This isn’t going to be one of my long winded rants at all.  Short. Simple. To the point. It’s time… Hey Eli time to Mann up!

Please take 5 min and read this from Pro Football Focus

Did you read that shit??…How bout that?…Let us refresh…

Pro Football Focus gave Manning a grade of +1.2, including +1.1 in the passing game? That grade, incidentally, was tied with for the fifth-best grade given out by PFF for a quarterback in Week 1. Let’s look deeper and find out the reason for the solid grade. PFF has helped us out here with an ‘Outside The Box’ piece on Manning’s play, in which PFF’s Steve Palazzolo writes “his performance wasn’t as bad as his 4.9 yards per attempt and 53.0 passer rating would indicate.”

Bet the moron that burnt his Manning jersey feels like a douche right about now huh?

Now I love me some PFF.  If you read my articles you know I will reference them in terms of grading a player and his performance quite frequently.  However, in this instance you can take the numbers and shove ’em up your ass.

Am I happy that Eli graded out well and seems to have a better grasp of the offense then we thought at around 10:30 on Monday night?  Yes.

Do I now give him a pass?  No.

See the way I see it, Eli isn’t responsible for not only his play, he is responsible for the entire offenses performance.

James, how can one man be responsible for 10 other players and how they perform?

Simple.  He is the quarterback.

There I things I love about Manning. I love how tough he is, how the bigger the game, the bigger the moment, the bigger he plays. I love how he carries himself with class, how he stands up and takes every criticism and finger pointed at him and doesn’t blink.

This Manning started from the bottom and now he’s here. He went from being called “Eli The Terrible” to a two time Super Bowl MVP.  He took down handsome Tom Brady and the Patriots twice. The only NY Giants QB to win 2 Super Bowls.

And then there are things I do not love about Eli.

It is time for Eli Manning to Mann Up!

This offense needs a wake up call stat. And not from Victor Cruz who dances better then he catches passes or gets open lately. Not from Reuben Randle who can’t run anything close to correct route. Not from Odell Beckham Jr. who can’t even run.  Not from the swiss cheese offensive line.  They need a wake up call from their Quarterback.

It is time for Eli to light ’em up….and I’m not talking about the scoreboards.  I’m talking about his teammates.

Obviously, at least according to PFF, who is a more than reliable source, Eli is doing his part.  Other parties are not. Now does Eli need to throw these guys under the bus in the media?  No.

But laying into the next guy who fucks up in front of 55,000 Giants fans today when the Giants take on the Cardinals might get him a standing ovation.  The sleep-walking going on by these players is unacceptable.  Players not blocking, receivers not turning around for the ball and when they do, they drop it, and then have the nerve to ask for more targets…

Sound the alarm Eli…if you don’t right this ship we will be lost in the Big Blue Sea.

The inmates are running the asylum Eli and it is time to take a page out of Nurse Ratched’s book in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and serve up some “medication time.”

It is time to grab a guy by the facemask and put everyone on notice that missing a block, dropping a pass and running a wrong route is no longer going to be tolerated.  It is time for the players to be held accountable and the only one that can do it is you Eli.  We are holding you responsible this whole time aren’t we?…We criticize you, blame you and burn your jersey don’t we?

It is time for you to get mad Eli. And it is ok to do so Easy E.  I don’t know how you haven’t exploded already…but it is time for Mount Manning to erupt.

If you have to embarrass Randle, Cruz or the schmuks who are blocking for you so be it.

People are coming after you Eli.  The fingers are pointing and the eyes are staring at you, and Eli, if looks could kill?…

Fight Eli.  Curse Eli. Make people uncomfortable Eli.  Sometimes a QB needs to go off on people and I for one believe that this is exactly what this team needs.  There is no edge, no passion…no heart, and it is sickening watching this offense.

It is time for our 2 time Super Bowl MVP to reinvent himself. The Giants are missing something on the offensive side of the ball…some may say talent, I say it’s fire. Some of the most talented teams fall flat on their faces.  Sometimes the right cast of characters, no matter the talent, can come together and make a run if they possess some passion, heart and fight.

We know you got it inside Eli, but it’s time to let it out and see if you can turn this clusterfuck we call an offense around starting today at 1pm.

