Is Eli Manning On Pace To Top The Post-Merger Interception Record?

Over on r/nfl, Reddit user marvin02 put together the graph below, showing how Peyton Manning's TD pace through 10 games compares to the five highest single-season touchdown marks in NFL history:

Through nine games, Peyton's 33 touchdowns had him on pace with Tom Brady's record-breaking 50 touchdown season, but he threw for just one against the Chiefs this weekend. (Monte Ball had two rushing TDs to cap off drives where a combined 78 percent of the yards came through the air, which is why the passing TD mark is sort of silly.) He now stands four touchdowns back from Brady's pace, and one touchdown back from the pace of his own 49 touchdown 2004 season.

But how, as a clever commenter asked, is his little brother's interception-filled season stacking up against the all-time leaders? Here's Eli Manning's—and Geno Smith's—interception pace, tracked against the the only four QBs of the post-merger era to hit 30 interceptions on the season:

Eli, like Peyton, got off to a hot start. His 15 interceptions through six games put him ahead of Vinny Testaverde's 1988 pace (he finished with 35, the post-merger record). Unfortunately he's only thrown two in the last four games, opening up a window for Geno Smith to take the league lead. They're both well off the record pace, and would need to have a Tarkenton-level meltdown—the Hall of Fame QB threw 14 interceptions in his last four games in 1978, the last four games of his career—to become the first QBs in a quarter century to hit 30 interceptions.

If you had to pick one QB to make a run, I'd still go with Eli—five of the Giants' six remaining games are against teams averaging at least one pick a game, while Geno only had to face one. Also noteworthy: Richard Todd, Phil Simms, and Scott Bruner combined for 55 interceptions for the Giants and Jets in 1980, so the all-city mark is still within reach.

[ Top chart via Reddit]