-593x356.jpg)
"—te" is the new spelling for elite because ELI is missing.
Eli Manning, first-round Draft pick and two-time Super Bowl winner, is suffering through his worst season since his rookie year in 2004. His Giants team has lost three of their last four games and their last loss was a skunk by the Seahawks.
Eli's stats are closer to Jets rookie Geno Smith than to brother Peyton.
Some fans are whispering the unthinkable ‒ it's time to bench Manning and take a look at back-up Ryan Nassib (Syracuse).
Andrew Furman, the talent behind Bloguin's Ultimate NYG fan site will hear none of it. Manning is Mr. January and he is Mr. February, says Furman. Sadly, Eli and the Giants are not surviving September through December well.
For all of his struggles, Eli remains an upper-half quarterback in yards. He surpasses the key benchmark of seven yards per pass attempt.
In contrast, RB David Wilson's failure to thrive in the NFL hurts. The Giants normally bludgeon opponents with its running game, but they don't have a rusher listed in the top-40 running backs.
How bad is that? Raiders QB Terrelle Pryor has more yards than Giants RB Chris Brown and Pryor is benched.
Hakeem Nicks is silencing all debate about his status as a No. 1 receiver ‒ in a bad way. His return from injury is not the boost New York hoped it would be.
New York's front office has come in for criticism for failure to replenish the Super Bowl offensive line of 2011.
"The Super Bowl XLII line of Diehl, Seubert, O'Hara, Snee and McKenzie has seen three retire," says Furman. "One player has been injured in the past two seasons and is likely to retire. The last one (Diehl) is at the bottom of the Pro Football Focus rankings for offensive linemen."
"This past draft, [GM Jerry] Reese finally BELATEDLY acknowledged his problem and drafted a Tackle (Justin Pugh) in Round 1. Pugh is coming along but vs. Seattle this past weekend got beat and Manning got crunched. So he will improve, but he is still a rookie. Reese needs to protect his franchise QB at all costs and draft a left tackle in Round 1 and a stud road grader Guard in Round 2. Beatty gets moved from LT to Guard, Boothe gets moved to Center (where he has some experience) and the line is set for the next 5+ years."
Manning has the longest consecutive starting streak of any quarterback in the NFL. Furman would like to see that continue. But in a lost season, he sees no reason why Eli should remain in games during blowout losses (or wins).
Photo Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
