Week 12--who's Manning the controls?!?

Sharper, Smith, and Greenway…it sounds like an accounting firm. But the only things they accounted for this past weekend were touchdowns—three of them—gift-wrapped by Eli Manning. The Giants, and Manning in particular, put forth an absolutely disgraceful effort on Sunday as they were whipped by the Vikings, 41-17. The only good thing about this pathetic display is: no matter whom you want to blame on the Giants, you’re right. From the front office, to the quarterback, from the offensive line, to the head coach—everyone takes a hit this week. Eli Manning’s line was: 21-49 for 234 yards, one TD (a garbage time TD) and four INTs. Manning’s throws were tentative and often off of his back foot—he stepped up and threw with authority once (to Amani Toomer) the entire game. Sure—the Giants were playing with a 3rd string running back and that put more pressure on Manning, but come on. How many times are we all going to see this guy take two steps backward and no steps forward? His performance was amateurish and unacceptable for a number one pick in his third full season at the helm. However, his performance wasn’t the thing that bothered me the most…that would be his demeanor and how he handled his performance. Here’s what I said after the Dallas game:

“Manning mopes, sulks, and indifferently plays his way through these games and I, for one, am getting tired of it. I'm getting tired of him looking like a deer in the headlights. I'm getting tired of hearing how "unflappable" he is, and how New York won't affect him. Does ANYTHING affect this guy?”

Well, yesterday, I got my answer: No. Nothing affects him. During the game, he carried himself with zero professionalism, zero leadership--watching his “poor me” face for 60 minutes made me embarrassed to be a Giants fan. The lack of any emotion other than self-pity is something that cannot be underestimated; did Tony Romo wallow in his failure in Buffalo? He threw 5 INTs on national TV and his team was about to lose a game in which they were heavily favored…but Romo was seen on the sidelines clapping, still fired up—insisting to his teammates that he would make up for it all by leading them back. And they believed him. THAT is the problem with Eli Manning—his teammates know the deal. He’s an immature kid who’s always had everything go his way. Now, in the Big Show, things aren’t so easy and Eli doesn’t like it. So, like any spoiled child who doesn’t get what he wants, he pouts. I don’t want a quarterback and “franchise” player who pouts. If you think the rest of the team believes, really BELIEVES in Eli Manning…you’ve got another thing coming. I hate to say it, and it doesn’t change the fact that he was a Class A jackass…but Tiki may have been right about Eli. There’s no leadership. There’s only self-pity, and that’s not Tom Coughlin’s fault. Here are Manning’s comments after the game:

“It wasn’t good,” Manning said in his typically calm, flat tone. “When you throw four interceptions, it is never a good day. They took advantage of it and scored on three of them. Every one has its own story. One of them was a tipped ball at the line of scrimmage where I was throwing to Shockey for a touchdown. That is just the way things go sometimes.”

No, Eli, that’s not the way things go sometimes. I think the last time it happened was in the 70s and the QB who did it was in the first and only start of his career! He most certainly was not a top draft pick playing in a city that wants explanations for its disasters, and demands its heroes accept responsibility. You know why Joe Torre is a hero to New Yorkers—because even when his team lost, he never lost them. He owned up to more than his share of responsibility for all of the Yankees’ shortcomings; same with Jeter, same with Bernie, same with Mo. THOSE are the guys we want running our teams, not the whining, excuse-making Mike Mussinas, not the “it’s everyone else’s fault” Isiah Thomases. We want our QB to say, “Ya know what? I was terrible. My play was unacceptable and I’m going to do whatever I have to do to improve because my teammates deserve better…the fans who pay good money deserve better.” Show me you care. Show me you’re not just out there, sleepwalking through it all. Eli…bubbala…you just threw three picks that were returned for TDs. You can’t explain it away by saying, “That’s just the way things go…” Every interception DID have its own story—but each story began with the words, “Eli Manning threw an interception to…” I particularly enjoyed how he took the interception which was tipped and focused on that one—as if providing us with that example explains all of the other ones away. Eli, get your act together or I promise you—together, us Giants fans will run you out of town on a rail.

