Eli let him have it.
Yup, Eli Manning wasn’t happy, and he laid into Louis Murphy Jr. on the sideline after an interception charged to Manning that clearly was Murphy’s fault because he ran the wrong route. Later, when two receivers were in the same area and a third-down pass glanced off the hands of Victor Cruz, Manning showed how upset he was with a disgusted gesture for all to see.
The miscommunication issues are not a good thing for the Giants, but a more demonstrative Manning is.
The stakes are rising and Manning is getting more emotive than he’s ever been. His patience after an NFL-high 17 interceptions is wearing thin. This is going to be a lousy season for him from a statistical standpoint, but after falling into the depths of 0-6, there’s a season to be salvaged and Manning isn’t going to tolerate sloppiness around him. He’s not going to grab anyone by the facemask or call one of his teammates out for public ridicule. When asked about the one interception he threw in the 27-13 victory over the Packers, all Manning said was: “I threw it to the other team.’’ But it was all on Murphy, who, incredibly, messed up on his one offensive snap.
Manning’s fingerprints were on the 0-6 start and it was easy to criticize him for maintaining such an even-keel persona during all the losing. As always, though, that attitude has served him well and helped fend off the panic that easily could have infiltrated the locker room. Now that the Giants are back in the playoff chase, expect Manning to up the ante as he demands increased performance out of his teammates.
Other notables and observations from the victory over the Packers:
Has a player ever averaged 1.8 yards per rushing attempt and had as big an impact as Brandon Jacobs? Coming off hamstring and knee issues that kept him out of the past three games, Jacobs was on the field for 11 offensive snaps. He got five carries and gained nine yards, yet he was extremely effective. Twice, he picked up the first down on fourth-and-1 and he crashed into the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown run.
Jacobs often is remembered for the short-yardage pickups he hasn’t made, but he’s picked up a whole lot more than he’s missed.
“You have everybody up in there, everybody knows you’re getting the ball, everybody’s gunning at you, you got the big guys creating a mess on the ground so you got nowhere to run,’’ Jacobs said. “It’s a lot harder than a lot of people think. A lot of people always say ‘You suck, you can’t get make 1 yard?’ I hear that all the time. It’s the hardest yard out there. There’s 100 yards out there, but making one of ’em is the hardest thing to do when people know you’re getting the ball and they’re gunning for you.’’
Little things add up. Earlier in the season, Spencer Paysinger was a starting linebacker, on the field for every play. His status on defense changed when Jon Beason arrived and now Paysinger’s primary role is on special teams. Of the 54 defensive snaps against the Packers, Paysinger was on the field for two. This sort of demotion could get in the head of a young player who thought he gained a foothold on the team. Paysinger, though, has embraced his role as a core special-teams player and he made one of the plays of the game, picking up Ryan Mundy’s alert that the Packers had changed personal protectors to stop M.D. Jennings on a run out of the fake punt formation 1 yard short of a first down.
Hakeem Nicks said he was a bit winded when he took himself out of the game late in the second quarter. On first down, Nicks was targeted in the end zone on a fade pattern but could not escape the coverage of Tramon Williams and the pass fell incomplete. Nicks came off the field on the next play – a pass from Manning deflected by Clay Matthews to Rueben Randle for a 1-yard loss. And on the next play, with Nicks still on the sideline, Murphy completely botched his route, cutting inside instead of outside to allow Williams to come up with Manning’s only interception of the game. Afterward, Nicks looked disconsolate and had to be given a pep talk by Jacobs. Nicks explained he doesn’t get many opportunities and was frustrated he didn’t come down with the ball in the end zone. Frustration might be setting in for Nicks, who is the only receiver in the NFL with as many as 35 receptions without a touchdown. The only other player in the league in that category is Ravens running back Ray Rice, but Rice at least has four rushing touchdowns. As far as being winded, Nicks did play 60 of the 67 offensive snaps.
Antrel Rolle now has four interceptions, one shy of his career high set in 2007 with the Cardinals. This really comes as no surprise. With the return to health of Terrell Thomas, Rolle no longer has to fill in at nickel back and he is thriving in his natural strong safety position.
The NFL has decided that the Dec. 1 Giants-Redskins game at FedEx Field will not be flexed and will remain a 8:30 p.m. kickoff. Now the NFL has to hope the Giants continue their winning ways and extend their win streak to five games by beating the Cowboys because a loss by the Giants makes the next game a whole lot less attractive to a national television audience. Still, a network can’t really go wrong with Giants-Redskins as far as ratings.
Everyone remembers the two missed field goals by Josh Brown earlier this season, the one from 38 yards in Carolina to blunt any trace of momentum and from 44 yards in Kansas City near the end of the first half that prevented the Giants from pulling even at halftime. Since then, Brown hasn’t missed, living up to his reputation as a reliable kicker. He’s hit 11 straight and has been strong on kickoffs.
The less heard and said about a rookie right tackle, the better. Justin Pugh, the first-round draft pick thrust immediately into the starting lineup, allowed 28 pressures in his first five NFL games, according to Pro Football Focus. Pugh has allowed seven in his past five games, including one vs. the Packers. The left tackle, Will Beatty, got off to a rough start but has also rebounded. He allowed a sack and four quarterback hurries to the Packers, but his run-blocking is steadily improving.
There is some serious run-stopping going on for the Giants. For the third time in the past four games, the Giants allowed fewer than 60 rushing yards. Eddie Lacy was swarmed, and gained 27 yards on 14 carries. Up next, the Cowboys are far more a passing team, and it will be interesting to see if the Cowboys even attempt to establish themselves on the ground.
Credit offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride for detecting vulnerability in the Packers defense and directing Manning to exploit it. Manning was a torrid 15-of-16 on passes over the middle for 179 yards and one TD, a passer rating of 134.1. According to Pro Football Focus, on the 14 dropbacks he was pressured, Manning had a 132.2 passer rating.
The Packers game was one Tom Coughlin had to appreciate. Everyone by now knows about Coughlin Time – the clocks at the Giants practice facility are set five minutes fast – and to Coughlin, punctuality is next to godliness. Well, the Giants beat the Packers in a game played in a brisk 2:45. It was Giants’ shortest regular-season game since Dec. 5, 2004, when a 31-7 loss in Washington was also completed in 2:45. The Giants’ 2005 NFC wild-card game loss to Carolina was played in 2:39.