It seems the Giants have given up the Rex Ryan strategy-and not a moment too soon. Last week they and the Eagles talked a very big game and one team backed it up to the hilt and one team didn't do anything right after putting on its cleats.
The Eagles specifically called out Manning and recalled all the times they had beaten him in the past and they made good. I can't think of any game he and the entire offense ever looked that bad. It really was a perfectly horrible night when you add in Victor Cruz's injury. He will be gone this year and God only knows if he'll ever play at the same level.
The only good sign is the Giants have clearly learnt their lesson. No more playing the game in the papers. No more Rex Ryan-who always wins the game in the papers and then loses it come Sunday.
It's just amazing how much a team can change week to week in the NFL. Off Sunday night the Eagles look like the best team to ever play the game-at half time Coughlin groused that 'this isn't the 85 Bears we're playing'-but it might as well have been as the offense was incapable of doing anything the whole game.
If the Jets' 31-0 loss at San Diego a couple of weeks ago is the worst performance by a team all year-at least by an offense; maybe Tampa gave the worst defense in its 56-14 loss to the Falcons in week 3-this game by the Giants was a close second.
Some teams can come back from this. The Pats certainly did from their 27 point loss to the Chiefs 3 weeks ago. The Bengals were a lot less impressive following their 26 point loss to the Patriots. Often this is the kind of game that really tests a team, tests a quarterback.
I should say that Manning's words Monday on the Giants being true to Cruz and giving him the kind of effort he would have been proud of was great. I have to point out that Manning has been here before and come back. I must admit that in this game he and the offense looked about as bad as a QB and an offense can look in the NFL. Still, Eli is the man to come back from a terrible performance. I still remember the first Super Bowl year for him and the Giants back in 2007.
I always remember a home game against Minnesota in November that year, though. It's hard for a QB to look worse than Eli did that day. He threw 4 interceptions, including three pick 6s-interceptions returned for TDs. The 4th interception was run back to the Giants' 6th yard line and run in on the very next play so that's really 4 pick 6s; I mean that's literally 4 TDs for the other team as the Giants lost 41-13 at home-the margin of defeat was his 4 TDs for the other team.
Yet what's notable is that he shook it off. He and the team rallied to beat the Bears in Chicago the next week and the Eagles in Philly the next week. After the nightmare game the Giants with him at the helm to win 3 of their next 4 games to clinch a playoff birth-which they would of course ride all the way to a Super Bowl victory-an unthinkable win over the 18-0 Patriots.
So he and his team have been here before. There could be life after 0-27 to the Eagles. Whether there will be is yet to be determined. He'll start to answer this question in Dallas-certainly doesn't get any easier.
P.S. The question also is whether Philly was an aberration. It's unreal how night and day he and the offense looked Sunday night in Philly and how he and they looked 2 weeks ago on a Monday night in Washington. Did the Eagles somehow figure out the West Coast offense? After the game they explained that they came in with the expressed purpose of taking away his time-he had so much of it in the 3 straight wins. They did this by covering all his receivers so he had nowhere to get rid of the ball. Of course a big part of the problem was their lack of a running game. Philly's plan worked so seamlessly because there was no running game. Part of this was no doubt the loss of Rashad Jennings. We'll see if the Giants have some answers for this Sunday as Jennings won't be back in Dallas.
http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2014/10/rashad_jennings_out_for_giants_game_sunday_in_dallas_return_expected_after_bye_week.html
Andrew Williams' first start was rough to say the least. However, even before Jennings went down he had a couple of good games where he lead the team in rushing so who knows? That goes for this entire league.
The Eagles specifically called out Manning and recalled all the times they had beaten him in the past and they made good. I can't think of any game he and the entire offense ever looked that bad. It really was a perfectly horrible night when you add in Victor Cruz's injury. He will be gone this year and God only knows if he'll ever play at the same level.
The only good sign is the Giants have clearly learnt their lesson. No more playing the game in the papers. No more Rex Ryan-who always wins the game in the papers and then loses it come Sunday.
It's just amazing how much a team can change week to week in the NFL. Off Sunday night the Eagles look like the best team to ever play the game-at half time Coughlin groused that 'this isn't the 85 Bears we're playing'-but it might as well have been as the offense was incapable of doing anything the whole game.
If the Jets' 31-0 loss at San Diego a couple of weeks ago is the worst performance by a team all year-at least by an offense; maybe Tampa gave the worst defense in its 56-14 loss to the Falcons in week 3-this game by the Giants was a close second.
Some teams can come back from this. The Pats certainly did from their 27 point loss to the Chiefs 3 weeks ago. The Bengals were a lot less impressive following their 26 point loss to the Patriots. Often this is the kind of game that really tests a team, tests a quarterback.
I should say that Manning's words Monday on the Giants being true to Cruz and giving him the kind of effort he would have been proud of was great. I have to point out that Manning has been here before and come back. I must admit that in this game he and the offense looked about as bad as a QB and an offense can look in the NFL. Still, Eli is the man to come back from a terrible performance. I still remember the first Super Bowl year for him and the Giants back in 2007.
I always remember a home game against Minnesota in November that year, though. It's hard for a QB to look worse than Eli did that day. He threw 4 interceptions, including three pick 6s-interceptions returned for TDs. The 4th interception was run back to the Giants' 6th yard line and run in on the very next play so that's really 4 pick 6s; I mean that's literally 4 TDs for the other team as the Giants lost 41-13 at home-the margin of defeat was his 4 TDs for the other team.
Yet what's notable is that he shook it off. He and the team rallied to beat the Bears in Chicago the next week and the Eagles in Philly the next week. After the nightmare game the Giants with him at the helm to win 3 of their next 4 games to clinch a playoff birth-which they would of course ride all the way to a Super Bowl victory-an unthinkable win over the 18-0 Patriots.
So he and his team have been here before. There could be life after 0-27 to the Eagles. Whether there will be is yet to be determined. He'll start to answer this question in Dallas-certainly doesn't get any easier.
P.S. The question also is whether Philly was an aberration. It's unreal how night and day he and the offense looked Sunday night in Philly and how he and they looked 2 weeks ago on a Monday night in Washington. Did the Eagles somehow figure out the West Coast offense? After the game they explained that they came in with the expressed purpose of taking away his time-he had so much of it in the 3 straight wins. They did this by covering all his receivers so he had nowhere to get rid of the ball. Of course a big part of the problem was their lack of a running game. Philly's plan worked so seamlessly because there was no running game. Part of this was no doubt the loss of Rashad Jennings. We'll see if the Giants have some answers for this Sunday as Jennings won't be back in Dallas.
http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2014/10/rashad_jennings_out_for_giants_game_sunday_in_dallas_return_expected_after_bye_week.html
Andrew Williams' first start was rough to say the least. However, even before Jennings went down he had a couple of good games where he lead the team in rushing so who knows? That goes for this entire league.
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