Jim Souhan: Mannings have all been there before

If you feel obliged to pull for Tarvaris Jackson for any reason -- loyalty, sympathy, an affinity for Alabama State football's color scheme, or because you drafted him in your fantasy league instead of J.T. O'Sullivan -- you should be happy to see a Manning lining up in the Metrodome today.

Because if you're looking for a reason to believe in a struggling young quarterback, you should familiarize yourself with the First Family of Quarterbacks.

The Manning Family Values offer lessons that could apply to Jackson, if he's good enough.

Archie Manning, a good quarterback on really bad teams, proved that it's better to be in Jackson's situation -- a struggling young quarterback on what could be a good team.

Jackson didn't play well on Monday night in Green Bay, but with a strong running game and occasional time in the pocket, he still had chances to beat a good team on the road.

Archie, who also played for the Vikings, was lucky to escape with his life after playing for the legendarily bad New Orleans Saints. He made the Pro Bowl twice. He threw for 3,000 yards three consecutive years, back when 3,000 was a big number. In 1980, he completed 60 percent of his passes, threw for 232 yards a game, threw 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions, compiled an 81.8 passer rating -- and the Saints went 1-15.

It's better to be Jackson, whose proficient games likely will produce victories.

This is not to say Jackson is or ever will be in Manning's category. Manning might be the greatest quarterback to ever play the game, and if he's not, he's a close No. 2 behind Tom Brady. Jackson would do well to establish that he's the best quarterback in Minnesota.

But Peyton Manning's struggles in 1998 do illustrate that even a highly polished, major-college, top-of-the-draft quarterback such as Manning requires time to weed out the mistakes that have plagued virtually every young starter in NFL history.

For Jackson, the best lesson among the Mannings is provided by Eli -- winner of the Super Bowl, slayer of Belichick, toast of New York, receiver of wedgies from Peyton.

As a rookie, Eli played in nine games and compiled a passer rating of 55.4. Last year, in his fourth year as a starter, he completed 56.1 percent of his passes, fumbled 13 times and compiled a Jackson-like rating of 73.9.

The last time the Vikings saw Eli in person, he played worse than Jackson ever has. In fact, he played worse than Spergon Wynn ever played, throwing four interceptions in the Vikings' 41-17 victory at Giants Stadium last November.

That day, Jackson, looking remarkably poised, completed 10 of 12 passes, threw a 60-yard touchdown pass, didn't turn the ball over and ran effectively. That day, Jackson was clearly the best quarterback on the field.

But Jackson flopped in the last two games, the Vikings missed the playoffs, and Manning won four consecutive playoff games, pulling off one of the great upsets in Super Bowl history by beating the undefeated Patriots.

Manning played for a team with an impressive defensive line, a strong running game, an uptight coach who learned to relax a little, a team that survived a tough schedule and peaked in the playoffs, a team good enough to allow its struggling quarterback to learn on the job.

Could that scenario, and The Manning Family Values, apply to Jackson? Only if Jackson is is good enough to survive a learning curve that even for the great ones can resemble a bobsled run.