In fact, when the Steelers and Giants meet Sunday in Pittsburgh, Roethlisberger will carry the following career advantages over Manning to the center of the field:

More touchdown passes (93 to 85); fewer interceptions (57 to 68); a higher completion percentage (63.2 to 55.4); a superior quarterback rating (93.0 to 74.9); and a better regular-season record (44-17 to 35-26).

So naturally, if a re-draft were ordered prior to the opening coin toss, you would reverse the fortunes of the two quarterbacks and take Manning at No. 11 and Roethlisberger at No. 1.

I would not.

Everything changed in a New York minute last winter, when the maddeningly inconsistent Manning ripped off consecutive postseason victories over Tony Romo, Brett Favre and Tom Brady to give the Giants the most improbable Super Bowl title since the one claimed by Joe Namath's Jets.

Suddenly, Eli was the equal of big brother Peyton, a Super Bowl MVP universally hailed for his precision and poise.

I believe Eli will end up with a better career than Roethlisberger's, if only by a margin the length of his chinstrap.

"You can't go wrong with either one of them," said former Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi. "But I have absolutely no regard for statistics when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks. I only care about wins, whether a guy can get you into the end zone and whether he can make the play on third and long.

"I had Eli rated a smidgeon higher than Roethlisberger in the draft, and I'd still rank them the same way."

Accorsi doesn't come to the debate without his professional biases. After all, his legacy will be defined by the biggest trade of his life — Philip Rivers and three draft choices for Archie's youngest son.

The Giants selected Rivers at No. 4, but only because the Chargers — who took Manning with the first pick — wanted the North Carolina State star in the prearranged trade.

"Our whole strategy was to go with Roethlisberger at No. 4 if we couldn't get Eli," Accorsi said, "and there are no ifs, ands or buts about it. We were at every one of Roethlisberger's workouts. I went to (the GMAC Bowl) in Mobile when he played Louisville and he was sensational.

"Roethlisberger was clearly our second choice, but we just liked Eli a little better."

A couple of years later, Accorsi's move made Minnesota's decision to send a dynasty to Dallas for Herschel Walker look brilliant in comparison. Roethlisberger racked up 14 consecutive victories as a rookie before losing the AFC title game to Brady's Patriots, and for an encore, he mocked the notion of a sophomore jinx by leading the Steelers to a Super Bowl triumph over Seattle.

Meanwhile, Manning was going 1-6 as a rookie before betraying an 11-5 second year by getting shut out (by Carolina) in his first playoff game.

As recently as last November, when he was busy throwing four interceptions against the Vikings, three of them returned for touchdowns, Eli was little more than a living monument to bad body language and worse aim. Accorsi could no longer watch; he drove away from the Minnesota game before halftime. The GM was already retired, but Manning appeared hellbent on getting the head coach fired.

So Tom Coughlin might've been the most surprised witness of all when Manning nearly ruined the Patriots' 15-0 start before starting on a postseason roll that did ruin the Patriots' 18-0 season. Eli outplayed Favre in conditions that would've left Lombardi's Packers shivering before a fire, and then he outplayed Brady in a room-temperature Super Bowl that forever altered the dynamic of Manning's career.

Eli joined Joe Montana as the only Super Bowl quarterbacks to throw for a pair of go-ahead scores in the fourth quarter. Eli joined Montana and Bobby Layne as the only T-formation era quarterbacks to win a title on a come-from-behind touchdown pass.

Manning threw for 152 yards in that epic fourth quarter and finished off drives of 80 and 83 yards. Before the clinching drive, the one shaped by Eli's remarkable escape from the Patriots' rush and David Tyree's absurd trap against his helmet, Accorsi turned to his son Michael and said, "If he is what we thought he was going to be, he does it now. Not September 15th, right now."

Across the first six games of this year, Manning has moved the needle on his quarterback rating (89.1) and pushed his completion rate north of 60 percent, into Roethlisberger territory. Eli has thrown for 226 more yards than Big Ben, but Roethlisberger has thrown one more touchdown pass and one fewer interception.

So why go with the Giants' quarterback over the Steelers' quarterback?

"In my opinion, we asked more of Eli in the first four years than the Steelers asked of Ben," Accorsi said. "(Pittsburgh) had the better balanced team."

Either way, Roethlisberger is a hell of a football player. He was the youngest Super Bowl-winning quarterback at age 23, and on the way to the big game, he made a season-saving tackle on the Colts' Nick Harper that Manning wouldn't have made in his wildest dreams.

In 2004, Roethlisberger also defeated Manning, 33-30, in their only head-to-head meeting.

But here's why I think Eli's future will be a shade brighter than Ben's: