Eagles plan to bring heat on Eli Manning in Sunday night matchup
It seems unfathomable, but Eli Manning is in his 11th season in the NFL. Even more unfathomable: he’s playing some decent, controlled football after a couple of horrific years, and as a result the New York Giants are no longer an instant punch line.
The Philadelphia Eagles plan to change all that this weekend.
“He changes when he gets hit,” Eagles linebacker Brandon Graham said of Manning, though to be fair that could be said of most of us. Graham indicated that the Eagles’ defensive plan will rely on hurrying Manning, and if possible, knocking him to the Lincoln Financial Field turf a time or 20.
“We’ve got to hit him,” Graham said. “Eli’s a great quarterback, and you just can’t give him nothing, because he definitely takes advantage. He’s a great quarterback, but that’s with any quarterback: You put your hat on him a little bit and the game changes up a little bit.”
That’s got to be refreshing talk for a certain old-school NFL fan who’s seen the game move from smashmouth, helmets-exploding carnage to a more nuanced, concussion-aware game. It’s also talk designed to take up residence in Eli’s skull.
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“Well, they’re doing a good job getting to the quarterback,” Manning said in reply to the Eagles’ plans. “They’re getting sacks, they have a good pressure package, they’re also having good coverage down the field and the quarterbacks are having to hold it some. They’ll have something new for us, they’ll have some new wrinkle.”
Here’s the thing, though: the Giants suddenly have something new of their own. Manning has a wealth of weapons, including Larry Donnell, Victor Cruz, and rookie Odell Beckham Jr., and he’s also got the veteran poise necessary to find those weapons even when the pocket collapses around him. Previously, Manning was best known for dropping back and waiting for his men to get open, setting himself up for hits, hurries, and interceptions. But with a new timing-based offense, he’s completing more passes, and on pace to throw for more touchdowns, than ever before.
Regardless, this is shaping up to be a surprisingly fascinating matchup in a suddenly compelling NFC East. That division gets an outsize share of national airtime because of the power of its markets, but with three of its four teams (these two and Dallas; sorry, Washington) suddenly looking not just competent, but actually playoff-worthy, the recognition is, for now, well-deserved.
Bottom line: heads up, Eli. Eagles comin’.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter.
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