What if Eli Manning can't go and David Carr actually has to play quarterback Sunday for our New York Giants against the Oakland Raiders?
Do you guys feel good about Carr driving the Giants' offense? Or, will you squirm uncomfortably every time he drops back to pass?
We know Carr's history of misery in both Houston and Carolina, and we know the Giants brought him to New York hoping to resurrect his shattered confidence. If he has to play, maybe we find out if they have done that, or if those experts who say the Giants are in trouble with Carr taking snaps were correct.
Offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride is expressing confidence in Carr. Which is exactly what you would expect him to do.
"I expect him to play well. Last time he played for us for any extensive period when we wanted him to do something was the Minnesota game and I thought he was outstanding. So I would be disappointed if he doesn’t play well because I think he will," Gilbride said.
Gilbride says the game plan won't change if Carr is the quarterback.
"As the game unfolds or as if it looks like there are some things that are not going as you planned or you thought it might, then you scale back and you adjust," Gilbride said. "But we do that if a receiver is not getting open, if the running game is not going as well as it should, if somebody is getting beat in pass protection. But going into it, I would be very disappointed if he doesn’t play well because I think he will."
To be honest, as I write this I still think Eli is playing. But, what about it, gang? Will you still feel good about Sunday if it's Carr under center?
Replacing Boley
When does one equal three or four? When it comes to how the Giants defense tries to replace injured linebacker Michael Boley, that's how.
[Chase] Blackburn technically will replace Boley in the starting lineup, but in reality it will take several people to replace what Boley was able to do. Losing him creates a chain reaction of change throughout the defense.
Because Boley is such an athletic linebacker, he was able to stay on the field in sub packages and help with pass coverage. Now the Giants likely will take the linebacker off the field in those situations and replace him with safety Michael Johnson as the nickel linebacker.
"That was the thing about [Boley] coming in: We knew he was going to be a linebacker who could stay in when we did go sub," Johnson said. "He could stay in and play coverages where normally we used to put a defensive back in."
That means safety Aaron Rouse, who joined the team two weeks ago after Kenny Phillips was put on injured reserve, likely will play more Sunday against the Raiders than he did in the previous two weeks.
Other Stuff
- NFL admits bad call last Sunday against Chiefs.
- SBNation.com now has its own weekly NFL Power Rankings, voted on by the football bloggers for each team. The Giants are No. 2 in those rankings behind Indianapolis.