Rivers Thinking About Defense Not Eli

Tyler McConachie — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:41:59 +0000

Sundays Chargers-Giants game should be a great game. The Chargers are playing pretty good football right now and the Giants are coming off 3 straight losses and don’t plan on making it 4. But the underlying story here involves both teams starting quarterbacks.

Eli Manning was the first pick in the 2004 draft, selected by the San Diego Chargers. This wasn’t good enough for Eli or his dad, they wanted Eli to play in New York. When the Giants picked Philip Rivers with the fourth pick Eli and Archies whining got them a first class ticket to New York and Rivers was sent packing to San Diego.

When asked about the situation yesterday Rivers handled it the right way. “I’ve got my hands full with that defense and what we’re trying to get done offensively. Certainly I think he (Eli) and I being linked in that trade and being in the same draft, it’s fun as a side note, but it’s another game on the schedule. It’s a big game, but none of those things play any part in the mindset or approach.”

That was very well said by Philip. Now why can’t he conduct himself the same way on the football field as he does in front of the media?

Technorati Tags: Eli Manning, New York Giants, NFL, Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers

Coughlin Wants Leaders to Step Up

Tyler McConachie — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:23:59 +0000

New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin said today that the leaders on this team need to step up and pull this team out of a 3 game losing skid. Coughlin is right when he says team leaders needs to step up, referring to guys like Antonio Pierce and Eli Manning. But maybe these guys aren’t the leaders that Coughlin thinks they are.

Eli Manning plays good when everyone else around him does, and right now he’s surrounded by inexperience at receiver. He’s not getting a lot of help from his running game either, Brandon Jacobs isn’t living up to the hype he creates for himself.

Antonio Pierce is another guy who can’t live up to his own hype. These guys need leaders to be leaders and the Giants just don’t seem to have any. There is a lot of young talent on that team but the lack of true veteran leadership is showing. It’s time for guys like Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck to step up and be leaders, these are the guys they need to start filling that role.

New York can’t afford to keep sliding, not with the way Dallas and Philadelphia are playing. Coughlin knows this and he’s trying to create a sense of urgency for his players, which is probably what they need. The law of averages says they come out and win against San Diego this week. If they don’t they could be in for a disappointing finish to their season.

Technorati Tags: Antonio Pierce, Eli Manning, Justin Tuck, New York Giants, NFL, Osi Umenyiora, San Diego Chargers, Tom Coughlin

Gridiron Insight » Eli Manning

Rivers Thinking About Defense Not Eli

Coughlin Wants Leaders to Step Up