MNF Thoughts: Giants-Browns

Y'know, folks, there are weeks when it doesn't really matter what your won-loss record is against the spread, just so long as you get one very good win. For me, that was a spirited and long defense of how Peyton Manning is, well, a hell of a lot better than Eli Manning, first five weeks of the season be damned... and tonight, as Eli threw his third, fourth and fifth pick of the year, with the last one in the red zone after a long Giants drive, with a 14-point turnaround on the single play.

Oh, and extra credit to Eli for going for the strip on the pick runback, then whiffing entirely on Browns CB Eric Wright, who took it to the house.

From there, we were treated to a ton of high-def ESPN close ups of Sad Eli, and at that point I, like most of the other people watching sports, were off to the Phillies-Dodgers game. (Just in time to see Shane Victorino tie it up in the eighth, then Matt Stairs absolutely unload on the go-ahead homer. I've had worse times.)

And this, please and pray tell remember, is why Eli is not Peyton, even if this week is just the aberration that it, well, probably is. Eli's night ended with a misfire on a fourth and two in the red zone again. Heckuva night for the Browns defense.

Now, was Eli really the reason why the Giants lost for the first time in 2008? No, not really; the Giants defense got absolutely no push on pass rush, didn't control the running game, and basically made Derek Anderson look as comfortable as possible in his career resurrection night. Braylon Edwards kept breaking ankles of members of the Giants secondary, and when you win by three touchdowns, it's rare that you can put the blame on just one guy.

BUt well, such is the nature of New York, and such is the nature of being a good but not great QB that many people have talked themselves into great. Eli is just going to throw a mess of picks every year. He can do some things, and no one assails the leadership skills anymore. But you take the good with the bad, and the bad is some back-breaking interceptions. More curious will be how much grief he gets over it, especially since the G-Men could have more or less wrapped up the division tonight.

He's no Peyton. And Gregg Easterbrook eats paste. But we all knew that, right?