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Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Giants Make Coaching Change - Jim Fassel Laughs Until Snot Bubbles Out Of His Nose

So, in case you are unaware, the Giants have relieved their offensive coordinator, John Hufnagel, of his play-calling duties, handing them over to Kevin Gilbride. The best part of all of this is Eli Manning's response:

"It's an awkward situation," Manning said of the switch. "I feel it's somewhat my fault."

Really? Really, Eli? The fact that you keep whipping passes into triple coverage got someone demoted? Huh. Imagine that.

"Our offense hasn't been playing real well...It didn't have to do with the coaching or the play calling. We didn't execute or do anything right."

Honesty is the first step, there, Eli.

I'm not an Eli hater, really I'm not. I root for the guy. I have to. He's on my fantasy team.

Regardless, it's time to call a spade a spade. He's not getting it done. Granted, some of this is because an NFL offense is really hard to pick up. Drew Brees didn't really blossom until his 4th year. It takes time, no doubt. Maybe Eli will get it.

However, most of the mistakes he makes are because he doesn't read the coverage. As Tuesday Morning Quarterback will tell you, many of his mistakes can be traced back to lack of discipline. He'll rip off a pass to a clearly covered guy, and he does this a lot.

He's not the only one to blame, though. Plaxico Burress is also to blame. You can see it: when a pass is delivered right on the numbers, it magically slips through his fingers. When he has to stretch and leap to get it, he'll catch it. Fortunately for him, he's playing with Eli Manning, so most passes do not end up right on the numbers. In other words, there's enough blame to spread around for this team.

What's the solution?

Tom Coughlin is almost certainly out after the season. If he isn't, there needs to be an inquest into this. Coughlin runs into these problems everywhere he goes: When he's winning, his totalitarian policies are seen as a "disciplinarian" style. When he's losing, his policies are seen as an "impotent, sulking man-boy" style.

See, if Tom Coughlin was your boss, this is the kind of boss he'd be: He would be standing at the door, fuming, at 10 minutes to 9, tapping his watch and glaring holes in your head as you walked in. When you came in to work, he would call you into his office and explain, veins throbbing in his forehead, that you need to be a "team player," and mention that "Everyone needs to pull their own weight, and frankly, I don't see you doing that." It's virtually unbearable when everything is going well, and when it's not going well, it makes you want to dump your $4.50 venti latte all over his Armani suit, throw the cup at his head, and tell him to commit a degrading act to some type of livestock.

Only after divesting themselves of Coughlin can they actually start fixing these problems. However, it may already be too late for Eli. Eli will probably develop, at best, into a serviceable QB, who might cost you a game here and there, like a Jake Plummer. There may still be time to save this thing, but not this season.

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