Letters to the Editor: December 19, 2012
Eddie V. writes:
I was very surprised that the Giants never went to the no-huddle. I know the coaching staff seems to think that it limits the range of offensive plays but Eli seems to really thrive when the pace is picked up. Speaking of that, I have consistently noticed the difference in the pace of the Giants vs. their opponents in getting a play called and getting up to the line of scrimmage. Do you have any thoughts on these issues? Thank you.
Eddie, the Giants put themselves in a 14-0 hole early in the game and had to play catch-up till the final buzzer. That’s not the best of circumstances to whip out the no-huddle. The no-huddle isn’t the answer to the problems here. The answer is to take better care of the ball and make smarter decisions with it.
Regarding the play calling and getting the ball snapped, this has been an on-going problem with this offense for years now. I’m not sure if it’s because the terminology is too complicated or if Eli is making numerous adjustments until the last minute, but again, this is nothing really new with this offense and it doesn’t appear to be anything that’s going to change any time soon.
Kevin L writes:
While it is commendable that you try to see beyond the rhetoric, you are not the only media member out there. The truth is earlier this year Brady had quite a few bad games. Threw quite a few interceptions. Lost to Arizona and Seattle. Every quarterback has bad games yes, but everything is perspective. Brady’s bad games are let go while Eli’s seem to be cumulative. People seem to forget this is the same defense Peyton threw three interceptions against. The truth is throughout this year Eli has been playing with somewhat of a handicap.
He’s breaking in a new tight end. Hakeem Nicks has been at varying stages of effectiveness, the run game is hit and miss. And the Giants are one of these teams that when they go bad even fundamentally simple things are not executed. He gets no help from his team. Missed field goals, false starts, fumbles, drops. How often do you find the Patriots, even when Brady doesn’t play well, look like the keystone cops the way the Giants do so often.
You ever wonder why the Giants looked better at times without Hakeem this year? It’s because at least the replacement can get relatively open. Eli can get the timing down because he practices all week. Whereas Hakeem can’t practice, the timing is just off and he struggles on certain routes to get separation. So it limits the effectiveness of one his outlets. The truth of it is that even though Eli is not perfect I’ve never seen a quarterback who has to overcome not only the opponent but his own team more than Eli Manning other than maybe Tony Romo.
Kevin, is Brady’s team in the playoffs? Did they squander away opportunities that cost them the division? Yeah, every team has bad losses. Every quarterback has a day they’d like to forget.
I’m not dumping on Manning, but I think you have to allow that he’s had more than a few poor showings this year, some of which have been uncharacteristic at that. And hasn’t Brady been without his tight ends, whom you might argue is as valuable to him as Nicks is to Manning, this year at various times?
You know from reading this forum (I hope) that I’ve been a big Manning supporter. When everyone was dumping on him earlier in his career, I was the one constantly telling people that he would work out, that he’d probably make some people forget about Phil Simms. I stand by that.
But I don’t think he’s had as good of a year last year for whatever the reason, and you can make all the excuses you want for that. The fact is that some of his throws and decisions have been horrible – and that’s not on missing a healthy Nicks, either.
