I see some people pointing out that the New York Giants aren’t afraid of benching a star quarterback, even one who has won the franchise a couple of Super Bowls. They did so on Tuesday with the benching of Eli Manning.
I’ve also seen some people wonder why the Giants are able to bench their starter, who was playing better than Chiefs QB Alex Smith was lately, and the Chiefs aren’t.
(As an aside, I get wanting to sit Eli in a lost season but then you start Geno Smith in his place? We know Geno isn’t the answer. At least start the rookie, Davis Webb. That’s the most confusing part of the Giants move to me)
There are a couple of big differences between the Chiefs and Giants situations.
First, the Chiefs are in the playoff hunt. That colors how you look at this. You could say that being in the playoff hunt means the Chiefs need to move quicker to replace Alex and get Patrick Mahomes in there to salvage the season. Or you could say it means the Chiefs need to stick with the veteran and just get into the dance and hope he improves.
Second, the Giants quarterback is a potential Hall of Famer. He’s a two-time Super Bowl champion. He’s been there since George Bush was in office. Dumping Eli is a bigger deal in the NFL because of his credentials. Not that I don’t appreciate what Alex Smith has done but their resumes and place in NFL history are clearly different.
Because of those two things I’m not sure these situations are very comparable.