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Week 14: Review | Judgements
The worse the New York Giants' Eli Manning plays, the better the San Diego Chargers look.
I'm not talking about Eli's decision not to play in San Diego or his chances to cut it in the NFL. I'm talking about the trade the Giants swung with San Diego to acquire the rookie, one that involved the Giants' first-round draft pick in 2005.
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| Unless things look up for Eli Manning's Giants in the final three games, the Chargers could get a top-10 pick. (AP) |
They should. A few weeks ago it appeared the Giants were playoff contenders. That's when they were 5-2 and the surprise team of a young season. But then they lost successive games to Chicago and Arizona, coach Tom Coughlin benched quarterback Kurt Warner and, suddenly, it became a wonderful life for Chargers fans.
The Giants not only haven't won since then, they've become downright unwatchable, hitting rock bottom with Sunday's 37-14 loss to Baltimore. Manning threw for 27 yards, had two interceptions, lost a fumble and pulled a Blutarsky -- achieving a passer rating of 0.0.
For the season he's 0-4, with one scoring pass, six interceptions and a single TD drive in 46 series. That's not good, but patience, people. Brother Peyton started 0-4 in his first season, too, with three TDs and 11 interceptions -- and the Colts didn't score more than 15 points.
The big difference, of course, is that the Colts didn't sacrifice next year's draft to acquire the guy.
Remember, when the Chargers chose Manning they held him until the Giants made them an offer they couldn't refuse: their first-round pick, quarterback Philip Rivers; a third-rounder, who became kicker Nate Kaeding; and next year's first-and fifth-round choices.
Look, I don't fault the Giants for making the deal. If you have a conviction about someone, you do what you can to acquire him. But let's be honest here: A deal that looked good for San Diego eight months ago looks downright marvelous now.
Rivers did the Chargers a favor by holding out, forcing the club to start the season with Drew Brees. I don't need to remind you what he's done. Kaeding is among the AFC's leading scorers. And next year's No. 1 choice ... well, that could be the key here because it keeps improving the more Manning flounders and the Giants lose.
As it stands now, San Diego has itself a probable top-10 pick. But look into the future: The Giants finish with Pittsburgh at home, at Cincinnati and Dallas at home. Other than the Cowboys -- whom they beat with Kurt Warner as their quarterback this year -- tell me where you find a win.
I'll help. Look at San Diego's draft for next year.
Me-pinions or what we learned from this weekend
1. Fantasy-football geeks, listen up. The next time Baltimore's Clarence Moore plays someone from New York, start the guy. He has four touchdown catches this season, with two against the Jets and two against the Giants.
2. Once, I thought New England's Tom Brady was among the leading candidates for the league's MVP. Now, I'm not sure he's the MVP on his own team. He's getting squeezed by Troy Brown, the wide receiver-turned-defensive back who bailed out the Pats with an interception in the end zone Sunday. For the record, he has three, is tied for the team lead and has helped pull an injury-depleted secondary through a difficult stretch of the season.
3. The Oakland Raiders look at the Atlanta Falcons and wonder what might have been. Had Jim Mora not taken the job with the Falcons, the Raiders were prepared to make a heavy push for him. Instead, they have to suffer a 35-10 loss to Mora in the first-year head coach's most lopsided victory of the year.
4. Is it my imagination or is Dallas cornerback Terence Newman having an awful season? Every time I look up he's chasing another receiver, and Sunday it was Joe Horn who beat him for 31-yard TD. What's up with Newman? A year ago he was terrific; now he should be outfitted with an asbestos-lined jersey.
5. The more I see of Detroit's Kevin Jones the more I think the Lions got the best back in last year's draft.
6. If I'm Tampa Bay's Jon Gruden I make sure I take time to find a kicker without a curve ball next year. Imagine where the Bucs would be if they had someone who could shoot straight. Martin Gramatica couldn't make a kick longer than 22 yards after Oct. 10 and Jay Taylor, his replacement, blew a 30-yarder Sunday to cost the Bucs a chance to assume an early lead.
7. Look at the difference having tight end Todd Heap in the lineup makes to the Baltimore Ravens and quarterback Kyle Boller. Heap had two TD receptions and Boller threw for a career-best four in the Ravens' lopsided win over New York. Over the past two weeks, with Heap in the lineup, Boller is 37-for-67 for 391 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
8. An AFC wild card could be decided in Cincinnati next weekend, and I'm not talking about the Bengals. I'm talking about their opponents, the Buffalo Bills. They're one of the league's hottest teams, winning six of their last seven, producing more than 30 points in their last four games and outscoring their last four opponents 154-65, an average margin of victory of 22 points. If Buffalo can win its next two -- both against losing opponents -- it would be 9-6 and facing Pittsburgh Jan. 2. So what? So the game's in Buffalo where anything's possible in January.
9. That was one critical win for Seattle and coach Mike Holmgren. Still, I'm unsure what Holmgren's future is in Seattle. Just a feeling, but if Seahawks president Bob Whitsitt sticks around, look for Holmgren to leave. The friction between Whitsitt and Holmgren is so intense that if one stays, the other will go -- and look for Holmgren to pull the plug if it's Whitsitt who stays.
10. Detroit's Roy Williams isn't the best rookie receiver. Tampa Bay receiver Michael Clayton is, and I submit Sunday's one-handed scoring catch as evidence. All Clayton has done this year is produce 70 receptions -- including a season-high nine on Sunday -- for 988 yards and four TDs. He also has 15 catches of 20 or more yards.
My top five
1. Pittsburgh ... Big Ben strikes 11
2. New England ...
Biggest threat to future? Notre Dame
3. Philadelphia ...
Eagles find home for NYC's displaced hawks
4. San Diego ...
When you're 10-3, life's a beach
5. Indianapolis ... Peyton
Place out of reruns; plays to packed houses
My bottom five
1. Cleveland Browns ... See them now in "House of Flying Daggers"2. Arizona ... Memo to box office: The playoff tix stop now
3. Eli Manning ... Only 45 TD passes, and he catches Big Brother
4. San Francisco ... Petitions league to play Cards every week
5. Chris Chandler ... Upon further review, why not Jamie Martin?
You make the call
It's about this time when we start the polling for coach of the year awards, but let's make this ballot about NFL coaches a little different. I don't care who you think is best; what I want to know is which coach you would most like to play for.
Proof that you can play this game
You're the Minnesota Vikings, you have the ball first-and-10 at your opponent's 20 with just over two minutes to play, and you're down by four. You need a touchdown, so what do you do? Right. I'd call Randy Moss' number, too. But as a quarterback? The Vikings did. They handed the ball to Moss, had him roll right, then let him throw the ball -- right to Seattle safety Michael Boulware. My questions: 1.) Why would you throw the ball into double coverage? 2.) Why would you have Moss throw it? 3.) If you're that close, why not trust Culpepper with the ball? Maybe this is why Mike Tice should start working with a real-estate agent.