He’s looked actually good in only the last two games. Remember the season ender last year, when he threw for like 150 yards but looked like he might have some potential? That was the third game in a row he looked like that, and ditto the first two games of this season. So he had 4 “oh my god he’s the worst QB ever” games, followed by 5 “maybe he has potential” games, followed by 2 “he looked pretty good” games. But then came the bye week; the Giants are abysmal coming out of the bye. Maybe General Tom can reverse that trend, but I won’t believe it until I see it. (In fairness, we look equally bad on MNF, and we looked great in our first MNF game under Coughlin’s watch.)
We have the worst pass defense in the league, but an incredibly stout – if inconsistent – rush defense. So look for Bledsoe to get off to just as hot a start as he did last week. As far as our offense, you may be in for a long game. Burress will kill you if you don’t double him, but that shouldn’t be a huge deal if you just put 31 on Shockey all day, which would likely shut 80 down. The problem with that aproach is not only that it leaves Tiki free to run wild out of the backfield, but Toomer’s starting to show signs of life, making a couple circus catches in the past couple games. Also, we have three hungry slot receivers all vying for the #3 spot, and all have shown some falshes of ability. I’m sure you remember David Tyree from that game last season, eh? (I know he was going against a rookie, but he’s not starting in place of Hilliard this time around. Plaxico is.)
IMO, This game rests in Toomer’s hands, and the over is a mortal lock. I see it ending 35-32, but I don’t know who will win.
One point of interest about Manning: he went down for 3 weeks in the second preseason game, which clearly stunted his start this season. He may indeed be the real deal, but if he doesn’t shine this week, there will be some serious angst in the tri-state area. (No offense, but you guys aren’t exactly known as the best pass defense in the league.)
Oh, and I agree about the game of the week. Your trouncing of the Eagles was definitely my favorite game of the week, even moreso than the storybook win for Vinny and the Jets.