 GIANTS GAME DAY PREDICTION:

Giants 23 Cardinals 20

Enjoy the game and as always Bleed Big Blue!!!!

The post Hey Eli Time To Mann Up first appeared on Bleedbigblue.com.

On April 24, 2004, the landscape of the NFL changed completely. Because of this famous draft, entire franchises changed their foundation. With the first pick, the San Diego Chargers selected Ole Miss product and younger brother of Peyton, Eli Manning. With the fourth pick in the draft, the New York Giants selected NC State product Phillip Rivers. Apparently disillusioned with the pick, Eli Manning was traded just minutes after being drafted. Giants GM Ernie Accorsi traded Rivers to the Chargers for Manning, as well as three picks (in which the Chargers drafted Kicker Nate Kaeding, Linebacker Shawne Merriman, and the other was traded to TB for Offensive Lineman Roman Oben). Ten years later, the glaring question still remains… Which team got the better end of the deal?

In terms of pure statistics, Manning’s completion percentage is lower, his passer rating is lower and he has thrown many more interceptions than Rivers. Rivers has been much more consistent throughout his career and had a significantly better season than Manning in 2013. But, we are not just judging statistics. As the great Vince Lombardi said, “winning is everything.”

Rivers is a good, maybe great, quarterback. Is it his fault that the Chargers have been nothing special the past few seasons? Probably not. However, his teams are 4-5 in the playoffs and that his passer rating dips from 95.6 to 79.2 in those nine games. In the playoffs, Manning has a record of 8-3, numerous fourth-quarter comebacks, the all-time record for most passing yards in a single postseason (1219 yards in 2011), a passer rating of 89, and, most notably, 2 Super Bowl MVP’s.

This is what separates Manning from Rivers. Manning’s knack for clutch plays allows him to thrive in big games, while Rivers crumbles under pressure. Rivers does have the edge numbers-wise during the regular season, but he does not have the postseason prowess or the championships that Manning has. It seems like Manning rises during the playoffs and Rivers sinks. Although the Chargers received other important pieces in the deal with the draft picks they acquired, it did not lead to rings. In a league where winning is everything, there is one stat that matters: since 2004 when these quarterbacks were drafted, the Giants have two Super Bowl victories, and the Chargers have none. Therefore, the Giants got the better end of the deal.

The post Eli Manning and Phillip Rivers: A Decade Later first appeared on Bleedbigblue.com.

The NFL Draft is coming along with its annual hope and anticipation that it brings for every team and their fan base. But I don’t talk about any team as far as I am concerned I talk about THE team, The New York Giants. It was ten years ago where I was there to witness the New York Giants draft the best quarterback in team history, Eli Manning.

Now recently it has been reported that Eli is having surgery on his ankle and it goes to show that maybe one day he could be injured or maybe he won’t be the lifetime QB for the Giants. Should the Giants look for his eventual replacement or at least a plan B if the NFL’s active iron man does not continue the streak? Is Curits Painter the person you are confident in? (lol. Sorry I had to laugh at that one) Do you think they can develop Ryan Nassib? Or is that person not on the roster yet?

I ask you to not worry about what has not happened yet. We have no reason to believe that Eli will not be starting week 1 and every game next season. That assumption should be a big part of his legacy, which is what I want to explore/ celebrate because it is going on ten years of Eli, consistently showing up.

Eli Manning still to this day is as polarizing as he was back then when he was refusing to go to San Diego and seemed to just want to be a New York Giant from the start. He was not scared of the spotlight of New York and the scrutiny that he knows he would have to face. Eli has a quiet confidence, being a leader with his actions showing his teammates to not get too high or low with moments/mistakes on the field because focus and a full game’s effort is needed for a win, just follow him there.

Eli is the New York Giants all-time leader in all the passing stats that matter along with the major stat being Most Super bowl MVPs by a Giant. Along with the being the NFL’s active iron man at 162 starts and counting.

As great as all these accomplishments are, still Eli is not respected in the league like he should be (granted it is hard to make this argument after last year, it was just a bad year overall for the whole team). Eli was drafted with a solid QB class when 4 were taken in the first round (Phillip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger, J. P. Losman) and 3 are still in the league with Pro Bowl appearances while 2 have multiple Super Bowl wins (Eli, Ben) and Eli is the only one that has a Super Bowl MVP actually 2.

Even with this obvious evidence, what QB is better when you watch shows on any sports network such as ESPN it seems like the consensus is that Rivers and Roethlisberger are head and shoulders better. Now I admit with Big Ben there should be a comparison that is close but Eli has not had the off field baggage that Ben has had and lets be honest Ben was horrible in his first Super Bowl win.

Edge: Eli

Phillip Rivers was technically drafted by the Giants but was immediately traded to the Chargers for Eli (Giants also gave up the draft picks that ended up being Shawne Merriman and Nate Kaeding) and I would still take that trade all day since it meant 2 Super Bowl wins and counting for the Giants. Now this comparison is the one that frustrates me because I do not understand how Rivers always seems to get the edge over Eli when critics are talking even though there is nothing that backs that stance up other than some stats but stats can be manipulated. So I will try to state my argument.

They say Rivers is more accurate from stats I have seen its like 63 percent to Eli’s 58. Is that a huge difference and lets be honest how many of Rivers throws were to Tomilson, Sproles, and Gates over the years. If most of his throws were to those guys how long was he actually throwing the ball down the field? Eli takes chances we know that so his percentage will be lower and he passes mainly go to WRs that are down the field. I will use this poker analogy you can’t win what you don’t put in the middle.

Eli pushes everything into the middle sometimes it pays off 2 Super bowls and sometimes it doesn’t but he is trying. Rivers 0 Super bowl appearances and how many times were the Chargers the favorites to comes out of the AFC or at least in the top 3 since Rivers has been there. When the Giants won the Super bowls were they even favored to win the NFC East?

Edge: Eli (I don’t care what the stats say I am using the eye test)

This argument just gets me mad so I cut it short but any Rivers fans you are welcome to find me and debate me on twitter.

The point of this article is this, we as New York Giants Fans are lucky, Eli is our QB. Whether he is frustrating you by throwing an INT or he orchestrating another 4^th quarter comeback, you know he will be playing and trying his best to win the game. That is all we can ask from him because I can careless about his stats there is only one thing that matters, who is getting the W.

Are there better QB’s in the league, of course there is, I can’t really argue that point. But Eli wanted to be a QB for the New York Giants from the start and hopefully all the way to the end. In that time span I know what I get from Eli (risk taker, winner, and will always show up), and I know what I won’t get (off field issues, me first player, and taking off plays).

This season seems to be shaping up for Eli to show the critics why he was the 1 overall pick ten years ago and that day ten years ago will be celebrated by me because I am not looking forward to the day that Eli stops showing up.

The post Elite and Reliable first appeared on Bleedbigblue.com.

Hello Bleed Big Bluers and I hope you all enjoyed your Holidays. As we get set to watch another team celebrate in our stadium a month from now, we are left to wonder what will happen to our Giants. Which way the franchise will go from here is yet to be determined, between the draft, free agency and the letting go of our own players there is Big Blue change headed this our way.

We can sit here and talk draft options, free agent targets and who should stay and who should go, but we have plenty of time for that. Let’s talk about Eli for a minute, shall we.

The Giants are tight against the 2013 NFL salary cap of $123 million. At the beginning of the season, they had six projected starters playing in the last year of their current deals. The NFL salary cap for 2014 is expected to be in the $126.3 million range, according to the NFL Network’s Albert Breer.

Manning counted $20.9 million against the salary cap this season. That was by far the most of any starting quarterback, according to Spotrac.com. Detroit’s Matthew Stafford was the second highest at $17.8 million.

Let that sink in…

Eli is scheduled to make another 20.4 million next year..

What the Giants need to do right now, before anything else, is restructure Eli’s contract. 20.4 million is ridiculous, I love him, but he ain’t worth 20 million. No one is.

Money against the cap limits you in other areas, and the Giants were as limited as they come this year. Paying that much to Eli makes you take gambles at other positions, offensive line, linebacker, running back, the whole team suffers in the long run. Paying Eli that money is bad business, not restructuring his deal right now is worse.

The Giants have all the leverage now. Eli is coming off one of his worse seasons and the time to lock him up is now. If you wait and Coughlin and Eli pull off another magic act next year, you would be looking at Eli with three rings and all the bullets in his gun looking for a new contract.

Resigning him now does two things…

1. Provides you with anywhere from another 6-8 million to spend this season in free agency.

2. It makes Eli the Giants QB for life.

And he deserves just that. This season was not Eli’s fault. Eli has shown time and time again, when surrounded by a TEAM, he can lead them to greatness. He however, is not great enough to carry the whole TEAM. And that is not a dig at Easy E. Not a lot of QB’s can carry a team and make up for lack of talent at other key areas.

I trust in Mara, Reese, Coughlin and Eli to recognize this and make lowering his cap number a priority, and in turn by lowering that number maybe we get back to raising the number of wins for our Big Blue 2014 campaign. In the end, the “w’s” are all that really matter anyway.

FREE AGENT TARGETS — I don’t play fantasy football at playoff time, so instead of Fantasy Plays this week — I give you my wish list for Giants free agency…

1. Ben Tate – Running Back – Texans — Tate is a diamond in the rough. Playing behind Arian Foster is hard but Tate time and again showed if given the opportunity can play at a very high level. This would be a Giants sized steal.

2. Vontae Davis – Corner Back – Colts — He allowed just 50.6 percent of the passes thrown his way to be completed for 560 yards. He did allow eight touchdowns to go with only one interception, but also managed to break up 11 passes.

3. Alex Mack – Center — Browns– Mack is a two-time Pro Bowl player who has never missed a game since being selected in the first round (21st overall) of the 2009 draft.

4. Jon Beason – Linebacker — Where Beason really made an impact was against the run. For the month of November, the Giants’ run defense ranked no lower than 11th and no higher than seventh.

5. Jimmy Graham — TE — Saints — Ok so this probably won’t happen. Odds are Graham never makes it to free agency, however, this is worth monitoring. Crazier things have happened and luring Graham away from the Saints with a big contract would be money well spent for a playmaker with a scary ability to create mismatches all over the field. Read this article by Jason La Canfora, CBS Sports NFL Insider and dream Big Blue dreams. Anything is possible.

PLAY-OFF PICKS AGAINST THE SPREAD —

REGULAR SEASON — 47 – 46 – 4 –Finished above .500 and ready for the playoffs —

Chiefs -1 over the Colts — Usually love home dogs in the play-offs but call it another one of those gut feelings. CHIEFS 23 Colts 20

Saints +3 over the Eagles — I know Brees is on the road, and I don’t care. SAINTS 27 Eagles 23

Bengals -7 over the Chargers — Cincy D is too good at home, and Chargers traveling east for a 1pm start with season on the line is not good. BENGALS 34 Chargers 13

Packers +3 over the 49ers — Aaron Rodgers is back and the 49ers gave up 400+ yards to Carson Palmer last week. Discount-Double Check — PACKERS 27 49ers 21

Enjoy the games and a Happy and Healthy New Years to you all …. and as always, Bleed Big Blue.

The post To Extend Eli Manning Or Not? first appeared on Bleedbigblue.com.

What type of desperation mode should the Giants be in? Starting 0-3 for the first time in Coughlin’s NY coaching career, which means most of these players have never been in a hole like this… Except Myers, he was on the Raiders.

Kansas City, with Alex Smith and the Walrus at the helm, have started 3-0 for the first time in who knows how many years. In the preseason, when the schedules were released, I’m sure Giants fans were happy to mark this one down as a W and to put Andy Reid into place. It’s not looking so hot right now.

The only thing I can say about the Giants is that the have to fire their O Line and D Line coaches. It is absolutely miserable to watch the big men play in blue. Zero pressure in opposing QB’s, fewer sacks by our whole team then some individual players have. Eli is munching dirt the entire game. It’s disgusting. If the big men don’t show up, the games will continue to get ugly early and often. And Eli, holy hell he looks awful, when you have more picks than td’s you know it’s a bad season.

Let’s hope the Giants can put a stop to this madness, give KC their first L and get Big Blue’s first W. Otherwise it might just be downhill from here.

The post New York Giants Desperation Mode first appeared on Bleedbigblue.com.

Bamboozled. Hoodwinked. Fleeced. Suckered. Confused. Embarrassed. Dry-Heaving.

Just some of the ways I was feeling last Sunday as our Giants shit the bed.

Holy Ray Handley Batman!!