Oh—coach Coughlin, did you think you were escaping my wrath? Well think again. You are only second on my list because you will not be here next season—we’re not married to you…hell, we aren’t even going steady. You were a bad mistake at a party. You had a lot of interesting things to say and after a few martinis you looked and sounded pretty good…but now? Now we’re sober. As sober as that stupid face you make on the sidelines EVERY time your team commits a stupid penalty. We’re alert and we know your M.O. You talk a good game, ranting about discipline and playing smart…but when your teams continually play without smarts or discipline, where are you? How about benching the next guy who lines up in an illegal formation? How about cutting a lineman the next time he false-starts for the fourth time in a game? Your message, dear Tom, is not getting through and there’s either going to be a new message or a new messenger next season—it’s really up to you. If you keep on making faces instead of actually doing something about the same old Giants and their mistakes, you’ll be embarrassing yourself on the NFL Network as an analyst next year…if you can somehow get through to these guys and hold them accountable for their mental lapses, then we’ll talk. When you make an in game adjustment, like, say, compensating for Minnesota’s constant attack on the middle of your offensive line…then we can discuss your future. At some point, you have to realize that what you’re doing now isn’t helping to curtail the mistakes which have plagued Big Blue for your tenure here. Change, or leave—them’s the choices.

You want to tell me, “Dude! Chill! They’re 7-4 and in front in the wild card race!” I’ll tell you this—the Giants are 9-18 in the second halves of Coughlin’s seasons in charge. This season, they are 1-2 so far. I’ll also tell you this—once again, when the defense needed a stop (in this game, it was in the third quarter) they failed to get it. Instead, the Vikings went on a 9-minute drive. Game over. I’d also urge you to take a peek at what’s upcoming on the schedule…yeah—at Chicago, at Philly, Washington, at Buffalo, at New England. If you can’t imagine the G-Men losing 5 of those 6, you haven’t been paying attention. Sure, they could win 3 or 4, but my money is on the Giants finishing 9-7 at best. However, making predictions in this case isn’t exactly fair—I’ve seen this act before.

I was debating which to lead this column with—Giants or Pats. I decided that I was sick of everyone making such a big deal out of the Pats’ narrow escape and that putting that second would be my little way of saying, “So what?” to those who are yelling, “Oh my God!!! The Pats are beatable!!!” Ugh. I think football fans who don’t get their information from the first 10 minutes of SportsCenter know that New England could lose a game…but they DIDN’T! Everyone is acting as if they had won 1,000 games in a row and Philly finally ended it. Dude—the Pats WON! They beat a fired up team with a good game plan and a coach who proved once again that he can’t make a play call when the game is on the line. The Pats didn’t play poorly…they played arrogant and complacent. How else do you explain not running the ball at all? How else do you explain the failure to adjust to the immortal A. J. Feeley ripping them apart on inside pass routes? Philly played a near-perfect game offensively…until for some reason, on second and four, Reid called for a deep pass. Why? Feeley had been shredding the Pats with medium and short passes all game! Westbrook for 6, Curtis for 13, Smith for 18…it was there, in the middle of the field, all…game…long. There was no need for that play call. Now, it’s a loss…just the same as if it was 34-10. People can go on and on about “moral victories” but last I checked, “moral victories” aren’t part of the playoff tiebreaker process. Congrats to New England for surviving a tough one—there’s always a tough one, isn’t there?

