Blue Bolt
11-26-2006, 06:15 PM
An Erratic Manning Puts the Giants on Blue Alert
By JOHN BRANCH
New York Times - November 26, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/sports/football/26giants.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin
Selecting a quarterback with a high draft pick comes with more risks than rewards. History shows that such decisions lead to more false hopes than realized dreams, and, ultimately, to more coaches fired than Super Bowls attained.
So it should come as little surprise that Giants quarterback Eli Manning is struggling deep into his third season, raising the question that the Giants hoped — beyond reason, perhaps — had gone away.
What if?
What if Manning is merely another decent quarterback? What if the ability that he has shown so far is all the Giants will get, for however many years they put their faith in him?
Those are the unavoidable uncertainties as Manning and the Giants are losing the game against their own expectations.
“That’s just part of the deal,” Manning said. “If you’re the first pick, you’re expected to play at a high level. That’s what I’ve got to do. I’ve got to play at a high level, because that’s how this team is going to succeed.”
The Giants (6-4) prepared to play the Tennessee Titans (3-7) in Nashville today with Manning coming off his worst back-to-back performances since the first four starts of his career two years ago. His completion rate, a source of frustration for the Giants in 2005, was 65.3 percent in the first five games this season but 49.4 percent in the past five. Only one quarterback has thrown more intercepted passes.
Manning’s imperfections are dismissed when the Giants win, as they were five times in a row recently. But his struggles are highlighted when they lose, as they have done since, to the Chicago Bears and the Jacksonville Jaguars. And even when the attention shifts, as it did last week when running back Tiki Barber criticized the play calling against Jacksonville, and when Coach Tom Coughlin chastised Barber for taking his complaints to the news media, Manning cannot avoid the fallout.
Barber criticized the 12-rush to 42-pass ratio against the Jaguars. Like Coughlin, he believes that running the ball is the key to winning. It would also ease the pressure on Manning, whose performances are increasingly tied to the Giants’ championship prospects — the reason they drafted him in the first place.
“What we have to do is get the improvement, get Eli back on track,” Coughlin said.
And if the Giants do not, or if Manning simply returns to being the better-than-decent quarterback he was earlier in the season (a highly drafted quarterback’s third season is a strong indicator of how he will play the rest of his career), then the ramifications could be felt for years.
Manning’s play could affect several decisions the Giants will face: whether to extend Coughlin’s contract beyond the 2007 season; whether Coughlin shuffles any assistant coaches this off-season, particularly the offensive coordinator, John Hufnagel, and the quarterbacks coach, Kevin Gilbride; whether the replacement for General Manager Ernie Accorsi, who is retiring, is one of his disciples inside the organization or someone from outside; and whether the Giants pursue another quarterback next off-season, maybe a veteran to push Manning, if not replace him.
It is not a popular topic with the Giants, mostly because they believe the recent criticism of Manning is unwarranted.
Accorsi said Friday that he would not enter any debates about Manning or discussions about the future. Instead, he was quick to point out Manning’s 17-10 record as a starter the past two seasons (including a playoff loss) and the current standings.
A victory over the Titans would keep the Giants tied for the National Football Conference East lead with the Dallas Cowboys (7-4), who play at Giants Stadium next Sunday.
“I think he’s going to be an outstanding quarterback in this league,” Accorsi said.
If he is wrong, Accorsi will simply be the latest one who guessed incorrectly.
Of the 10 quarterbacks chosen in the top 10 in the six drafts before Manning was selected first in 2004, only one, Donovan McNabb, has been to a Super Bowl. Three are out of football.
And many head coaches and general managers have been fired by the teams that thought that spending a high pick on a franchise quarterback bought them stability.
Titans Coach Jeff Fisher found success (and a Super Bowl appearance) with Steve McNair, chosen third over all in 1995. He is trying to duplicate it with Vince Young, chosen third last April.
“It’s an imperfect science,” Fisher said, estimating the success rate at 66 percent. That may be an optimistic assessment.
The Giants acquired Manning in a monumental draft-day trade with the San Diego Chargers in 2004. The Chargers chose Manning with the first overall pick despite the insistence of his father, Archie, the former N.F.L. quarterback, that he would not play for the Chargers.
The Giants chose quarterback Philip Rivers with the fourth pick. The teams swapped quarterbacks, with the Giants tossing in other draft picks.
“This is a once-in-a-decade player,” Accorsi said on draft day, when his bold move was widely hailed. “This is a quarterback you wait for for a long time.”
Accorsi’s certainty is one reason that Manning might be analyzed more than most. Manning’s famous last name certainly raised the expectation level, too.
