Is Eli Manning Any Worse Than Matt Schaub?
I can remember sitting around my house watching WWE Battleground (Go Big Show, right?!) and the first Sunday Night Football game on a split-television setup this past Sunday night. I had thought all day that the San Francisco 49ers were going to kill the Texans, but man, who knew just how bad Matt Schaub was going to be this season?
Schaub looked absolutely awful threw ANOTHER pick-six--his ninth interception of the season. Everyone has been calling for him to be benched in favor of T.J. Yates or Case Keenum. Gary Kubiak gave Schaub somewhat of a vote of confidence this week, committing to him starting on Sunday. However, if he has two interception in the first half against a not-so-good St. Louis defense, I would be very surprised if Schaub is playing quarterback for the Texans in the second half of that game.
I know Eli Manning has two super bowl rings, but let's be honest; Eli has not been the same quarterback he was in those seasons and the rest of his team most certainly hasn't been the same. Coming in to Thursday night's game, Manning had 12 interceptions--three more than Schaub will have heading in to Sunday. Why are people not calling for him to be benched the same way they are Schaub?
Like I said, if Schaub has a bad first half (an interception on his first drive and an interception for a touchdown on his second drive would most definitely fall in the category of very bad), I would expect to see Yates or Keenum taking the snaps for Houston. Watching the Bears defense catch two passes and a score before Manning's receivers were able to haul in even a single catch, I was calling for Coughlin to give rookie Ryan Nassib a shot. There is no way Nassib could play worse than Eli Manning has been.
No team to start 0-5 has ever made the playoffs, so it would be pretty nuts to think that the Giants have a chance to make it this year....but look at their division this year. After this weekend the Giants will be, at MOST, three games back of first place in the NFC East...and that's only IF Philly can beat Tampa and IF Washington doesn't finally put it altogether and beat Dallas--like they did against Dallas in week 17 of last season. If Ryan Nassib were to come in and light a spark, you never know, maybe the Giants would have an outside shot at taking the crown of this division.
Is Teddy Bridgewater the Best College Quarterback?
I can hear it now. I'm going to turn on Mike & Mike in the Morning tomorrow and there will some college football analyst saying how great of a game Teddy Bridgewater had Thursday night against a bad Rutgers defense. After that, Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless are going to be debating over whether or not Teddy is the best college quarterback and the next sure thing when it comes to the NFL Draft. You know one of those two will be saying he's the next big thing.
Yes, Bridgewater completed 21 passes on 31 attempts for 310 yards and two scores. Is that really that great of a game against the 116th ranked passing defense in the country? If you ask me, I wasn't that impressed with Teddy's performance. The potential was most definitely there for him to light the stage up on a night when over 26 NFL scouts were there...including the Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers general managers. In addition to Teddy throwing a very bad pass in the third quarter to a receiver over the middle when the ball sailed way over his receivers head for what should have most certainly been an interception if the Rutgers defense was not lost. He also missed a wide open receiver streaking
I would be willing to bet that on November 23rd in Death Valley, Louisiana another high-profile quarterback will have the press box packed with pro scouts. Of course I'm talking about Johnny "Football" Manziel. I won't be surprised when Johnny Football has a more impressive performance against a much better, S.E.C. defense. I'm sure a lot of people will be saying that Bridgewater is the top NFL quarterback prospect heading in to April's draft, but my money is on the guy who has been known to make it rain, Johnny Football.
Detroit Tigers Advance to the ALCS
When the Detroit Tigers defeated the Oakland Athletics 3-0 Thursday night behind a two-run homerun by Miguel Cabrera, they punched their ticket to the ALCS, where they'll take on the Boston Red $ox. Unfortunately for the Athletics, they made the same mistake the Pittsburgh Pirates made on Wednesday night--turning to their top rookie pitcher, Sonny Gray, in a win-or-go-home situation--and will have until April to think about it.
The Tigers were the last team to advance to the Championship series, and not only were they the last to the party, they had to use their ace; Justin Verlander, who went eight innings last night, giving up only two hits and no runs. They won't have Verlander until game three, but if they're able to get effective outings from Anibal Sanchez in game one and Max Scherzer in game two, they will have a fresh Verlander waiting to dazzle the packed Comerica Park on Tuesday evening. That just may be enough to get past the red-hot Boston Red Sox.