Blue Ridger

Chase Young was AWOL

Got some scoop from my contacts up in Big Blue Country. This isn't the trainwreck it's being made out to be. Colombo apparently wasn't Judges' guy (was Garrett's) and the feeling is growing in NY that he is the reason #1round draft pic Andrew Thomas is underperforming. In fact, Thomas's college coach has said his technique has changed and is ineffective - that's on Colombo. Joe Judge was investing too much time working with the OL which is partly why the vast improvement over the last couple weeks. Judge brought in Dave DeGuglielmo was the other guy they interviewed, as an advisor much to Colombo's chagrin and that led to argument/overreaction/Colombo fired. . DD doesn't have the best reputation. He's now the OL coach but Joe Judge will likely keep him on a short leash.. This is a positive step for NY as DD should be able to get Andrew Thomas back to form and Joe Judge has shown he will cut bait when it's not working.

Aikman was smart to call it quits when he did. Extending his career would have likely cooled his chances to get in as he and his teams were noticeably declining.

The same defense that gave up the late TD to Moss? Eli's numbers would have been better had Steve Smith not had a ball go right off his chest for an INT at the Pats 5 yd line too. But Super Bowl aside, Manning went into Dallas and beat the Cowboys. He went to Green Bay and in the coldest game on record beat the Pats. Then again in '11 and '12, beat Rodgers in GB, before having a legendary 'chip game against SF. To keep touting the "defense won the SB" or the "his name will get him in" line shows pure football ignorance. It's something to make butt hurt fans feel better. The man played with class on and off the field and has the resume to boot. Yeah he's on a rival team but give the man his due.

Eli deserves to get in. Maybe not first ballot but eventually. Record doesn't mean much re: a QB. I come from a family of Giants fans so I tend to watch most of the games. There were plenty of games where Eli had the team in a position to win and the defense or special teams choked it away. Also, Jerry Reese did a HORRIBLE job of drafting Offensive lineman once Accorsi's team moved on. Reese was obsessed with finding "raw talent" like he did with JPP. That experiment worked out. Others not so much.

Giants and Redskins forming good coaching staffs.

Giants were big on Rhule. McCarthy wanted the Giants job (partly because he is very high on Daniel Jones) but Jerrah made him an offer he couldn't refuse and word was out the Giants had their eye on Rhule so McCarthy went with the bird in hand. Rhule wanted the Giants but Carolina absolutely gave him the farm at 7 yrs with incentives up to 70mil plus a buyout of his contract at Baylor. As a courtesy Rhule called the Giants (before even interviewing) to see if they'd match that. Giants said no we have other guys in mind but thanks. Judge was hired by his alma mater MSU, and was going to take that job, but the Giants jumped on him as soon as Rhule was Rhuled out so as to not let Judge get away. Belichek spoke with Mara and endorsed Judge heavily. Garrett is interviewing for OC at NYG.

Not sure any QB could survive behind that line. Deshaun Watson is a mobile QB and has been sacked 10 times. The Giants have no clue how to fix the O-Line and it will haunt them for years. Jerry Reese's inept drafting set that franchise back 5 years minimum. Eli is not the problem but he isn't the solution either at this point. Last year and this year have definitely given him some paranoia just like David Carr or Matt Schaub. The Giants went all in on him but he is not the solution going forward. As much as I don't like the Giants, I always respected the way Eli has carried himself in NY. But it was probably time to move on.

Dak is vastly overrated. I wouldn't worry too much about him.

Eli's postseason runs in 2007-08 and 2011-12 were near flawless. Go watch the GB game in 07-08 where it was -25 degrees and he was dealing. Then go watch how he gutted it out against SF in the 2012 NFC Championship game. Only ignorant fans would say he didn't have a huge hand in it. Probably would have won back to back SBs in 07-08 and 08-09 had Plaxico not shot himself. Giants had beaten the Steelers decisively earlier that season.

There's one guy in NYC having a worse day than Eli Manning today....