaching behind his back to make a one-handed catch. It’s a great highlight reel, but what the video doesn’t mention is that these were his normal catches.  He made those extraordinary catches look routine, turning Eli’s wobbly pop ups into stats that transformed Manning into a Pro Bowler on paper.

But as Manning struggled to make even the simplest of throws on Sunday against a mediocre Eagles defense, it became painfully obvious that if Eli plans on having a job past next year, it would be in his best interest to forgo his off seasons vacations and spend his money of defense lawyers and gun safety lessons for the only receiver that ever made him look like an adaquate NFL quaterback.  The reason the rest of the Giants said they would welcome the potential felon back with open arms is simple: they cannot and will not win without him.

Trevor Timm is a Blast Magazine staff writer