If you have a brother (either older or younger) and you are reading this blog, you probably have heard this statement before, “You better watch out, when your brother grows up and gets as big as you, he is going to get you.” This kind of statement or some variation of it has been heard for years from those Mom’s who have warned older siblings to take it easy on their younger brothers because one day the tides will turn. Not so fast Moms, older brothers rejoice as last night once again proved that older brother domination lives on in the Manning household as Peyton’s Colts beat Eli’s Giants 38-14.
In the battle of the brothers dubbed Manning Bowl 2, Peyton once again and for the second time in two tries beat his little brother Eli for total sibling dominance. The Colts in their building, in front of their home crowd for the first time since last years Super Bowl came to play while the visiting Giants still have yet to make it to the field. This game was over before it even started as the Colts took a dominating first half and turned it into a 24-0 halftime lead. The Giants looked pathetic, not worthy of a Pop Warner football team let alone the NFC East Division leaders. Everything a true Giants fan has been worried about reared its ugly head in this game. The offensive line was the worst seen in years as David Diehl and Kareem McKenzie served as swinging gates for defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. At times it appeared that the two Colt DE’s had discussed which one would get to the QB first and take the handoff directly from Eli. Somebody please tell offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride that a screen pass or having a running back chip the defensive end helps to slow down the pass rush. The Colts in their first game of the year gave up 273 yards rushing to Arian Foster of the Houston Texans, yet the Giants couldn’t move the ball on the ground to save their lives. Brandon Jacobs has finally become a problem child after throwing his helmet into the stands like he was having a temper tantrum, in this case he is upset because he lost his starting job and was yelled at by Tom Coughlin after dancing too much at the line of scrimmage. Note to Brandon, you are 245 pounds stop tip toeing and hit a hole and maybe you will get more than 8 yards on 4 carries. The Giants should take a long look at trading their troubled running back. One bright spot is that Ahmad Bradshaw was solid again with a 5.2 yard average ending with 89 yards on 17 carries.
More concerns for the Giants; the defense looked plain lost, worst of all it was because they couldn’t stop the run as Joseph Addai and Donald Brown combined for 161 rushing yards. The Giants were manhandled on both sides of the line of scrimmage and that does not bode well for the smash mouth running and pass rush happy NFC East style of play. The Giants thought they were going to get some great insight from Jim Sorgi on how to play the Colts, but it is as if he told them how to play the Giants. The Giants deactivated both DT’s Rocky Bernard and Linval Joseph in favor of extra help in the secondary to offset Peyton’s passing attack and so the Colts ran it down the Giants throats all day. Good plan Mr. Fewell and Mr. Coughlin can’t wait to see next week when you play the best runner in the game Chris Johnson from the Titans. Johnson’s fantasy owners must be salivating for next weeks game, maybe for that game you should sit Canty and Cofield too.
Somehow, the Giants still remain tied for first place in their division with both Washington and Philadelphia after this week, with the lone bright spot of the week seeing Dallas go 0-2 after losing to the Bears in their home stadium. The Giants have a lot of work to do to get back to form, the only hope Giants fans have is maybe they are still adjusting to Fewell’s defense like they did for Steve Spagnuolo’s and they will get back to dominance in a few games. Last nights game against the Colts, showed Giants fans while they may have been successful in exorcizing the Panthers demons on opening day, the Colt’s own the Giants and little brother Eli will have to wait another year to prove Mom’s around the world right about their sibling advice. Next up, the Tennessee Titans, Sunday 1PM EST at the new Meadowlands Stadium.
