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With all of the obvious problems on defense, one thing that has upset me more than anything the past three games is the old Eli Manning making an appearance.
He has not played very well at all, and what pains me the most is the poor decision making, which was something that we all thought was a thing of the past.
In the game against the Saints, Manning apparently wanted to show off his arm in his home state. He went deep on third down six times, and was 0-for-6 on those downs.
On the first one, he had Domenik Hixon in one-on-one coverage and under threw him, which allowed the defensive back to make a play on the ball. On the second one, he had Steve Smith wide open for a sure touchdown and sailed the ball over his head.
The rest of the game was much of the same story, except for one that should have been pass interference on a pass to Hakeem Nicks.
These plays were frustrating to say the least. The whole season Manning had been taking what the defenses had given him while only taking chances on downs in which they could afford to do so.
In the Cardinals game, Manning made bad decisions throughout and erased a solid performance by the defense.
The defense only allowed 24 points, but seven of those were set up after Manning threw an interception on their own 20-yard line.
Even when given the opportunity to lead the team back and send the game into overtime, Manning got into Cardinal territory before throwing a pass into double coverage and having it picked off by Antrel Rolle. Hakeem Nicks was wide open on an out route.
One thing that was very frustrating in every loss so far is that the Giants have blitzed just about as much as the other teams, but the opposing QBs are finding the receivers wide open, and Manning is making the wrong decision nearly every single time.
So many times the replay shows a wide open receiver that Manning failed to find. That being said, more often than not the receivers are failing to adjust their routes and get to the open holes in the coverage.
The one thing you could have said about the receivers is that they are precise route runners. Well, sometimes you have to be not-so-precise and just simply have instincts to find the open areas. Right now I don't feel like the receivers and Manning are on the same page like they were earlier in the year.
The team was simply out coached and ill-prepared on Sunday in Philadelphia. The Eagles seemed to know what to do in every situation. Besides a small number of bright spots, Manning looked awful in his first regular season loss at Philly.
What is even more frustrating about the team is that they seem to be moving in opposite directions with Brandon Jacobs. The more Jacobs improves, the less successful the team has become. For the life of me, I cannot figure it out.
The inefficiencies on defense can be fixed if the defense can just find a way to muster any sort of pass rush. However, that won't do any good if Manning is still making these types of decisions.
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