Eli Manning seems to be growing into the quarterback position for the Giants. He showed some heart in the second game of the season when he played despite having a bruised shoulder.
Manning has been a rock of stability for New York so far this season. Although his support from the rest of the offense has been up and down, he has played at a high level throughout the first three games. The key has been his mastery of the Giants offense and his ability to recognize and audible at the line if necessary. Some of Eli's audibles have resulted in big plays. He changed a running play versus the Redskins and it resulted in a big run for Derrick Ward which resulted in a first down.
The young Manning has the arm strength to make every throw required from a quarterback and he doesn’t panic if he recognizes the blitz. His accuracy has been consistent and he always knows where to go with the football.
As always a good pass rush is the best pass defense. Manning still has one major problem and the Eagles have the defensive line which is capable of exploiting it. Manning throws the ball and ducks when he’s got pass rushers in his face, rather than follow through on his passes. Lack of follow through makes his passes sail and that gets them picked off. This is one of the weaknesses in his games which forces him into mistakes and I expect turnovers to decide this game.
Eli has burnt the Eagles when he’s recognized them in blitzes. Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson should rely on his pass rush to get pressure on Manning and stay away from blitz until he has to. I don’t want the Giants to catch the Eagles in a blitz , spring a big play early and have the Eagles playing catch up.
Trent Cole, Brodrick Bunkley, Mike Patterson and company must continue dominating things up front and rattle Manning early. The Eagles are still hurting in their secondary, but they’ll be able to survive it if the front seven gets pressure on Manning and stop him from following through on his throws.
