NY Giants Monday Night Football: Can Eli Manning Rebound from Dismal Start?

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning had a poor start to his 2011 season in his team's Week 1 loss to the Washington Redskins.

He completed just 18 of 32 passes for 268 yards and an interception, and he was sacked four times.

He is hoping to redeem himself in tonight's contest against the St. Louis Rams, but it may be a difficult task. The Rams put significant pressure on Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick last week, and while they lost that contest 31-13, the Giants should prove to be a less-daunting opponent for the team this week.

At the same time, Manning's primary target, wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, is still recovering from a knee injury. While Nicks is questionable for tonight's game after being limited in Saturday's practice, he plans to play tonight.

Though this is a good sign, he will likely be limited, and the majority of the receiving workload will likely fall to Mario Manningham.

A reduction of targets for Manning does not bode well for him improving his stats.

Last week, even with a healthy Nicks, he had trouble getting the ball into the end zone, and it shouldn't be much easier this week against a Rams defense that allowed just 167 passing yards in Week 1.

Even if the Giants are able to pull off a victory against St. Louis tonight—something I feel won't be as easy as many other analysts believe—they won't likely do so in the air.

The Rams suffered at the hands of the Eagles' running game, giving up 236 rushing yards (97 of which were gained by quarterback Michael Vick), and if the Giants want to win tonight they need to do so on the backs of their backs, Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs.

In that case, all Manning needs to do is not lose the game for his team more than he needs to win it.

It would help, of course, for him to have a touchdown in place of that lone interception, and for him to complete more passes for better yardage (he exited last week with just 8.4 yards per pass).

At the very least, if the Giants defeat the Rams tonight, the best that can be said about Manning is that he didn't cost the team the victory—which is as close as he is likely to get to redemption this week.