Manning Leaves Panties in NY, Brings Big Boy Pants to Tampa

20 out of 27 completions, 185 yards, 2 TDs...not staggering numbers by any stretch of the imagination. Eli Manning may not have set the box score ablaze today, but I was utterly amazed at the player I saw on the field today. Did Peyton somehow hoodoo his way into a Giants jersey and lead the G-Men today? I am by no means annointing Eli (as many sportswriters were already doing in the 3rd quarter today) as the next John Elway, but I was overwhelmingly impressed with his play today.

Manning played four quarters of heady football today. I heard the whispers all week long about how solid he looked last Saturday against New England. Unfortunately, I was at one of my really good friend's stupid wedding and didn't get to see the game firsthand. But I kinda thought it was a fluke. After all, Eli Manning is pretty much like a woman. Sometimes he looks nice and impresses you. You want to see him again next week. When you do, he looks sloppy and timid and things are just awkward. Was all that jazz last week just a put on? So you're done with him. It's off. You're moving on. Then you hear about him on SportsCenter, and he's had another great game.

Ok, before the (not so) vaguely homosexual innuendos go any further, the bottom line is Eli is inconsistent. You can't trust him...like a woman. Ok, ok...I'm done. But today he was a leader, and I think that is the one aspect of his game that New York Giant fans have been longing to see. He was reading the defense, calling audibles, checking down to his open receivers, and making big plays when they needed to be made. Perhaps his biggest mark on the box score in today's game was a 0, as in 0 interceptions...nearly unheard of for Eli in a big game situation.

I've never been a big Eli Manning fan. I'm still not. But it's hard not to root for him at least a little bit. Dude's spent his entire career in his big brother's shadow...his big, goofy-ass shadow. So now Eli and the G-Men have to travel to Dallas to take on the Cowboys. This means that I will be rooting for Eli again next week. Who knows which Eli we'll see in the Big D (and I DO mean Dallas), but if he plays like he did today, NY has a chance to win. Ever since their big win against Green Bay at the end of November, Dallas has played less than stellar football. Here's hoping they have another off week next week, and Peyton's little brother can continue to grow as a QB. Maybe if they can pull off a win, Jessica Simpson will go out with him instead of Romo.

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