Eli Manning might have played the best game of his career Sunday night, throwing for 400 yards against an above average Dallas defense and leading the Giants to the comeback win despite an awful drop by Mario Manningham on the team's final drive. Manning did throw an interception, but it was a tipped ball at the line of scrimmage that bounced off a couple people before winding up in Sean Lee's hands. Manning now has 4105 yards, on pace for 5052, which would be good for third all time, just 32 yards off Dan Marino's all-time record. Of course, this would be more impressive were Manning not fourth in the league this season behind Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.
Before the 2010 NFL draft, we debatedSam Bradford vs. Ndamukong Suh at length, but right now I'd take Jason Pierre-Paul, the 15th overall pick that year over both. Pierre-Paul had six tackles, two assists, two sacks, one of which went for a safety, and a game-winning blocked field goal Sunday night and has 12.5 sacks on the year. While he'll almost certainly wind up in the Pro Bowl, some Giants observers think he's barely scratched the surface of his talent, given his 6-6 frame, freakish athleticism and gigantic wingspan.
Pierre-Paul notwithstanding, the Giants defense is truly abhorrent, and when they scored the go-ahead touchdown and two-point conversion to go up three points with one minute left, I was just hoping Dallas wouldn't score a touchdown. That said, the Patriots, Saints and Packers are pretty soft defensively, too, and the Giants have some upside should they make the playoffs if Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, Michael Boley, Kenny Phillips and Prince Amukamara are 100 percent healthy/integrated into the defense.
I had thought the degree of difficulty was too high even for Tim Tebow Sunday, down 10-0 with 4:34 left and no timeouts. But I had no idea the Lord was operating from inside Marion Barber's being, forcing him out of bounds and giving away the sure win. The recently departed Tony Sparano was similarly possessed several weeks ago, going for two and failing, without which the comeback against the Dolphins would not have been possible. It's like something out of "The Omen," only it's even less of a feel-good story for committed Tebow non-believers. I personally want to thank God for keeping the cover intact (I had the Bears +3.5). Seriously though, I'm just glad this is happening, and looking forward to seeing the Broncos tested by the Patriots at home this week. While the Patriots defense gives up a ton of yards, you'd have to think Bill Belichick - arguably the greatest defensive coach in the last 30 years - would be able to adapt his scheme to handle Tebow's unique style. The current line is Patriots -6, likely pitting all the sharps in the world against all the believers.
Minutes before the latest Tebow miracle, I was about to write something half seriously about how the Chargers (6-7) would win the AFC West and make the AFC Title game, getting Norv Turner a disastrous three-year extension in the process. In any event, the Raiders are toast with an average-at-best Carson Palmer, too many injured playmakers and a defense that can't stop anyone.
Ben Roethlisberger saved a lot of fantasy teams last week by playing through what looked like a severe ankle injury suffered in the second quarter. That said, the game was so profoundly disappointing, I was in a bad mood after the game, despite having Roethlisberger and the Browns +14. It helped to learn that Colt McCoy's seemingly senseless game-sealing interception came while he was concussed out of his mind, but that the Browns left him in there just makes one wonder whether they can get anything right.
Just finished the last couple episodes of "Boardwalk Empire," and have to say that James Darmody is one bad MF.
The end to the Patriots-Redskins game was dumb. What a waste of what was otherwise a compelling game.
The 2011 class of quarterbacks could turn out to be a very good one. Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, Christian Ponder and now Jake Locker have all looked very good at times. Blaine Gabbert not so much.
Marshawn Lynch breaks a lot of tackles. It's strange how long it took for him to live up to his pedigree.
It was hard to be angry about losing the CIN-HOU cover a minute after I got the IND-BAL one. Especially since the Texans actually won the game, while Indy just cut the deficit to 14 on the last play.
The Eagles could beat anyone or lose to anyone by almost any amount, and it would no longer surprise me.
At one point, Atlanta was down 23-7, and Detroit was on death's door in the closing seconds. Had those teams lost (and had Dallas knocked off the Giants), Seattle and Arizona would have suddenly been very much in the NFC playoff picture.
Speaking of the Lions, I switched from the Chargers to them in Survivor about 15 minutes before game time. Let's just say I endured some intense feelings of dread, disgust, rage and regret. How can Detroit have that much trouble protecting a 17-point second-half lead at home against the Adrian Peterson-less, Ponder-less, Antoine Winfield-less Vikings?