CINCINNATI — Geno Smith threw six passes in the Jets’ preseason opener, a veritable Air Rex assault compared with Eli Manning, who fired two passes unsuccessfully in the Giants’ second preseason game.
It was Michael Vick who got the headlines and it was Manning who got the punch lines.
So it will be Showtime for Geno on Saturday night and Showtime for Eli in Indianapolis at the same time, for the one half or however long they play.
Geno: Show us your growth, reward the faith John Idzik and Rex Ryan and Marty Mornhinweg are showing in you by giving you their team to start the regular season, give Jets fans a reason to believe and hope for the present and future.
Eli: Show us evidence you are beginning to master the hybrid West Coast offense of new offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo. Give us something more than dink and dunk, give us a vertical strike or two, get the ball to Victor Cruz and give Giants fans a reason to salsa.
Geno: Preseason or not, show the Bengals you are not the wide-eyed, mistake-prone Cincinnati Kid of a year ago, when you threw two pick-sixes (to Chris Crocker and Pacman Jones) and were yanked in the fourth quarter of that 49-9 humiliation in favor of Matt Simms. Remember that with Vick behind you now, growing pains like that will be tolerated only until another season begins slipping away.
Remember how you felt in the visiting locker room last October, when you said: “I understand why the decision was made, but I always want to be in the game. I never want to come out of a game, never want to be in those situations where we’re down and I have to be pulled from a game.”
Eli: Show us signs that 2013 was an aberration. Show us that a realistic goal for your completion percentage with Rashad Jennings available for screens and check downs is the mid-60s. Show Big Blue Nation that it is too early to press those panic buttons, give them reason to believe that September will not be a trial-and-error month for you and your offense.
It also will Showtime for these players:
Will Beatty: Show us as you make your preseason debut that you can be the left tackle you were in 2012. Show us your broken right leg is getting stronger. Remind us why the Giants signed you to a five-year, $38.75 deal before your nightmare 2013 season.
Antonio Allen: Show us your switch to cornerback isn’t the desperation move everyone thinks it is.
Rueben Randle: Show us you are ready to emerge as Cruz’s partner in crime, at least before No. 1 draft pick Odell Beckham Jr. is ready to join the party.
Calvin Pryor: Show us as you make your preseason debut why Idzik and Ryan selected you over cornerback Darqueze Dennard, show us you will be the enforcer Ryan craved for his secondary.
Johnathan Hankins: Show us why the Giants drafted you in the second round to fill the void left by the departure of DT Linval Joseph, because your head coach doesn’t want anyone running on his team.
Chris Johnson: Show us some burst. Show us you can be CJ1K as lead dog in the running back-by-committee with Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell, show us your surgically repaired knee is surgically repaired, show us how much you love the creativity and unpredictability of Mornhinweg’s offense, show us what you can do as a receiver (272 career receptions, 7.4 average, eight touchdowns) out of the backfield.
Corey Washington:Show us an undrafted rookie from Newberry College can be a legitimate zone threat, go make a third touchdown catch in three games and make the New York Football Giants.
Jace Amaro: Show us why you were a second-round draft pick, catch the damn ball and make Mike Ditka sit up and take notice.
Brandon Mosley: Show the Giants there can be Life After Chris Snee.
Stephen Hill: Show us something, anything.