2008 Woodie Awards
It's Manning Time
Out With Warner In With Eli, It's Must-Win Time in NY
Pete DeFelice
Issue date: 11/18/04 Section: Sports
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Well, it finally happened. What we all knew was inevitable, became a reality this past Monday morning. New York Giants' coach Tom Coughlin announced that Eli Manning would be the starting quarterback for week 11. Coughlin had enough of Kurt Warner after the Sunday afternoon debacle against the Arizona Cardinals. The Giants, now feeling a sense of desperation, are trying to keep team spirit alive as the season winds down. Now missing Michael Strahan as one of the leaders of the Giants, Coughlin feels they need a spark that they had when they were 4-1 at the beginning of the season.
The Giants had the playoffs well within their sights a few weeks ago. They were 4-1 without worry. The defense was strong and the running game was carrying the Giants to near perfection. However, when the Lions came into the picture, they had different plans. The Lions brought the Giants' red zone abilities back to where they were last year, stopping them numerous times inside the 20-yard line. Although the Giants destroyed the Vikings, they went back to bad habits, losing back-to-back "should have won" games to both the Chicago Bears and the Arizona Cardinals.
In my opinion, the Giants have become too reliant on the Tiki Barber running game to save them week after week. Eventually, teams catch on to patterns like that and isolate Barber from scoring completely. That means Warner must lead the Giants to wins, and we all know how well that goes. I don't care who the quarterback is; no team is going to win games when the quarterback gets sacked six times in one game. It takes the steam out of an offense and allows the team to lose confidence in the passing game. I have by no means been a fan of the Giants' secondary; however, when a quarterback holds on to the ball for as long as Warner does and has no peripheral vision, touchdown passes are not on the horizon.
This week, the Giants will be facing Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons. This will be Manning's first NFL start in regular season play, and 'anxious' couldn't even describe his feelings right now. He has large shoes to fill from both his father, Archie Manning who played for the Saints, and his brother Peyton Manning, who, with the Colts, is going for Dan Marino's record of total touchdown passes in a single season with 48.
The Giants had the playoffs well within their sights a few weeks ago. They were 4-1 without worry. The defense was strong and the running game was carrying the Giants to near perfection. However, when the Lions came into the picture, they had different plans. The Lions brought the Giants' red zone abilities back to where they were last year, stopping them numerous times inside the 20-yard line. Although the Giants destroyed the Vikings, they went back to bad habits, losing back-to-back "should have won" games to both the Chicago Bears and the Arizona Cardinals.
In my opinion, the Giants have become too reliant on the Tiki Barber running game to save them week after week. Eventually, teams catch on to patterns like that and isolate Barber from scoring completely. That means Warner must lead the Giants to wins, and we all know how well that goes. I don't care who the quarterback is; no team is going to win games when the quarterback gets sacked six times in one game. It takes the steam out of an offense and allows the team to lose confidence in the passing game. I have by no means been a fan of the Giants' secondary; however, when a quarterback holds on to the ball for as long as Warner does and has no peripheral vision, touchdown passes are not on the horizon.
This week, the Giants will be facing Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons. This will be Manning's first NFL start in regular season play, and 'anxious' couldn't even describe his feelings right now. He has large shoes to fill from both his father, Archie Manning who played for the Saints, and his brother Peyton Manning, who, with the Colts, is going for Dan Marino's record of total touchdown passes in a single season with 48.