Giants' head coach Tom Coughlin isn't waiting until the final preseason game to announce Kurt Warner will start the season opener.

I'm not surprised. I think a veteran QB is just more in keeping with Coughlin's comfort zone. My guess is by mid-season Eli will be starting, either because Kurt self-destructs or gets hurt.

[ August 29, 2004, 11:52 AM: Message edited by: Munson Man ]

I'm sure the fact that the Giants first game is at Philly factored into the decision (along with Eli's awful performance in their most recent preseason game against the Jets, of course)....as Mel Kiper said on ESPN Radio this morning, look for Manning to get his first start in game 6 (following the Giants bye week) at home against the Lions.

Not surprisingly, following in the footsteps of his always classy father and brother, Eli took the high road in responding to Coughlin's decision by saying, "I wasn't upset by it. I figured it might come. It doesn't change anything. I still have a lot to learn".

~Joe

I really can't fault the decision. Warner is a SuperBowl MVP veteran and seems to be back in form(??) and Manning is obviously the QB of the future if not right now.

Warner knows his role is not the #1 QB. Rather his job is to bring the rookie along so Manning can replace him.

In a way it's sad for Warner. But then... he got his starting position at St.Louis via someone else's mishap too.

Warner actually got the Rams starting job thanks to Rodney Harrison's illegal, below-the-knees hit on Trent Green during a Chargers preseason game in St. Louis (that somehow wasn't even penalized )....I wouldn't feel too sorry for Kurt though -- the expectations for the Giants this year are VERY low and if he somehow is able to lead them into playoff contention (doubtful as that may be) he'll be a hero again....if not, he always has his Chuck Knoblach-lookalike wife, Brenda, to go home to and sooth his postgame wounds. eek!

~Joe

It will be interesting to see what will happen to Warner.

Still I wish him well.

DUDE!!!! eek!

Chuck Knoblauch like wife????? That is too funny. But I gotta say, If she does look like Knoblauch, I wouldn't mind having her as my wife either. wink

The Gints problems is they have no OL and Warner is the second coming of the statue of liberty back there. If they give warner some time, he will find the open guy, key is giving him time and not letting him get hit.

He better to pray to god he gets a running game.

However, this is a division game to open the season so anyone can win. Tiki gives the Birds fits, and Dayne has looked fairly good in the pre-season.

With that said, hope the statue gives way so the philly faithful can give cry baby manning a nice warm welcome to the NFL....

With the exception of Donovan McNabb the entire division consists of nothing but highly immobile QB's....with Testaverde, Brunnell and Warner at the helm maybe the NFC East should be renamed the "statue of liberty" division -- even Patrick Ramsey, despite his youth (and good looks wink ), is not exactly fleet afoot himself.

I'll bet you could get some damn good odds in Vegas that the trio of Vinny, Kurt and Mark will NOT be able to make it through 16 weeks collectively (or even any one of em individually, for that matter) solely due to injury....and that's not even addressing the likelihood that any of the three will be benched due to poor performance or simply to give one of the youngsters (Eli, Henson or Ramsey) an opportunity to start.

~Joe

[ August 31, 2004, 11:30 AM: Message edited by: gamecock ]

If "chunky's" not careful, all those campbell soups he's been eating will slow him up too.

The Giants will start rookie Eli Manning next week. I guess back to back impotent offensive outputs against the Bears and Cardinals and losing 3 of their last 4 was enough for Tom Coughlin.

"He is not your ordinary rookie," Toomer said. "He does some special things with the football."

:confused: eek!

What up
New to the site.
I think Eli replacing Kurt is a little premature. I don't know how well or not well Eli will do, and I wish him the best of luck. I just don't think Kurt's performance, or lack there of, warrants him being second string to this kid yet. Warner is part of the reason they are in playoff contention. Either way I wish the Giants good luck.

Welcome to Outsports.

I'm surprised at this move. That's a move a team makes when they're way out of it or when the starter is an utter waste (like Brunell).

Thanx for the welcome Joe, I appreciate it.
Yeah it just seemed a little hasty to me. I think I would understand more if Kurt was the sole problem there, but the offensive line needs some changes. Kurt isn't even getting adequate protection. I think Kurt has the misfortune of being in the targets of the NYC press and the whole NFL still looking at him with an extra scrutinizing eye just because they want to see if he can be the old Kurt he was prior to the Rams losing the Superbowl to the Pats (had to plug my boys). The chips were stacked against Warner from day one. They want him to perform like he did with the Rams when they ain't even got the ingredients to cook the same meal.

Kurt Warner has completely lost it. While I don't think Manning will be much better, Warner is just playing TERRIBLY; and it just feels like another slump he won't be able to pull himself out of.

Eli Manning is bound to be a little more mobile than Warner and possibly a bit better at avoiding the sack, but I don't know if I would start him. Maybe bring Manning in in the second half--if needed, but not start. And, welcome to the board, PRDNFL.

~Adam

Totally agree, Cyd. In fact, I was going to post those exact same words. I watched the game @ ARI and in the second half, Warner was a mess. It seemed like he had a 2-second delay going on in his head on every play. Maybe he's taken too many shots to the head? :confused:

PRDNFL - Welcome aboard, fellow PATS fan.

There seems to be a trend toward pushing the young guys in there early. They probably looked at Roethlisberger's success in Pittsburgh and thinking "we gotta get on the move with these rookies". Just a whole cultural thing of "do it now" that we have I suppose. Use not to happen in football so much, because it's so physically taxing, but that seems to be changing. Wonder if that explains the difference in performance between the two conferences - younger more mobile QB's in the better one. If so, expect more of it.

Even though the Giants lost the game, Eli Manning looked pretty good and was able to avoid all but one sack. Much more mobile than Kurt Warner. And Michael Vick was very classy following the game, telling Manning he played a good game and that he's "going to be just like your brother in due time."

~Adam

Manning actually did much better than his stats indicated. In the first half alone there six balls dropped - a couple of which would have resulted in drive-prolonging first downs. Jeremy Shockey alone dropped two and missed another catchable ball. I think most Giant fans realize the future looks much brighter with Eli.

It's amazing that Warner had this team in playoff contention with this downright lousy receiving corps. Toomer, Hilliard and Shockey drop so many catchable balls. I guess they are putting all the balls on the ground that Tiki Barber used to. Manning won't win much this year, but the Giants ahd better address the receivers and that putrid offensive line in the offseason or Manning won't win much next year either.