Giant Football Blog

Giants lose QB coach to Tampa

Eli Manning’s development at quarterback helped earn the Giants a Super Bowl victory. Tonight, one of the men who fostered Manning’s growth earned a new job.

Mike Sullivan, the Giants quarterbacks coach the past two seasons, was hired by former Rutgers coach Greg Schiano to be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator. The move was first reported by ESPN.com.

“We are very fortunate to add someone like Mike Sullivan to lead our offensive coaching staff,” Bucs coach Schiano said in a statement released by the team to announce Sullivan’s hiring. “He is a man of character and a complete football coach who fits with the kind of football team we are building here.” (continue)

Eli joining elite company

Eli Manning will become the 19th quarterback to start multiple Super Bowls, but he wants to be on the list with 10 names: The list of quarterbacks who have not only played in but won multiple Super Bowls.

"Having seen my brother win a Super Bowl and seen him lose a Super Bowl, it's no fun just going there and not winning, I can tell you that," Manning said in his weekly spot on 1050 ESPN Radio Monday. "I don't want to experience that." 

Manning ill, but he will be ready

Eli Manning hasn’t missed practice all year. So today, when Giants right guard Chris Snee looked back and saw backup quarterback David Carr stepping to the line and making a call, he teased, “Are you sure?”

Manning left today’s practice early with what coach Tom Coughlin called a “stomach bug,” but no one in East Rutherford seemed overly concerned about the starting quarterback’s absence having an impact on Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.

“Hopefully, it is just a 24-hour deal,” Coughlin said, “and he’ll feel better (Thursday).”

Manning was in meetings all morning, and participated in the jog-through period of practice, but went inside when he felt ill after taking a few reps. Carr took over and said he took about 75 percent of the reps. (continue)

 

Manning best QB?

Eli Manning is the best quarterback in Giants history, and the fourth best quarterback left in the playoffs.

That says something about the history of the Giants on offense, but also about the work in progress that is Manning's legacy.

He is very good but not great, a star but not a superstar, a champion but not a Hall of Famer.

The cool part is this: At 31, he has plenty of time to change all that, and no time is better to get started than over the next several weeks, beginning Sunday in Green Bay.

If he can run the playoff table as he did four seasons ago, in the process potentially eliminating Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Tom Brady, he will rise to a new level, one that would put him in the running for the ultimate status:

Best quarterback in the Manning family.

This sort of discussion makes Eli cringe, despite that famous radio interview of last summer during which he took a few steps down that path. (continue)

Putting Manning into perspective

When the 2007 Giants made their Super Bowl run, it became a bit of a running gag to ask veteran center Shaun O'Hara about Eli Manning. Each week the Giants would win another playoff game, each week Manning would play better, and each week reporters would flock to O'Hara to ask about the "development," "maturity" and "progress" that the young quarterback had displayed.

It drove O'Hara crazy.

So in a way, it's probably a good thing that he wasn't around the team this year. But just for old time's sake, what do you think of what Eli's done this season, Shaun?

"This year, obviously, he just took it to a whole other level," the former Giant said. "I know I'm certainly happy for him that he went out and basically shut everybody up."

From the first day of training camp in July to the first day of the postseason Sunday, this Giants team has been all about Manning. There have been subplots and diversions. We saw Victor Cruz develop, we saw Justin Tuck fight through injuries, we saw JPP turn into a monster. But above all of that was the cool, confident, calculating quarterback driving the team as far as he could take it. (continue)

Manning and Jason Pierre-Paul named to pro bowl

Five years ago, Jason Pierre-Paul was a senior in high school, learning how to play football for the first time. Now he's got a spot on the NFC's 2012 Pro Bowl team.

Pierre-Paul, the Giants' sensational second-year defensive end, was named to the NFC team on Tuesday night, along with Giants QB Eli Manning. They were the lone representatives of the team that will compete for the NFC East championship on Sunday night.

The Giants also had two second-alternates - receiver Victor Cruz and G Chris Snee. Cruz, a crowd favorite as an undrafted free agent out of UMass, shattered Amani Toomer's single-season franchise record for receiving yards this year. He currently has 1,358, third in the NFL behin the Patriots' Wes Welker and Detroit's Calvin Johnson. (continue)

Eli has no TDs this preseason

It’s been a while since Eli Manning has had a preseason without a touchdown. Quick research revealed it was 2004, his rookie season.

It’s also been a while since the Giants have gone without a deep completion up the middle of the field in the preseason. Based on a more inexact science — i.e. Tom Coughlin’s memory — it doesn’t seem like there’s ever been such a drought in the Manning/Coughlin era.

“You bring up a really good point,” Coughlin said during a conference call with reporters Tuesday, one day after Manning and the passing game struggled against the Jets. “This is a preseason where I can’t think of us getting to the middle of the field on a play-action or anything where we had the decision after recognizing two-deep or three-deep (coverage) and making the proper adjustment. (continue)

 

Eli not ready for prime time in 17-3 loss vs Jets

Truth be told, Eli Manning did not have the best of training camps. He was very much out of sync with his receivers, misfiring on plenty of deep balls, overcooking some short passes and putting passes over the middle in places that might have gotten receivers crushed in live games.

It’s all gone underreported and underanalyzed because, well, it’s Manning and he tends to be erratic in practices. Often, it doesn’t translate to the field, so there was little concern.

Until now.

In a 17-3 preseason loss to the Jets tonight, Manning and the Giants’ passing game were shaky, as he compiled a somewhat deceptively good stat line (15-for-30 for 200 yards) while throwing a pair of interceptions, looking jumpy in the pocket and seeming to be on a much different page than his receivers. (continue)

 

Eli Manning not lacking confidence with comparison to Brady

When Eli Manning was asked on the radio Tuesday if he thought he was a "Top 10, Top 5" quarterback in the NFL, he quickly answered "Yeah, I think I am."

In fact, he might even be willing to put himself in the Top 2.

The Giants' sometimes-embattled quarterback, coming off a career-worst, 25-interception season, said he even believes he's in the same class as Patriots quarterback Tom Brady - a future Hall of Famer with three Super Bowl rings, two Super Bowl MVP trophies, two MVP trophies and six trips to the Pro Bowl. When he was asked on ESPN Radio's The Michael Kay Show if he belonged on the same tier with Brady, Manning said "I consider myself in that class."

"And Tom Brady is a great quarterback," Manning said. "He's a great player and what you've seen with him is he's gotten better every year. He started off and was winning championships and I think he's a better quarterback now than what he was, in all honesty, when he was winning those championships. (continue)

Manning and Nix get some work in

The Eli Manning Lockout Passing Camps continued touring last week at Duke University.

After training at Hoboken High School and Bergen Catholic in Oradell, Manning spent three days last week with Hakeem Nicks and rookie Jerrel Jernigan in Durham, N.C. David Cutcliffe, Manning's coach at Ole Miss, now coaches at Duke.

"Just going out and him showing me where I'm supposed to be on my route running and just teach my offense," Jernigan said. "I'm getting my timing down, getting my face in the playbook and starting to see some of the routes of stuff."

Jernigan, who was part of the organized practices at Bergen Catholic, noticed a progression from those sessions to last week's sessions. Jernigan worked on routes required of a receiver who lines up both inside and outside. (continue)