Teams play division opponents in 37.5% of regular season games - a significant percentage.  The NFC East has been the better division by a wide margin compared to the AFC North.  And not just this season, but for the past few years.  The Steelers have been a very good/great and consistent team, but look at who they've benefited by playing nearly 40% of their games against: Cleveland, Cincy, and a very inconsistent Ravens team.  By contrast, Eli and the Giants have had to deal with three division opponents who have all been good, and at various times great, over the course of his career.

I know this has been discussed ad nauseum in a post by ETVal from yesterday, but I saw no one bring up this angle in their discussion.  It's true Big Ben's numbers are better.  Here they are, copied from said post from yesterday:

• Completion percentage: Advantage Roethlisberger, 63.2% to 55.4%.
• Quarterback rating: Advantage Roethlisberger, 93.0 to 74.9.
• Interceptions: Eli has 68 to Ben's 57, although Eli has about 400 more attempts.
• Touchdowns: Advantage Roethlisberger, 93-85.

Now, can we assume that two quarterbacks can be compared ceteris parabis?  The answer, of course, is no, since all other things are not equal!  Had both QB's in question played all the same teams then sure, one could make that claim.  Unfortunately for those in the Roethlisberger camp this is not the case.  I assert that Ben's career stats have been padded while Eli's were stifled due to the disparity in power of their respective divisions. 

Here's the proof: Starting with the '04 season, Roethlisberger has played 62 games; Manning has played 63.  This is to illustrate that they have nearly the same amount of pro experience and time on the field.  During this time, the combined record of Pittsburgh's division opponents is 96-115 (a .455 win percentage) while the combined record of the Giants' division foes is 116-96 (.547).  This is quite the disparity.  In looking back at the numbers above copied from yesterday's post, Ben's stats aren't that much better.  If division disparity is taken into account, a stronger argument can be made for Eli Manning.

This by no means is to say Eli is definitively the better QB.  I think it's still too soon to tell.  The point of this post is to show that they are actually closer than fans and pundits think.  We might see on Sunday whether or not this is true, but it still won't give a clear answer.  I'd like to know what you guys think (especially Ismail, who certainly had a lot to say in Roethlisberger's defense).  Does my argument make sense?