Add in the scrutiny of playing in New York, the Mannings’ public denunciation of the Chargers, the strong play of Rivers, the players chosen with the extra draft choices and the Super Bowl championship by the Pittsburgh Steelers and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (chosen No. 11 in 2004 and considered an alternative draft option by the Giants), and there is little room for error for Manning in New York’s court of opinion.
“You can’t worry about that,” Manning said of the pressure of being the first pick. “That was three years ago. Now it’s a matter of, you’re the starting quarterback of the team, you’re expected to play well.”
He added: “I expect that out of myself. So it’s not surprising that the fans and the media expect the same thing.”
In 2005, the Giants were 11-5 and made the playoffs, in large part because of Manning’s moxie late in tight games. Statistically, he was below a middle-of-the-pack passer, throwing a lot of touchdown passes but an unusually high number of interceptions and incompletions. His performances dipped late in the season, and he had his worst game in a 23-0 playoff loss at home to the Carolina Panthers.
But Manning squelched the doubts with a strong start in 2006. He held his own against his brother Peyton in a close loss to the Indianapolis Colts. He was nearly perfect in leading the Giants from a 17-point deficit to an overtime win against the Philadelphia Eagles, a game in which he threw for a career-high 371 yards.
His play has been checkered since, with the trend noticeably downward. The Giants averaged more than 27 points in their first six games, but about 15 points in their past four. Manning has thrown more interceptions (6) than touchdowns (5) in the past five games.
Had Manning played the entire season the way he has played the past few games, he might have been benched by now, and his future with the Giants would be debated even more — inside and outside the organization.
“We are putting all of our focus on getting Eli back on what we call on track or back on pace,” Coughlin said. “And to be honest with you, we are very, very hard on him from the media standpoint, and this may be a good, solid learning and growing experience for him.”
Coughlin has tended to spread the blame to all the players, pointing out nine dropped passes by receivers in the 26-10 loss to Jacksonville on Monday night, but he defends Manning’s mistakes less often than he used to.
Teammates believe that Manning is affected by the injuries to receiver Amani Toomer, his most trusted big-play receiver, and left tackle Luke Petitgout, which forces Barber to spend more time blocking. Barber was tied for the team lead in receptions through nine games but had one catch against the Jaguars.
“I don’t think we’ve lost our confidence in him, because we know he’s a good player,” Barber said of Manning during his weekly satellite radio show. “We just have to make sure that he focuses on those little things and give him a chance by not making it all be on his back.”
Manning has carried that burden since the day the Giants so aggressively pursued him. That was a different, simpler time — a time when Manning was viewed not as a risk, but as a reward.
By JOHN BRANCH
New York Times - November 26, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/sports/football/26giants.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin
Selecting a quarterback with a high draft pick comes with more risks than rewards. History shows that such decisions lead to more false hopes than realized dreams, and, ultimately, to more coaches fired than Super Bowls attained.
So it should come as little surprise that Giants quarterback Eli Manning is struggling deep into his third season, raising the question that the Giants hoped — beyond reason, perhaps — had gone away.
What if?
What if Manning is merely another decent quarterback? What if the ability that he has shown so far is all the Giants will get, for however many years they put their faith in him?
Those are the unavoidable uncertainties as Manning and the Giants are losing the game against their own expectations.
“That’s just part of the deal,” Manning said. “If you’re the first pick, you’re expected to play at a high level. That’s what I’ve got to do. I’ve got to play at a high level, because that’s how this team is going to succeed.”
The Giants (6-4) prepared to play the Tennessee Titans (3-7) in Nashville today with Manning coming off his worst back-to-back performances since the first four starts of his career two years ago. His completion rate, a source of frustration for the Giants in 2005, was 65.3 percent in the first five games this season but 49.4 percent in the past five. Only one quarterback has thrown more intercepted passes.
Manning’s imperfections are dismissed when the Giants win, as they were five times in a row recently. But his struggles are highlighted when they lose, as they have done since, to the Chicago Bears and the Jacksonville Jaguars. And even when the attention shifts, as it did last week when running back Tiki Barber criticized the play calling against Jacksonville, and when Coach Tom Coughlin chastised Barber for taking his complaints to the news media, Manning cannot avoid the fallout.
Barber criticized the 12-rush to 42-pass ratio against the Jaguars. Like Coughlin, he believes that running the ball is the key to winning. It would also ease the pressure on Manning, whose performances are increasingly tied to the Giants’ championship prospects — the reason they drafted him in the first place.
“What we have to do is get the improvement, get Eli back on track,” Coughlin said.
And if the Giants do not, or if Manning simply returns to being the better-than-decent quarterback he was earlier in the season (a highly drafted quarterback’s third season is a strong indicator of how he will play the rest of his career), then the ramifications could be felt for years.