Do you remember in American Wedding, the third installment of the American Pie series, when Stiffler is in the club? Remember what “The Stiffmeister” says when he realizes he is in a gay club? He’s told to take another look around, and when he does Stiffler responds as only he can, with a hilarious “What the fuck is going on?”

That’s how I felt on Sunday. “What the fuck is going on?” …”Who are these guys?” and the most daunting question of all…”What next?”

It was gorgeous Sunday, the sun was shining, we had a nice crisp fall breeze in the air and I was surrounded by good friends with football coming on. Perfection. We were laughing, busting balls about our fantasy football rosters and we fully anticipated having a great day. Then the game started.

Silence.

I can’t speak for all the Giants fans that were present, as out of all my buddies I would say that I am by far the most emotionally attached to the outcome of each game, but I was numb.

Now let me say this, I am not a fan that expects my team to win every game. Sometimes in the NFL a loss during the course of a season can be a good thing for a team to experience. It can help them grow as a team. A tough loss can make a team come together and give said team a chip on their shoulder moving forward. Let me be clear, this was not one of those games for our Giants. This was a disgrace to the Giants organization, the Giants fans, the GM, coaches and most of all the players. If this is not the turning point I am terrified to see what might be.

I purposely did not go anywhere near a computer to write about this team until today. I waited until Friday to write this piece so I can clearly put into perspective what happened last week and to try to put a positive spin on things going into Kansas City this Sunday. I am struggling to find the Big Blue lining on this ominous cloud. I’ve listened to Carl Banks, Tom Coughlin, Antrel Rolle, Eli Manning, Justin Tuck and Will Beatty all week long on how to fix our Broken Big Blue Bus as it heads for Kansas City on an quarter tank of gas and donuts for tires.

My response to what they are all saying?… Shut Up!!

You know how to fix this team? Here is how you do it. You get these players to look in the mirror. You question their pride and commitment to each other and the organization that puts food on their tables.

You take this whole team into a room. You sit them down in front of a big screen TV and you play literally 2 minutes of video from the Lawrence Taylor documentary that was on ShowTime this week. You fast forward it until the 47 minute mark and let it play until the 49 minute mark. 2 minutes to change 3 weeks, and maybe a season.

You show them what it means to wear the Giants jersey. You show them what it means to where the N.Y. on their helmets. You show them what Supermen do to get to play on Super Sunday. You show the naive and younger Giants who has paved the way and you remind the older regime who have seem to have forgotten.

You show them the video of that Monday night in New Orleans in the winter of 1988. When LT carried his team like JPP wishes he could.

You show them the highest paid defensive player in the league at the time, rocking back and forth in excruciating pain on the sidelines as trainers are trying to put a protective sleeve around his shoulder to limit its

movement.

LT played with a severely torn pectoral muscle that night. Now a days, players miss seasons for that type of injury. LT missed a couple of plays.

Show that to Tuck and then remind Mr. Tuck that LT did this while making one million a year. Tuck is making 4.5 million this season which raises two questions, Why can’t Tuck show that he has a pulse? And what the hell would Lawrence Taylor be worth today??

Let Will Beatty watch as LT is foaming at the mouth to get back onto the field to fight for his hurt teammates. Phil Simms and Carl Banks were hurt that night and LT willed his undermanned team with his effort as if to say, “get on my torn shoulder and I will carry you.”

7 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, one torn pectoral muscle and a rolled ankle. Two all pro teammates hurt, on the road… Giants win 13-12.

“I’ve never played in a game that painful. They had to strap it to my body because my deltoid was torn. I just played off of adrenalin and emotion.” LT states during the 2 minutes of film, and then he closes the short piece about that night in the Bayou by saying something that has stuck with me since I watched it on Monday afternoon. LT finished by saying, “I don’t know if I would have done that for any other coach other than Bill Parcells.”

Adrenalin? Emotion? Fighting for your head coach? That actually sounds like a football team.

Then you turn the TV off. Turn to look all 53 “men” dead in the face and ask simply, “Now what would you do for your team mates…and your head coach?”

Leave them sitting in shame and silence. Sometimes all the talk is just that, talk.

No one can fix this except the players. It’s on them.

I don’t mind losing a hard fought contest, you win some, you lose some. However, playing without heart, passion and toughness are simply unacceptable.

