Yes, it’s preseason. But here’s the debate to be had – the suggestion has been made that switching QB coaches from Chris Palmer to Mike Sullivan has somehow caused a regression in Eli’s abilities. Off the cuff, it sort of makes sense. I’ve wondered myself what mantras have changed in the coaching transition from Palmer to Sullivan, and although it is Eli Manning’s 8th season this is the sort of blame assignment that fits right in here in NY. But evidance to the contrary is worth noting before we jump to any conclusions.

Our own Sean Kerr wrote something in December of 2010 that is starting to creep back in to the conversation, and rightly so.

Now 30 years old and heading into his 8th season, Manning has become one of the franchise’s top leaders. Although #10 has been to and won a Super Bowl, has 5+ years of experience under his belt and is considered one of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks it seems that Eli Manning has not yet reached his full potential. That is good news for Giants fans and potentially bad news for Quarterbacks Coach Mike Sullivan. Sullivan, who spent the previous six years coaching the wide receivers, made the transition to QB coach this season, after Chris Palmer retired. Palmer coached Manning to the Super Bowl in 2007. It is worth pointing out here that Eli was tied for 1st with the most interceptions thrown in that season.

So Sean basically nailed it — even when Palmer’s voodoo was in Eli’s ear in 2007 he led the league in INTs. So what gives? Is there a debate here to be had?

Probably not.

But let me set this debate up anyway. During that 2007 run the Giants obviously focused on ball protection from the top down. They executed beautifully with the only turnover from Manning coming in the Superbowl via a hot ball off Steve Smith’s hands in the red zone after a tremendous drive from the offense down to the Patriots 5 yard line. Look – the only reason they were playing in that game to begin with is because the Giants minimized their mistakes when it mattered most.

So in all likelihood, the point driving this whole debate is that Palmer’s mantra at that exact time HAD TO BE:

PROTECT THE FOOTBALL, MAKE GOOD DECISIONS, GET RID OF IT IF THERE’S NOTHING.
PROTECT THE FOOTBALL, MAKE GOOD DECISIONS, GET RID OF IT IF THERE’S NOTHING.
PROTECT THE FOOTBALL, MAKE GOOD DECISIONS, GET RID OF IT IF THERE’S NOTHING.

Now, over the past 2 seasons however under new coaching, Manning and his offense have looked nothing like the glory days of 2007 and 2008. The offense has gotten more complex, the receivers have changed, Eli is throwing more passes for more yards and more TD’s. And he now has a receivers coach in his ear instead of Palmer’s mantra that obviously works because it won the Giants a championship. So what is it that Sullivan is saying or not saying that is causing the problem with Eli Manning? Whatever it is, it’s likely not whatever Chris Palmer was saying.

So that’s the debate as I imagine it to be. There may be something to it, but because Manning is dealing with a different offense that’s trying to do different things, and so many of those INTs came off tipped passes last year – it’s not that cut and dry for me. I think it’s intriguing, but certainly not a smoking gun scenario.

But what do you think?

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But I’ve got the game up now thanks to my subscription to NFL’s Preseason Live and I’m slowly going through it. The first point of contention we come to of course — Eli Manning’s first interception and the Giants first turnover of the preseason.

My thoughts:

• The clock wound all the way down to zero due to communications issues — problem #1.

• No one got to the blitz, and the defense had a quick, free shot at Eli… problem #2.

• Back foot throw to a receiver that wasn’t expecting that quick of  a pass… problem #3.

• Poor decision to throw that ball instead of away, problem #4.

Now, this was the Giants first turnover of the season and if you view it through last seasons turnover template — it falls into the forced pass/bad decision category.  These are the kinds of things that need to get worked out, and I think will get worked out.  As the season progresses, this play will receive more work and study, and guys will know what’s coming.  Eli will not have to put the offense at such a disadvantage by bringing the play clock down to zero.   And in the event that nothing is there, Eli needs to get used to either taking the sack or throwing the ball away or spiking it.

It’s preseason, nothing to get overly worked up over… and the offense looked pretty good up until that point.  Going for it on 4th down and Jacobs getting the physical extra yard, loved it.  That INT play looked sloppy from the outset and does not in any way make my nervous about the 2011 offense.  It will get better.

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“I’m happy with the team’s performance. You know, I feel like we could have played better on offense. It was one of those weird games….it started with the first play of the game; we had a great first play, and then we had a 2nd and 1 and all of a sudden 3rd and 7, then we get an offsides and it’s 3rd and 12. So it was kind of one of those deals where we had a 2nd and 1 and don’t convert on that. So I thought we had some good things. We need to be a little more consistent. We need to be better in the passing game, had some throwaways, some protection stuff, we had some drops, some bad throws by me — just a combination of all those things that didn’t lead to being very efficient in the passing game. But we ran the ball well, I thought we communicated very well, better than the first week. You know, the line talking to each other, the receivers and everybody being on the same page. I thought we played well and played smart.”

The full interview can be heard here:

[via Sports Radio Interviews]