For a No. 1 pick, Eli's a real zero
Hits bottom & little else
BY RALPH VACCHIANO
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
BALTIMORE - Tom Coughlin, a coach not known for his patience, showed plenty of it yesterday. For about three hours he watched his prized young quarterback take an emotional and physical beating, hoping Eli Manning would turn his day around. He resisted the urge to bench him until late in the fourth quarter.
By then it was apparent he had no other choice.
"I gave him every opportunity to work his way through it," Coughlin said. "It was obvious at one point it was not going to happen today."
In truth, it was obvious very early in the Giants' 37-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens that yesterday was not going to be Manning's finest hour. His first two passes were nearly picked off, and his third one was - one of two interceptions he threw before halftime. Overall he completed four of his 18 passes for 27 yards. His quarterback rating was a well-deserved 0.0.
The worst part of it, though, was what happened after Manning was benched. Kurt Warner, who hasn't played since he was benched after his last start Nov. 14, came in with 6:07 remaining in the game and - with the Ravens' first-team defense still in the game - immediately led the Giants (5-8) to their first touchdown in 13 quarters. And in two drives and 3:14 of playing time, Warner obliterated Manning's numbers, completing six of nine passes for 127 yards.
Did someone say "quarterback controversy"? Not Coughlin. He immediately announced that Manning, for better or for worse, will start the Giants' next game, Saturday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
As if he could be any worse.
"I'm struggling right now," Manning said. "I've got to find a way to get out of it and play better."
Manning also worried that his poor play - he has completed 38.2% of his passes (42 of 110) and has a quarterback rating of 33.8 while starting his career at 0-4 - might be causing his teammates to lose confidence in him. "I don't know if I've lost that or not," he said. "I haven't proved anything to them."
That may be true, but his teammates - all of whom have a personal stake in the Giants' six-game losing streak - haven't helped his situation. The defense was terrible again, giving up 169 rushing yards and allowing Ravens quarterback Kyle Boller (18 of 34, 219 yards) to throw for four touchdowns. And Tiki Barber (19 carries, 55 yards) revisited some old bad habits, losing his first two fumbles of the year.
"I don't think anybody wearing a Giants uniform has lost confidence in Eli any more than they've lost confidence in anybody else," center Shaun O'Hara said. "There's so many things going on here beyond his control."
"The part that stands out to me is nobody around him stepped up and made plays," Warner said. "That's what you have to do."
The lack of stepping up began on the opening kickoff, which was fumbled by running back Derrick Ward - one of six turnovers by the Giants, a number Coughlin called "repugnant." That led to Boller's first touchdown pass and put Manning in an immediate 7-0 hole. The Giants' next series ended with Barber's first fumble, which led to a Ravens field goal. Then came the first of Manning's two interceptions and the nightmare was on.
The Ravens (8-5) built a 17-0 lead before anything good happened to the Giants - Osi Umenyiora's 50-yard return of a fumble that cut the Giants' deficit to 17-7. But even that excitement was short-lived since the Ravens added 10 more points in the final 2:43 of the half to take a 27-7 lead.
It was 37-7 Ravens - close to the 34-7 beating the Ravens gave the Giants in Super Bowl XXXV - when Manning appeared to hit rock bottom. In the midst of a 1-for-7, 6-yard second half, he fumbled the ball after faking a handoff to Barber with 3:49 left in the third quarter. Almost immediately, Warner began warming up.
But Coughlin decided to give the $45 million kid three more series against a Ravens' defense that was shifting so much it was even confusing some of the Giants' veterans and had Manning "truly tied up to the point where physically he couldn't perform," Coughlin said.
Manning responded to the temporary vote of confidence by going 0-for-3 and not picking up a first down.
"I knew it was going to be tough to come in here and play," Manning said.
"When you're playing at the highest level things are going to be difficult, (but) you never expected it to go like this."
"This was a hard day," Coughlin added.
"Unfortunately some times there are days like this when you're a young guy trying to figure it out."
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/footb ... 3917c.html
Couldn't agree more. Right on!