Football News - Eli era starts early in Giant Land



2004's first overall draft pick, Eli Manning, has big shoes to fill, and big expectations this season, and he looks like he's on the right track. What shoes, you ask? The shoes of former Giant great QB Phil Simms, who led the Giants to a Super Bowl victory in 1987. Being the brother of Colts star quarterback Peyton Manning also means you need to be able to throw the ball and pull off the impossible.

Manning's performance this past Sunday afternoon against the Atlanta Falcons was average, in my opinion. He completed only 17 of 37 passes, throwing for 162 yards with 2 interceptions. His first NFL touchdown pass was caught on a short fade to Jeremy Shockey in the middle of the endzone in the 3rd quarter. However, if there was one thing the kid did right, it was evading the Falcons pressure-packed defensive line. He and his offensive line, who were last in sacks allowed coming into the game, gave up just 1 sack all game long. Manning evaded 5 sacks in all, showing his mobility and strength in the pocket. Fellow rookie DeAngelo Hall had an interception called back because of a false start penalty against his team, making Manning's line look a little better. Of course, Manning had to play in front of a national television audience in the biggest stage in all of sports, New York -- or should I say New Jersey.

Either way, the pressure was on him to perform in his NFL debut, which he did, looking at other factors of the game. Manning was originally drafted by the San Diego Chargers with the 4th overall pick, but the Chargers traded him to the Giants for their 4th overall pick, whom was Philip Rivers, their 3rd round pick, and a 1st round and 5th round pick in 2005's draft. Eli took over for the Giants after head coach Tom Coughlin elected to bench the struggling Kurt Warner, opting for Manning, who is expected to start for the Giants for the remainder of the regular season. Overall, I grade Eli Manning's start in the National Football League a C+. He showed flashes of brilliance and his strength, but he still has a lot of work to do, but he is a rookie, and afterall, rookies make mistakes.




More Stories - < Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 Next >