King on Manning and Shockey
I think I am officially worried about Eli Manning. I spent two hours last week watching coaches’ tape of the Giants’ loss to Carolina in the wild-card playoffs, and Manning was far worse than he looked on TV. And that was bad enough. I’ve been a Manning backer and I continue to be one, but let me point out a couple of things that made me wonder if he’ll ever be great. One: I’m not sure if it’s because he’s worried about getting blasted by the oncoming pass rush, but often, at the end of throws, he turns his body almost in a flinching way. Turning his body takes away some of his accuracy. If you’re a quarterback, you’ve got to know it’s vital to stand in there, in the face of any kind of pass rush, and not let that pass rush affect the ball you’re about to throw.
Two: This one is just as alarming. Some of Manning’s judgments are brutal. Early in the third quarter, backed up deep in his territory, he went back to pass, faded right slightly, and was boring a hole with his eyes through Jeremy Shockey, who was running an intermediate cross from the strong side to weak.
Manning was so obviously looking for Shockey — and this all happens within a second, so it’s hard to see while watching TV or from inside the stadium — that the Panthers’ right cornerback, Chris Gamble, sprinted down off his man and toward Shockey. And Manning can’t sense the impending doom, even with Shockey covered and a helper coming down over the top. He throws, awkwardly, across his body, and it settles into the hands of his unintended receiver, Gamble.
Manning needs to have a gut-check offseason. He needs to work on his weaknesses. Big-time.
I need to publicly thank Jeremy Shockey. A couple of weeks ago, I took a New Jersey high school tight end who’d had a brain tumor removed to see Shockey at Giants Stadium. Shockey hung with the kid, gave him a football, signed it, posed for pictures, told him to enjoy high school times because they’d be the best years of his life, and thoroughly lifted his spirits. Shockey could have mumbled a few words and moved on. Instead, he gave someone a lasting memory and some hope.
