What happened last night might be the turning point in Eli Manning's young career. We reserve judgement on this call until next weekend at Raymond James Stadium when we face old foe Jeff Garcia and yet another new team, the Tampa Bay Bucs, for the third wildcard playoff game in the last five years.
But what can I write this morning, that hasn't been said already by my the magnificent sportswriting brethren! Eli stared down the kings of kings, the New England Patriots, and nearly won the battle. He found a new weapon in Kevin "Who's the" Boss, was composed in the pocket, and found Plaxico Burress again (he looked the healthiest he has since the first month of the season). The Giants D, as I predicted, could not stop the Patriots all-world WR tandem of Randy Moss and Wes Welker, but the Pats RB, Laurence Maroney did nothing and Tom Brady got some pressure on him.
Did we lose the war? Well if Kavika Mitchell is out next week, I think the Bucs are still going to be scared by this Gerris Wilkinson guy. Came off the bench was involved in every play. Offensive line didn't flinch when their true center Shaun O'Hara came out with an injury.
So here is what I think this did and history may have to soon start judging "crazy" Tom Coughlin on this year. I think he motivated this squad by leaving all the starters in and fighting till the end when they had ZERO to play for.
You read the comments by some of these G-men this morning and they sound pretty darn confident. Whether this translates to a "W" in Tampa and beyond, we don't know. But we do know is that Coughlin and "easy" Eli have these guys on the same page. These guys possibly have the best mindset heading in the postseason then the previous two years. And more importantly, they get homefield advatange (because its a roadgame).
Note to readers: I promise you that after this month is over, I'll return to more widranging topics then the pigskin. Until then, Chris Matthews can sure as hell adequately tell you about the upcoming presidential caucuses in Iowa and New Hampshire over the next week or so.
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