Thanksgiving roundup: Green Bay handled Detroit, but it almost got away from them. Favre was doing his thing and the Pack was up 34-12. But then they went into the infamous shell and let the Lions back into the game. Kitna to Johnson made it 34-19, and Green Bay, who was successfully throwing the ball all over the field, decides that running the ball is a good idea. How many times do we have to see this? I’m aware that the clock is your friend when you’re winning in the fourth quarter, but when you can’t be stopped and are scoring at will—SCORE MORE POINTS! When teams try to put games in their pockets by running the clock out, bad things are bound to happen. The other team gains a bit of momentum and before you know it, it’s a one-score game and you’re out of your offensive rhythm. Green Bay answered the Johnson TD with a run-run-incomplete-punt series and when Detroit scored following the punt, it was a 34-26 game with over six minutes left! That’s not how a good team finishes a game. Have the Packers learned from this? We may find out Thursday when they battle the Cowboys in Dallas (Irving). Dallas barely got a scrimmage-level challenge out of the Jets, who clearly played their Super Bowl against the Steelers and came out with nothing on either side of the ball. This game was over after the first drive! The Jets did the following with their first five offensive possessions: 4 plays and a punt, 3 plays and a punt, 4 plays and a punt, 3 plays and a punt, 3 plays and an interception returned for a TD. By that time, it was 21-0 and the stamp had been put on the mail the Jets were sending in. Gone is the Steelers game, back is the reality check—this team flat out stinks and is going to be the first team to lose to the Dolphins. Write it down. The Thanksgiving finale, for those of us who are lucky enough to GET the NFL Network, was Indy at Atlanta. The Falcons busted out to a 3-0 lead…and by “busted out” I mean went on a mind-boggling 19-play, 8-minute drive…which yielded all of a FG. Nevertheless, they had kept Manning and Co. off the field for more than half of the first quarter. When Indy got the ball, they went three-and-out, Atlanta responded with a TD and the Colts were down 10-0. Well, that woke them up on both sides of the ball and they outscored the Falcons 31-3 the rest of the way, coasting to their ninth win. The Colts played an average game, which was more than enough to beat Joey Harrington and his cast of droppers. Atlanta’s receivers must have dropped 10 passes. When your team is struggling for wins and your QB is struggling for…everything, dropping passes isn’t helping. Ask Eli Manning. So essentially, nothing surprising happened on Thanksgiving, football-wise.

On to Sunday…New Orleans and Cincinnati won easily, 31-6 and 35-6 respectively. Carolina could manage only 195 total yards against New Orleans’ defense, while Tennessee had a meager 61 on the ground against the Bengals, of all teams. New Orleans, behind Drew Brees’ efficient performance, finds itself 5-6 and smack in the middle of a muddled wild card chase. Carolina will find itself looking for a new team and possibly a new coach this off-season. Vince Young was his usual overrated self, going 19-31 for 246 with no TDs and 1 INT against a dreadful defense. We’ve seen the “real” Tennessee the past three weeks. I don’t care if the fools on TV say, “Vince Young is a winner” or “the Tennessee Titans are a solid team”, I know what I see. I am not impressed.

Speaking of what I see, I love what I’m seeing out of the Cleveland Browns. After their convincing performance against the Texans, they now sit at 7-4, have won 5 out of 6 (the one loss that heartbreaker to Pittsburgh) and are primed to make the playoffs. They’re doing it with a balanced offense. Winslow, Anderson, Lewis, Edwards, Dawson—they all play different positions and they all contribute on a weekly basis. You can’t take them all out of the game—the Browns have been held under 24 points just twice this season. And yeah, the defense is not the best in the league, but Sunday, when they needed a stop, they got it. When they needed a turnover, they got it. Opportunistic is the cliché that fits their D. This team is going to win at least 9 games—get on board the Browns Bandwagon now…seats are filling up fast.

Seats are all gone on the Jaguars Bandwagon. After they buffaloed the Bills 36-14, they have solidified their playoff position and will be ready to rumble with the well-rested Colts in Indianapolis this week. The Jags know—if they win this very difficult game, they could win the division. Not bad considering they began the season in embarrassing form. Once again, David Garrard put forth a solid game—296 yards with a TD and no interceptions giving him—let me add this up—ZERO interceptions on the season. But keep talking pundits…keep flapping about Vince Young and his 5/13 TD/INT ratio and (scrolling down) 65 QB-rating. I’ll keep talking about Garrard’s 9/0 ratio and 103 QB-rating and his 8-3 team. I’ll tell you, as a Giants fan, it’s nice to watch a team like Jacksonville. They had only one penalty against Buffalo. They allowed only one sack. They only punted once. Eight players caught a pass. They have two number one RBs and either one will hurt you, depending on the week. They have a defense which gives up less than 18 points and less than 100 yards a game on the ground, but can you name ONE of their defensive players? They are efficient. They are a TEAM. Digging it.

In boring news, Oakland beat KC for their first division win since the Harding administration. KC fell to 4-7 and we now don’t have to discuss them. As for Oaktown, I would like to know what they’re waiting for with JaMarcus Russell. Put him in—better he should learn now, right? Sometimes when two boring teams play, excitement is formed. San Francisco and Arizona locked up in one of those crazy games. It ended with Kurt Warner—surprise—fumbling in the end zone, the Niners winning by recovering for an OT TD. However, the REAL story came earlier in the OT when Neil Rackers gagged on a 32-yarder. Here’s what I wrote after week 7 when Rackers missed another big FG:

Cardinals kickers don't face that many pressure kicks, but if you remember back to last season when the Bears had that otherworldly comeback against the Cards (the Dennis Green meltdown game), Rackers had a 41-yard attempt with less than a minute left to salvage the win for Arizona...but he missed it. He seems to be the Trevor Hoffman of kickers—he does great until it actually matters.

