Storylines For Monday

I keep forgetting that the Giants aren’t playing Sunday, but rather Monday, which means an extra off day, though it also gives me a chance to watch some other games around the league on Sunday.

This weekend (like every) is big for the Giants. And now here’s why…

The return of Plaxico Burress to the offense will be a big time story for the pre-game show I would imagine and it will be mentioned by Mike Tirico and Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser excessively throughout the game for those watching who don’t know what happened between the star and his team. But for those watching who don’t know what happened, they have have either been living in a cave for a month, don’t own a TV, don’t use the internet, or have never read a newspaper. Plaxico should try his best to make a few catches and plays early on, so that we don’t have to hear about him being a distraction for three hours.

How did the Browns get to be so bad? This is a team coming off a playoff season of 10 wins and they are now 1-3 with their only win coming against the Bengals who are winless. Romeo Crenell received a contract extension and now people are wondering whether that was a good idea or not. The former Giant assistant coach will definitely try to be making a statement on Monday and this win would be huge for the Browns season as well as Crenell’s status with the organization.

How good is Eli Manning? Many places think that he is now better than Peyton Manning. Don’t think ESPN isn’t one of them and will try to drive that point home hard in Monday Night Countdown and throughout the game itself on Monday. This will be Eli’s second game of the year on national TV and the first since opening night. But a lot has happened since then. His team has posted a 4-0 record and are ranked No. 1 in the NFL. His brother’s team has gone 2-2 and very well could be 0-4 had it not been for some miraculous (and miraculous might not even cover it) comebacks. You will hear A LOT about the Mannings on Monday, so be prepared. Hopefully Eli can put on a show for those watching.

What happened to Derek Anderson? Anderson was looked upon as the next big thing out of Cleveland a year ago and now Clevelanders (if that’s what they are called) are counting down the days until Brady Quinn takes snaps for the Brownies. Anderson has had some trouble this season and looks nothing like he did in 2007, but then again the team’s defense has disappeared and you can’t win games solely on offense. Anderson should get a few more shots at being the QB and even with a loss this Monday, I can’t see him losing his job in a loss to the top ranked team.

The Giants are 4-0. The Browns are 1-3. The Giants were suppose to be a disappointment. The Browns were suppose to be a contender. This game is a huge deal for both teams involved as the Giants obviously don’t want to lose, or lose to a 1-3 team, or compromise their first place position in the NFC East. With a nationally televised game, the elements of the game are enhanced and the players will try to play on another level (whether they admit it or not). The G-Men cannot get caught up in the hype and they just need to go out and play their game and play smart football for 60 minutes and they will be 5-0.