Eli Manning has won over Giants fans. For now. I could tell after his third-quarter interception, when boos would normally rain down from the cheaps in East Rutherford. Instead, the crowd was silent. Eli was spared. And this coming from a crowd who would boo anything (OK, maybe not Santa, but still).But Manning was not the guy we saw in the postseason. Though the numbers don't back it up entirely, he looked a lot like the guy who maddened fans for years with inconsistency, lack of accuracy, and poor decision-making, even during the admittedly amazing-to-watch first drive, in which he completed a few clutch passes and then made Rocky McIntosh the butt of every joke in the Redskins' locker room this week.
And yes, let me say it again, that drive was great. He hung in the pocket and made some outstanding throws under pressure. But even during that drive he looked anxious, whipping simple screens with force when finesse was called for. And after that he regressed, failing to lead the team to the end zone on three subsequent red zone drives. He only completed 54.3% of his passes. He, of course, threw that interception, and he could have had two more if Redskins defensive backs knew how to catch.
The thing about the one interception that counted, too: it came at a pivotal time in the game. The Giants' offense was slowing and the Redskins were gaining confidence on both sides. They had scored near the end of the second and the offense was beginning to gain some yardage. Against a better team, that interception could have led to the score narrowing to 16-14, with a complete reversal of momentum. The Giants were lucky that they were only playing the Redskins, but not every opponent will just lay down like the Redskins, and Manning still has some things to work on.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-05-2008 @ 10:46AM
Benjamin Klein said...
Giants fans know what eli manning is, a winner. We know his stats aren't that great, he may never go to a pro bowl and again we know this and are ok with it. This is because we understand that he gives us a great chance in the postseason to win. Also, bear in mind we understand that he plays in tons of games like yesterday, where we should blow the other team out but his play allows them to stay in it, but we know we always win those games anyway because our D is nasty and if by some chance the opposing O scores Eli is a god of 4th quarter magic. So we aren't, like you say, fawning over him because of overhype, but because we finally understand exactly what he is, and that is a statistically poor winner.
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9-05-2008 @ 11:16AM
Sportsman said...
Eli Manning is far from over-the-hump as an NFL QB. The LUCKY PLAY to Tyree in the Super Bowl, required: his bumbling and stumbling away from the pass rush, throwing into triple coverage and lastly Tyree making a great catch. Without this play, the Giants lose the game and Eli was Eli again.
Against the Redskins, he completed 53% of his passes and should have had 4 INT's not 3 as mentioned in the article.
Mark my words, Eli will come back to earth within 8 games and the Giants will be a recipient of his demise.
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9-05-2008 @ 11:22AM
Mike Rath said...
What does the win-loss column say?????
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9-05-2008 @ 1:58PM
Joy said...
OK Giant Fans, Yes Eli has a little work to do but, you have to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE those guys. You have to let them know how much they are appreciated an stop all the putting down. They are the SUPER BOWL CHAMPS an they have earned respect.
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9-08-2008 @ 7:08PM
Sports fan said...
While the defense was rotating their guys throughout the game the same offensive linemen played steadily. It was hot and they will wear down. Gilbride needs to substitute offensive linemen to keep them fresh and let the subs get playing time. If you want to hold the ball for more than 1/2 the game you gotta do this.
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9-15-2008 @ 1:09PM
Tom said...
Peyton "the other" Manning
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