New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning hasn’t enjoyed the best of days since winning his second Super Bowl in February 2012. However, a recent article in the New York Daily News from veteran writer Mike Lupica might put a smile on his face.

Lupica proclaimed that Manning, despite his recent struggles, is the most important New York Giant ever. Yes, more important than fellows named Lawrence Taylor, Frank Gifford, Bill Parcells, or Phil Simms.

He’s the one even if he never won another playoff game around his two Super Bowl runs. He’s the one despite the way he’s looked when he’s been putting the ball on the ground the past few seasons and throwing it to the other team and wondering where all the good offensive linemen went.

While those in New York media are more than entitled to their opinion, Manning’s placement as “the most important Giant ever” is flawed on a few levels:

1. Lawrence Taylor is a Hall of Famer and likely one of the 25 greatest players in NFL history. Eli Manning is not that.
2. Taylor played from 1981 to 1993. During that time, the outstanding linebacker  won the 1986 NFL MVP (no defensive player has won it since) helped his team win two Super Bowls and appear in the postseason seven times. Manning’s teams have won two Super Bowls (more on that in a second) but he has failed to catch lightning in a bottle otherwise. The Ole Miss product has reached the postseason just six times in 15 seasons.

The most important Giant ever is Lawrence Taylor…and then Bill Parcells….and then Frank Gifford or Phil Simms…and then Michael Strahan.

I get it. Manning is a two-time Super Bowl MVP, who the fans have come to adore in the Big Apple. Yet, his two Super Bowl wins over the New England Patriots came with a massive amount of help. From the defensive line play in Super Bowl XLII and XLVI to the amazing plays made by David Tyree and Mario Manningham, Manning has enjoyed plenty of help on his ride to becoming a champion.

Taylor helped change the Giants culture from a team that was the laughingstock of the NFL to a team that was a perennial playoff contender to eventual Super Bowl champion.

Manning has done a lot of things but winning sure hasn’t been one of those things in recent years. The last Giants postseason appearance came in 2015. Manning has to find a way to be a little bit more productive to hold off rookie Daniel Jones from taking his job – permanently.