Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Interested in what your opinions are on who you think is better, and why, between these 2x Lombardi-winning QBs?

In my opinion, Eli's 2011 season is better than any of Plunkett's. (he helped New York get to 9-7 with a 25th ranked defense in addition to the playoff run to the Super Bowl title that year) I have seen people unironically say they would've given Eli the 2011 MVP, I don't think I could say that for any of Plunkett's seasons. (not sure if I'd go that far personally, but it says something)

Say what you want about whether he belongs in Canton, but in general he was probably a top ten or so quarterback over 2008-2012, as well as 2015 and 16.

Credit Plunkett for coming back after being written off, and having a good second life for the Raiders in Oakland and Los Angeles; helping lead them to two Super Bowl titles and putting up decent stats in his final season of 1986 as well as for the 1983 title team.

That said, I'd say Eli was better, and was probably a bit more integral to the success of the teams he was on. He also did more outside of said titles. (though to be fair to Plunkett, it also appears that his coach Tom Flores didn't ever commit to him long term so he didn't have the biggest sample)

^I'm curious what exactly Eli did outside of winning 2x Super Bowls?

If one says he was great in the playoffs, I believe it, with an 8-4 record and 18/9 TD to INT.

However, outside of that, Eli was just a .500 starter in the regular season (117-117), the Giants only won the NFC East Division title 3x in his 16 seasons and he led the NFL 3x in interceptions thrown. Eli was also never named to an all-pro team. I just don't see it, but if someone could shed more light, I would appreciate it.

With the exception of his first season in which he split time with Kurt Warner, and his final season in which he split time with Daniel Jones, Eli threw double digit interceptions in ALL 14 of his other seasons. He even led the league 3 times.

Aside from those two Super Bowl victory seasons, he never was victorious in a playoff game.

His two Super Bowl victories are not enough to cancel out the two above negative bullet points in my opinion. He wouldn't get a Hall of Fame vote from me.

ChrisBabcock wrote: ↑Sat Feb 28, 2026 3:02 pm With the exception of his first season in which he split time with Kurt Warner, and his final season in which he split time with Daniel Jones, Eli threw double digit interceptions in ALL 14 of his other seasons. He even led the league 3 times.

Aside from those two Super Bowl victory seasons, he never was victorious in a playoff game.

His two Super Bowl victories are not enough to cancel out the two above negative bullet points in my opinion. He wouldn't get a Hall of Fame vote from me.

What do you think of his career in comparison to Plunkett's?

Hard to say. I think I would give Eli the ever so slight edge. Plunkett's early career struggles are probably "lower" than any portion of Manning's career. The two championships each are a wash. Their respective best seasons are about even, maybe Plunkett slightly better.

For what it's worth, Plunkett was the Sporting News and UPI Rookie of the year for 1971 and AP Offensive RoY 2 (behind John Brockington).
His best year with New England (the team that drafted him) was 1974 in which he went 7-7 as a starter.

He didn't have great success in his "early years" but he did show great promise and his career prospects seemed good at the time.