Manning’s play could affect several decisions the Giants will face: whether to extend Coughlin’s contract beyond the 2007 season; whether Coughlin shuffles any assistant coaches this off-season, particularly the offensive coordinator, John Hufnagel, and the quarterbacks coach, Kevin Gilbride; whether the replacement for General Manager Ernie Accorsi, who is retiring, is one of his disciples inside the organization or someone from outside; and whether the Giants pursue another quarterback next off-season, maybe a veteran to push Manning, if not replace him.
It is not a popular topic with the Giants, mostly because they believe the recent criticism of Manning is unwarranted.
Accorsi said Friday that he would not enter any debates about Manning or discussions about the future. Instead, he was quick to point out Manning’s 17-10 record as a starter the past two seasons (including a playoff loss) and the current standings.
A victory over the Titans would keep the Giants tied for the National Football Conference East lead with the Dallas Cowboys (7-4), who play at Giants Stadium next Sunday.
“I think he’s going to be an outstanding quarterback in this league,” Accorsi said.
If he is wrong, Accorsi will simply be the latest one who guessed incorrectly.
Of the 10 quarterbacks chosen in the top 10 in the six drafts before Manning was selected first in 2004, only one, Donovan McNabb, has been to a Super Bowl. Three are out of football.
And many head coaches and general managers have been fired by the teams that thought that spending a high pick on a franchise quarterback bought them stability.
Titans Coach Jeff Fisher found success (and a Super Bowl appearance) with Steve McNair, chosen third over all in 1995. He is trying to duplicate it with Vince Young, chosen third last April.
“It’s an imperfect science,” Fisher said, estimating the success rate at 66 percent. That may be an optimistic assessment.
The Giants acquired Manning in a monumental draft-day trade with the San Diego Chargers in 2004. The Chargers chose Manning with the first overall pick despite the insistence of his father, Archie, the former N.F.L. quarterback, that he would not play for the Chargers.
The Giants chose quarterback Philip Rivers with the fourth pick. The teams swapped quarterbacks, with the Giants tossing in other draft picks.
“This is a once-in-a-decade player,” Accorsi said on draft day, when his bold move was widely hailed. “This is a quarterback you wait for for a long time.”
Accorsi’s certainty is one reason that Manning might be analyzed more than most. Manning’s famous last name certainly raised the expectation level, too.
Add in the scrutiny of playing in New York, the Mannings’ public denunciation of the Chargers, the strong play of Rivers, the players chosen with the extra draft choices and the Super Bowl championship by the Pittsburgh Steelers and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (chosen No. 11 in 2004 and considered an alternative draft option by the Giants), and there is little room for error for Manning in New York’s court of opinion.
“You can’t worry about that,” Manning said of the pressure of being the first pick. “That was three years ago. Now it’s a matter of, you’re the starting quarterback of the team, you’re expected to play well.”
He added: “I expect that out of myself. So it’s not surprising that the fans and the media expect the same thing.”
In 2005, the Giants were 11-5 and made the playoffs, in large part because of Manning’s moxie late in tight games. Statistically, he was below a middle-of-the-pack passer, throwing a lot of touchdown passes but an unusually high number of interceptions and incompletions. His performances dipped late in the season, and he had his worst game in a 23-0 playoff loss at home to the Carolina Panthers.
But Manning squelched the doubts with a strong start in 2006. He held his own against his brother Peyton in a close loss to the Indianapolis Colts. He was nearly perfect in leading the Giants from a 17-point deficit to an overtime win against the Philadelphia Eagles, a game in which he threw for a career-high 371 yards.
His play has been checkered since, with the trend noticeably downward. The Giants averaged more than 27 points in their first six games, but about 15 points in their past four. Manning has thrown more interceptions (6) than touchdowns (5) in the past five games.
Had Manning played the entire season the way he has played the past few games, he might have been benched by now, and his future with the Giants would be debated even more — inside and outside the organization.
“We are putting all of our focus on getting Eli back on what we call on track or back on pace,” Coughlin said. “And to be honest with you, we are very, very hard on him from the media standpoint, and this may be a good, solid learning and growing experience for him.”
Coughlin has tended to spread the blame to all the players, pointing out nine dropped passes by receivers in the 26-10 loss to Jacksonville on Monday night, but he defends Manning’s mistakes less often than he used to.
Teammates believe that Manning is affected by the injuries to receiver Amani Toomer, his most trusted big-play receiver, and left tackle Luke Petitgout, which forces Barber to spend more time blocking. Barber was tied for the team lead in receptions through nine games but had one catch against the Jaguars.
“I don’t think we’ve lost our confidence in him, because we know he’s a good player,” Barber said of Manning during his weekly satellite radio show. “We just have to make sure that he focuses on those little things and give him a chance by not making it all be on his back.”
Manning has carried that burden since the day the Giants so aggressively pursued him. That was a different, simpler time — a time when Manning was viewed not as a risk, but as a reward.