November 22, 2004
Manning's second half effort not enough
The Falcon's won 14-10 although Manning's second half performance made it interesting. Carlos Emmons was flagged for a key roughing the passer penalty (questionable call) in the fourth quarter and didn't fare too well against the Falcons tight end who caught two TD passes.
Vic Carucci was unimpressed by Manning's slow start and dud finish. He also notes that Manning was only sacked once, but the Giants were very conservative on offense. This conservatism has been a criticism for a while now; stretch the field, keep the defense scared of the big play.
What amused me with Carucci's article was the blame he places on Manning for the dropped balls:
Granted, Manning wasn't helped by numerous dropped passes in the first half, but some of that was part of the learning experience, too. He will find out that he must deliver the ball in certain ways to certain receivers. He will develop better timing and rhythm with all of his pass catchers.Call me an idealist, but come on! An NFL receiver can only catch balls thrown a certain way? I wish I could say that Carucci was kidding! The receiver has to catch the ball, not drop it. Simple, but the Giants didn't do it. Posted by James Trotta at November 22, 2004 1:36 PM
Eli had two problems, today.
1. He was not consistently accurate. He wasn't always giving his guys the best possible chance to make a play. Sometimes no chance at all. Other times he'd effortlessly toss the ball to exactly the perfect location.
2. His receivers were obviously still in sink with Warner, who doesn't get rid of the ball as quickly as Manning. So he'd make an excellent throw to exactly where they should be, and they'd turn their head too late in their route and have no chance of making a grab.
If he'd been Rich Gannon his WRs would have been having their heads chewed off for most of the afternoon.
He can learn to be more accurate, but if he learns to be more in time with his receivers rather than them learning to get in time with him, he's going to have some of the same problems as Warning, get sacked more and throw more INTs.
Posted by: Tom at November 22, 2004 2:57 PM