For 10 years now Tom Coughlin has coached this team and gave his blood, sweat and tears to do it. Through good times and bad times he has not wavered. He tweaked his personality for the better of the franchise and the team he leads. One thing Tom Coughlin gives every game, of every week, of every season, is effort. Considering what Coach Coughlin and his family went through last week, he and his family did not deserve to win the game in Carolina, he just deserved to have his team fight for him. The way he has fought for them for the last decade of his life.

Giants how can you be so heartless?

I’m 36 years old. I still play football on Sunday mornings.

On Sunday’s I drive an hour to meet up

with anywhere between 10 to 20 guys, ranging from 18 to 40 years of age. We play for free. For the love of the game. We play in the rain, wind, snow, ice, it doesn’t matter, we just play. For two hours I have no worries at all, hakuna matata. We talk trash and run around like children do, forgetting all of life’s drama for just a fleeting moment of peace. Guys get hurt, they play. Guys get cut and bleed, they play. Guys get yelled at by their wives…they play, and then go out drinking afterward.

We live for it, the laughs, the camaraderie, the exercise…lol. I find myself running around and throwing my body around like I used to 20 years ago, and no matter how sore I am on Monday mornings, I will be out there like a kid in a candy store next Sunday. With a bounce in my step and a gleam in my eye. Nothing to play for except the satisfaction of playing.

The day before Thanksgiving last year, I sliced my knuckle on my throwing hand with a butchers knife at work. I got some stitches that night and against doctors orders played football Thanksgiving morning, quarterbacking my team to a Turkey Bowl victory. YOLO. Later last year while diving to make a play on defense I laid out and went face first into the ice. I laid face down for a second to get my wits back about me. First thing I did was scream…”I GOT HIM!!” The 2nd…I started checking all of my extremities to make sure they were still working. Then I stood up to reveal a cut up face and a jersey full of blood. I finished playing.

Why am I telling you this? To brag? No, no one gives a shit that I play on Sundays…lol My own daughter pokes fun at me, “Don’t end up in the emergency room Dad.”

I tell you this to make a point, because this is a kids game. No matter what level you play it on. Whether it is for millions in front of millions or with friends in front of no one. This game is to be played with fire and brimstone. Emotion. Heart. Will. Pride.

Someone needs to stop talking and remind these Giants that the crime is not losing, the crime is not putting up a fight.

When LT closed his Hall of Fame speech he did it with a quote, he said “there is no crime in getting knocked down, the only crime is not getting back up again.”

Get up Giants. Get up off the mat. Fight back.

As I write this I just received an update on my phone…Baas and Snee are out for Sunday.

The way those two played against Carolina is this really a bad thing? Hell yeah it is.

Think the Chiefs care? Think again.

Next man up.

There are 2 things these Giants can do, cower or fight.

They can compete for the division or Jadeveon Clowney… it’s up to them, but make no mistake about it, talk will not do it. Excuses will not do it for them. They are going to have to do this together, all of them. They have dug the hole, and now they have to start digging themselves out. It has to happen on Sunday, no excuses.

It’s up to these Giants to reach deep inside themselves when no one thinks they can, to find their inner child and get back to having fun on the field. Playing with reckless abandon and emotion. Playing with a purpose and a sense of urgency. To play for the dudes standing next to you.

What good is it as a team if you can turn on the proverbial “light switch” in December to start playing better if the electric is turned off by October? Now or never!

It is up to the players to show they care about the fans who cheer for them and defend them. That they care about their classy owners that pay their over priced salaries. That they care about their general manager that scoffed at the notion that this team was not talented enough and believed in each one of these guys enough to have them on the roster. Or how about their embattled head coach that has been forced to answer for their comedy of errors while mourning the loss of his brother. It is time to show they care about the legacy of this franchise and the ghosts of Giants past, whether they are named Taylor, Simms, Huff or Mara. And most importantly, that they care about each other. That they will fight for each other.

Last Sunday we were served a nice warm serving of humble pie a la mode. I don’t know about you Bleed Big Bluers…but I am full.

There is no crime in that, it happens in sports to the best of them. The only crime is walking off that field after ever letting an atrocity like last week ever happen again.

Lets Go Big Blue, give us some hope to Bleed Blue for.

The post Giants How Can You Be So Heartless? first appeared on Bleedbigblue.com.