[ThePundit]

The Giants will not make the playoffs next year. This year, their schedule was a joke. Next year, they'll have to play a 1st place schedule. And Eli is a huge question mark. He is incredibly inaccurate. His balls are often behind receivers, and he often floats balls over the middle and almost gets his receivers killed. They gave up a ton of draft picks for him when they could have had Rothlisberger for nothing. I'd rather have Chris Simms at this point. In my opinion, he throws a better, more accurate ball than Eli.

With McNaab back next year and Parcells running out time in Dallas, next year will be a long one for the Giants.

[Joshua Kaufman]

Hold on a second Pundit. I think you should reconsider your hasty prognostication. The Giants will make the playoffs this year and these are the reasons why:

1) Offense - you mention that Manning is a question mark. Every young QB is a question mark - but Manning has the pedigree to be successful - and his success this year can only help him in the future. Look at Payton Manning's progress as a QB. After his first year people were calling him a bust. Throw in Toomer, Shockey, Barber, Burress and a quality O-Line and you've got the recipe for a playoff appearance.

2) DL - the Giants have a strong DL with some young players and an ageless Michael Strahan.

3) Injuries - The Giants lost all their starting linebackers down the stretch. It made them more vulnerable to the run and it showed against Carolina.

Besides, with all the parody in the NFL, a 1st place schedule may not mean anything next year.

[ThePundit]

Joshua:

I understand your point. However, I believe its hard to teach a QB accuracy. I just don't like what I see so far. Just my personal gut feeling.

Actually the schedule makes a big difference. Last year the Giants schedule was a joke. They had an extra home game, caught the Eagles after McNaab was hurt, played SF And Oakland on the road, and played Arizona at home. ..In 2007 besides their division games; They have to play these teams on the ROAD:Atlanta, Carolina, Jacksonville, Tenessee and Seattle
At HOME they have Indy, Tampa and Chicago...That's pretty brutal.

Who knows? I could be wrong. But we'll see.

[BigBadBuc]

You will have to teach Plaxico Burress to screw his head on tight. It came loose again during the last half of the season. He did that a lot with the Steelers.

BBB

[EmpireWF]

Talking about the schedule now is silly, we don't know which teams will be good or bad next season.

I do like the chances of the Giants to return to the playoffs though and here's why...

1) Continued development of Eli Manning. The kid is a student of the game and will progress.
2) A light overhaul of the LBs and DBs. Coughlin has said he hopes to get more speed on the defensive side of the ball. Will Allen won't return. Corey Webster will likely step up into the 2 spot. Will Peterson is a question mark at this point, who knows if he'll ever be able to play.

Our defensive MVP, Antonio Pierce will return a healthy man. There is no question that this guy is what makes our defense all the more better.

Osi Umenyiora and Strahan will be there on the ends again. Hopefully they can keep Kendrick Clancy, who was surprisingly pretty damn good against the run.


On offense, Amani Toomer proved he's not done just yet. Plaxico Burress, another year in the offense will likely be featured even more. Tiki Barber, oh captain. I'm not figuring him to have another year like last but he's as consistant as they come.


If any team in the NFC East would regress next year, I'd think it would be Washington. And even Philly is still a long way from returning to glory. Remember, that locker room is still in shambles.

[wvuauthor]

What does everyone think about Eli being able to eventually lead the Giants to a Super Bowl? How long will it take, if at all? Peyton has not been able to do it yet and in my opinion he is head and shoulders above Eli.

[BigBadBuc]

It's hard to say about Eli. Peyton has shown that deer in the headlights look with really tough defensive clubs. Eli seems a bit more controlled. It's too early to tell. He is supposed to be better than Peyton and he just may be.

BBB

[EmpireWF]

It's all too premature to talk about whether or not Eli can lead the GMen to the Super Bowl, as we all just don't know. However, Eli does appear to have a clean head on his shoulders. Instead of Peyton, he decided to go to college where his father was a hero. Eli was the first Manning to defeat the Gators in Florida and even won the Cotton Bowl in his Senior Year.

In that regard, he doesn't apepar to have a mental block in the big game (a la Peyton). Still, the Giants need to improve around him to succeed as a team.

Let's just say, atleast IMO, the Giants won't be hurt because of who's their QB.

[ThePundit]

Eli is better than Payton? Are you serious? Peyton had one bad game this year and I blame the coaching staff for not having a better game plan. They should have rammed Edgerrin James down the Steelers' throats to neutralize Porter's blitz. The Colts played that way at the beginning of the year. They took what teams gave them and won. But for some reason against the Steelers, they didn't adjust to what they were given.

I would take Peyton over any other QB in the league (maybe with the exception of Brady). Eli isn't even in the top 10. These 2 are in different stratosphere's.

And I don't know where everyone is getting this idea that Eli is a "big game" QB. How did he do against the Panthers? How did he do against the Vikings? I thought he was color blind in that game. I watched every Giant game this year and trust me - he has big time accuracy problems. Does that mean he won't overcome them? Not necessarily. But if he he didn't have Burress making incredible Randy Moss type catches, who knows what his final numbers would have been.

The fact that Eli beat Florida in college doesn' t mean anything. Ryan Leaf defeated I forgot who in the Rose Bowl and how did he turn out?

[EmpireWF]

Originally Posted by ThePundit

Eli is better than Payton? Are you serious? Peyton had one bad game this year and I blame the coaching staff for not having a better game plan. They should have rammed Edgerrin James down the Steelers' throats to neutralize Porter's blitz. The Colts played that way at the beginning of the year. They took what teams gave them and won. But for some reason against the Steelers, they didn't adjust to what they were given.

I would take Peyton over any other QB in the league (maybe with the exception of Brady). Eli isn't even in the top 10. These 2 are in different stratosphere's.

And I don't know where everyone is getting this idea that Eli is a "big game" QB. How did he do against the Panthers? How did he do against the Vikings? I thought he was color blind in that game. I watched every Giant game this year and trust me - he has big time accuracy problems. Does that mean he won't overcome them? Not necessarily. But if he he didn't have Burress making incredible Randy Moss type catches, who knows what his final numbers would have been.

The fact that Eli beat Florida in college doesn' t mean anything. Ryan Leaf defeated I forgot who in the Rose Bowl and how did he turn out?

Nobody said Eli is better than Peyton now. We've said that he has what it takes to be better...most collegiate scouts have said that Eli was a better player in college than Peyton.

I agree Peyton is in his own level as far as NFL QBs go. I'm amazed every chance I get to see the Colts play (which isn't much besides the playoffs) and watch as he leads his team. Trouble is, the team always seems to blow it at some point.

As far as Eli in the playoffs goes, the entire team messed up. He was not good by any stretch but the rest of the team was just as bad. Plax dropped major passes, Tiki couldn't run, no linebackers, horrible tackling....etc.