| Brian Carlton. 11th September, 2005 - 2:01 am
 On Thursday, GMs, sportswriters and team officials all grabbed their guns, for the start of another hunting season. It’s goat season again, a time when some poor sucker takes the blame for everything his team fails to do or is expected to fail at. Doesn’t matter that the season’s not a week old, you can usually find the goat early on. Forget what you’re thinking, cause it’s not Terrell Owens. Despite the drama he brings, Owens will put all he’s got out on the field and help the team win. Plus he’s not an easy catch. You think Philly fans will label him the goat? At practice they booed him and he taunted them back. Seconds later the boos turned to cheers. Plus they’ll have plenty to cheer this season. Why? Because if Owens has a bad year, his dreams of big contract land vanish with the Eagles’ playoff hopes. No, the goat this year is going to be Eli Manning.
That’s not a knock on his talent, which there’s plenty of, but rather because of people’s expectations. See, the problem here is no one’s seeing Eli when they watch him play. Giants fans are coming out wanting to see Peyton Version 2.0, a clone of last year’s MVP. But Eli’s not Peyton, he’s a different type of player. And that ladies and gents, is why he’ll be target practice when New York doesn’t hit the playoffs. It’s funny because just four years ago, the Colts were at the same place the Giants are now, hanging around 6-10 or 7-9 records, just out of contention. Then as Peyton got experience and the team started gelling, 6-10 became 10-6 and then 12-4 and you get the idea.
This will be Eli’s first full year as a starter in the NFL, but yet people expect instant results. Nothing’s changed since his days at Old Miss, he hasn’t suddenly become a bad player, but it takes people time to get used to the speed of the top league. Look at it this way, Eli tossed 9 interceptions his rookie year over nine games. Put that over a full season and it amounts to just under 17. Peyton on the other hand had 28 interceptions as a rookie. Starting to like your QB a little more Giants fans? Plus take a look at the college systems they come from. In Tennessee the pass is king. You run to set it up, but that’s it. Over at Old Miss, it was more balanced. Sure, you still passed, but not as much. That’s great preparation for the long run, helping QBs learn how to pick their spots and avoid interceptions, but not so great for short term results.
Now as to why the team’s going to fall just short, it’s simple. Peyton to Marvin Harrison didn’t happen overnight, it takes time to develop that chemistry. In New York you have a rebuilt receiving corps whose only experience for the most part with the quarterback was in preseason before he got hurt. You have changes in the running game, with new names coming in to back up Tiki Barber. Will they fit into the offense? Can the offensive line block better than last year, have they improved? And in the middle of all this, you have a quarterback starting his first full season.
Playoffs? 8-8 would look pretty good with this team. The simple fact is that Giant fans have to be patient and let this season go without bagging a trophy kill. They might make the playoffs or might finish just out. But either way, just try not to shoot down the man who will one day get you back to the big game. |
