Eli Manning Takes Heat All Week, Hopes To Rebound From Last Sunday

There is no question that when your last name is Manning, you are automatically going to be scrutinized due to the success of your father and Superbowl MVP champion brother. If you add to that the fact that the team you play for mortgaged a great deal in regards to draft picks, then you have just put more pressure on yourself to succeed.

Oh wait, it gets worse, not only do you have family expectations to live up to, draft trade expectations, but you also play the most popular game in Amerca, at the most demanding position on the field in the most media frenzy city in the world in New York.

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Whew! That's more than enough to make most people pull a Ryan Leaf and cry and retire to flag football. However Eli Manning is as cool and confident as they get. Sure he had a terrible day against the Cowboys. No one is disputing that. In fact, he is getting torn apart by the media and by Giants fans this week, and rightfully so, this Eli supporter agrees he deserves it.

“You just have to learn to accept it,” Manning said. “It happens after a loss sometimes. You never know when it is going to happen or what is going to cause it or what strikes it up. But it is out there and you can’t let it affect your personality or the way you are in the locker room or your approach. You have to stay the same and have a good attitude about everything and show everybody that it doesn’t bother you and doesn’t affect you and you are going to go out there and still practice hard and perform hard.”

Last Sunday's game was to be the game that set Eli apart from the other mediocre QBs in the NFL. Instead it did just the opposite, it put him right in the mix with talks of the likes of Rex Grossman and Joey Harrington, YIKES!

Manning knows he must get better, and unlike those other guys, he understands the pressure and what he has to do to improve. He can start by knocking it off with the false starts. Sitting in section 120 on Sunday I can tell you there was nothing more aggravating then watching Eli get up to the line with less than 10 seconds, which isn't a big deal if you are going to hike the ball. However at 7 seconds he starts audiblizing. Its too late for that, and it cost the team some yards and maybe even some points.

Manning will continue to improve, and hopefully will one day turn into the QB we all thought he should be, for what was given up for him. Of course it doesn't help his efforts that the defense surrendered 31 points and couldn't make a stop when they needed it.


About the Author:
Michael C. Podlesny is the co-host of the Big Blue Review, a weekly podcast featuring the latest news on The New York Giants. The podcast can be downloaded from Michael's blog at http://BigBlueReviewPodcast.Blogspot.com.