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Ray, sorry man but I doubt it. Eli came into a tough situation in 2004, I think he replaced Warner and lost a ton of games. But those Giants (6-10?) still weren’t as bad as these Raiders. The big knocks on Eli were toughness, leadership, and accuracy. Two of those three had more to with being a rookie on a team of big names & egos. His physical tools were never really lambasted, nor, I think, was his decision making, despiute the predicatbale few zillion-INT games. In the meantime, the Giants have put a stellar roster around him, especially with the O-Line. He’s become a leader through the team’s natural turnover and building from within. He hasn’t changed much physically since then, although perhaps experience has made him much more reliable. His biggest asset, the crunch-time drive, is something I feel is part of his personal makeup, which has been honed, not learned.
I’d say JaMarcus Russell is probably the worst QB in the league. The front office (read: Al) doesn’t seem to have the gumption to build around him or focus on the trenches. WHat you have is what you have, and I see the guy’s best outcome as being traded to a team with a good QB coach and O-Line, where he could become a serviceable, but not top-filte, QB. He seems to lack good decision-making skills, but it’s hard to tell what’s him, and what’s on the OC.

I understand that QBs must have them. Eli went through some serious ones and the NY Metro Area Media is ruthless to athletes that don’t produce immediately so he was scrutinized. The one thing that really stood out though is that even though he was lambasted by the media about how he’s not the one, how he’s got a noodle for an arm, how he thows too many picks, etc, etc…his work ethic and preparation for games was never questioned.

Going through some growing pains is a part of it and some of that is on the coaching staff and the executive office not really setting him up to succeed. They don’t have to call to many homerun plays and maybe take some pressure off him by pounding the run Mike Bush more and maybe drafting an oline before they get a shiny new receiver. The worrisome thing is what we have been hearing lately from people in the media (as Rich Gannon and Jeff Garcia) is that JRuss has been slacking, not preparing, and has been fined for being overweight. Something you dont want to hear from someone struggling is that they are kind of letting up.

I’ll never forget that GW throw to Plax in OT in his first year against the Eagles.

He was very inconsistent with his footwork, but by all accounts the guy has the type of work ethic and smart you want from a QB. Also, according to big Bro, Eli has always been a tough bastard and also supposedly has a stronger arm than Peyton.

He deserved some of the criticism, but its just cuz its NY and it seems that 80% of fans and media are completely incapable of dealing with the growing pains of a young QB.

Dredful in his mop-up duty in a few games this season. He probably would do fine, like the Vikings game last season he started, if he got 1st team reps in practice the week of the game.

Jacobs is fine. Tony Siragusa started this and its way blown out of proportin. The guy had 90+ punishing yards on 20+ carries in each game. The only thing that’s missing is Jacobs springing for a 30 or 40 yarder…which would give him the 130yards or so that would pass the eye test.

He’s doing nothing out of the ordinary other wise. He’s fine.

As for the D’s biggest weekness? The first 2 weeks showed a suspect run-D, tho while our last 2 opponents arent’ very good, they both have decent running games and they were completely shut down.

The pass D is #1 in teh league so far, so that’s not it.

Id say its the injuries, tho that is gonna be a strenght as the season goes on. ALl the young guys like Bruce Johnson and even vets who wouldn’t see much time, but are, like Chase Blackburn and CC Brown, are getting valuable reps in actual games.

Injures are the only real weakness of this team overall. And that’s just in the present. In the future, once all these guys come back, its gonna be a strength.

The only ‘bad injury’ is the rookie Clint Sintim and that’s cuz a rook not playing cuz of injury (and not practicing too…) is not really gonna help his career.

Carr has looked a little antsy in the pocket at times. Seems that he still doesn’t have faith in a good O line. Maybe still traumatized from his Houston days.

Jacobs carry average can be a direct reflection of teams still stacking the box. Look for this to change with the emergance of Swiss and Ham (there Free, I’m starting to use your name). As far as our o line, yeah, we’re happy with them. These guys are as solid as they come.

So far our biggest weakness on defense has been our health. We just can’t seem to get everyone healthy at the same time (case in point, Boley just had knee surgery today and is out up to six weeks).

the method of posting wasn’t great, but it’s actually a really cool blog. I recommend checking it out

Tough stuff, we’re in the same shape.
To answer your question: First, a regular season game is a game no matter whom it’s against and they all weigh equally. Coughlin and his staff and the team don’t have our fan’s attitude that the game is a gimme. Therefore, they are putting their best team who can play on the field.
More specifically, the type of injury Eli is dealing with is not one that is very likely to impede his mechanics, nor become especially aggravated by game play. It recovers with rest, and Eli got rest this week. It’s not a surgical issue, it’s a rehab issue, a condition, and the chances of aggravation do not outweigh the impetus on winning the game. At this point I’d say it’s 90% likely Eli starts.
Two side notes: First, to declare Eli out if he truly cannot play could necessitate the signing of Rhett Bomar from the practice squad, bumping someone else off the roster and, from my limited understanding, could result in the loss of Bomar upon his re-demotion.
Lastly, you don’t make the sort of announcement: Eli’s iffy, we’re going to play Carr because it’s just the Raiders — that’s the kind of bulletin board material that could induce the Raid’s best performance of the year.

the NFL is a better league when the Raiders are good, so it’s sad to see them like this. Hopefully Al Davis wisens up a bit and realizes the game has passed him by and hires someone to run the football operations.