If you’re on the Cards’ coaching staff, and you want to move forward as a franchise…you need to get a kicker who makes those kicks. If Rackers makes both of those kicks—which a decent kicker would—the Cards would be 7-4. They’re a good team, one that needs to learn how to win—and having a reliable kicker is part of that. I still think they can catch the Seahawks.

San Diego took care of business against Baltimore, marking the official end of the Ravens’ season. Philip Rivers had 3 TDs and no INTs, throwing for 249 yards. Can put the “Ravens are a great defense” myth to bed yet? San Diego moved to 6-5, a game ahead of the Broncos in the AFC West. I’d be shocked if the Bolts didn’t win that division because…wait...I’ve just been handed this update: Denver stinks. Despite having a 34-20 lead in the fourth quarter, they managed to give up two TDs to the anemic Bears’ offense in the last five minutes, surrendering their lead. What makes it worse is the fact that the Donkeys gave up two return TDs to Devin Hester. I mean, one is bad, but I can understand it—even though anyone who kicks to him under any circumstances is an idiot—but the second time? Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice? Shame on Shanahan. But even WITH those two Hester specials, the Broncs had a two-TD lead late in the game. Check it—with 9 minutes left, Denver, leading 34-20, recovered a Grossman fumble on the Bears’ 36. Run for minus 8, run for minus 3, incomplete pass…blocked punt. Nice special teams. Now Denver is 5-6 and on the outside looking in, while Chicago’s 5-6 is good enough to get them to the wild card dance—whether someone asks them to mambo, that’s another story. It will be a big game this Sunday as the Giants journey to the second city.

Seattle lucked out against St. Louis as Gus Frerotte fumbled the snap on a fourth and goal with seconds remaining, handing a win to the Charmin-hawks. The Hawks needed a kick return, Mark Bulger’s injury, and the Frerotte follies to beat a 2-8 team. How am I supposed to take them seriously? Against the Rams’ defense, they could muster all of 87 yards rushing? Please. Man I want the Cardinals to catch them.

Tampa beat Washington as the Skins lost fumbles on two of their first three plays, continuing their pattern of sloppiness. With this shoddy performance, the Redskins fell into the morass of the NFC wild card race and the Bucs solidified their position atop the NFC South. I think it might be time for coach Gibbs to leave. This team has done nothing but underachieve since his return.

Enjoy the awesome game Thursday night—and no, I didn’t forget the Steelers’ 3-0 win. I’m just so sickened by the fact that 1) that field was in that condition and 2) that they played the game. The Steelers, who I like, should be fined $1 million for allowing their field to be in such ridiculous condition. It was embarrassing to think that a professional team had their field in that shape for a national game. The weather, the 20 other games that have been played on that field recently, blah, blah, blah…how is there no drainage? How can a class organization allow its field to get to that point? I mean, they almost ruined their season because of it. If they’d lost that game, and they very-well could have, forget about catching the Colts—the Steelers would have been tied with Cleveland for the division lead. As for the game being played at all, it was laughable. I know there are people who planned their week around going to the game, but you know what? That’s not as important as the integrity of the league, and the well-being of its players. It’s a wonder no one blew a knee out last night. The game should have been postponed until the field was playable. They couldn’t wait a day? Why? If the Steelers have a problem with the short rest, too bad—it’s their own fault. And who cares what an oh-and-ten team thinks, if anyone wanted their opinion, they’d beat it out of them…oh wait, everyone already has. Seriously—anyone who watched that game knows that it shouldn’t have been played. Come on NFL—take some time out from fining players for celebrating too much and put some focus on the GAMES. Grow a pair and do what’s right next time. And Gene Upshaw—you should have demanded that the game be postponed for the safety of your players. Do you think for ONE SECOND that baseball’s union would have let their players to play in that quagmire? Not a chance. As I was saying—enjoy the games this week.

R

RIP Sean Taylor—your hard hits will be missed.