Ex-Giant Amani Toomer: Tony Romo, Not Eli Manning, Best QB In NFC East
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Amani Toomer just ripped a page right out of Tiki Barber's playbook.
The former Giants wide receiver said Thursday the top quarterback in the NFC East is none other than... Tony Romo?
That's right. Toomer, who earned his only ring with New York in Super Bowl XLII, passed over his ex-teammate Eli Manning for the Dallas Cowboys signal caller.
"Tony Romo is probably -- if you look at him statistically – he's probably the best quarterback in the NFC East," Toomer said as "Movin' the Chains" co-host on SiriusXM NFL Radio. "You look at Eli Manning and what he does in the fourth quarter, but you talk about consistency, talking about 31 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions, that guy (Romo) can play."
Manning threw for more yards with 4,933 in 2011. But his 92.9 rating, touchdown total of 29 and 16 interceptions were slightly worse than Romo, who was rated at 102.5 last season.
Still, Manning has the advantage with two NFL championships -- not to mention two Super Bowl MVPs -- to Romo's zilch.
"I'm talking about for me, if I wanted a guy that is going to throw less interceptions and be more productive, higher completion percentage, I'm going to go with Tony Romo," Toomer insisted.
Manning has the edge in fourth-quarter comebacks (21) over Romo (13). Score another for the Giants star, who is 26-20 against the NFC East and 9-6 against Dallas, compared to Romo's 18-19 in the division and 5-7 against New York.
Manning has also taken the last five head-to-head matchups against Romo.
Toomer admitted his former quarterback does have an advantage in some areas.
"At crunch time, he's not as good as Eli," said Toomer. "But every other time, he's pretty darn good."
Manning is no stranger to taking lumps from ex-teammates. After his retirement in 2007, Tiki Barber said the quarterback's attempt to lead an offensive meeting late in the previous season was "comical" at times.
This year, despite his Super Bowl win, Manning was ranked No. 31 in the NFL Network's "Top 100" list, a result that drew criticism from teammates and fans alike. Speaking of, score another win there for Manning. Romo came in at No. 91.
Some Giants defended Manning on Twitter when they heard of Toomer's stance.
"They will be Booing my guy toomer at Giants stadium," tweeted defensive end Osi Umenyiora. "That we can agree on."
Terrell Thomas wrote: "Man toomer my dog and a great giant, helped me a lot as a young rook but aint no way romo better then Eli...both good QB's but... Well."
Do you think Toomer was way out of bounds? Be heard in the comments below...
