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| E-GIANTS GIANTS AND JETS: By Aaron Klein
Did they shudder in fear? Act irrationally? Make rash decision based on imagined pressure from above? Well, they did kick a safe field goal, one Josh Brown made, instead of going for a touchdown in what would have been a bold yet calculated move designed to test the meddle of their own offense. Instead, head coach Tom Coughlin puts the easy three points on the board. But such a ho-hum move failed to land him on the back of the New York tabloids or splashed all over the sports media universe. The Giants grabbed headlines because of a rash of injuries, the latest of which were a season-ending knee injury for safety Stevie Brown and a turned ankle for No. 3 cornerback Jayron Hosley. Coughlin also must contend with a six-week layoff for right tackle David Diehl following thumb surgery and a potentially four-to-six-week rehab for center David Baas, who injured his knee in the Preseason Week 2 loss to Indianapolis. Back to rash decisions and crazy explanations. So, the Giants fell behind late in the third preseason game against the Jets on Saturday night, and Coughlin stuck with quarterback Curtis Painter because he's trying to evaluate the young veteran. It seems that the battle for the No. 2 spot is between Painter and incumbent David Carr; rookie Ryan Nassib seems safe as the No. 3 quarterback who may not take a snap in the regular season. The Jets were also trying to evaluate the quarterbacks. Rookie Geno Smith was awful during his playing time, so bad that head coach Rex Ryan seemingly had his answer, at least for the week. Instead of Matt Simms (Phil Simms' second son) or Greg McElroy seeing playing time, Ryan instead threw No. 1 quarterback Mark Sanchez to the wolves, putting him out on the field with 11 minutes remaining in a meaningless game. Saturday night, Coach Crazy gifted Sanchez with a porous, inexperienced offensive line, no-name receivers and a bunch of Giants defensive linemen trying desperately to win a roster spot by knocking someone into the dirt. Sanchez got hit, hard, by none other than Giants' defensive tackle Marvin Austin, who might not make the team but finally did something right. Sanchez gripped his shoulder, but Ryan left him in there for six more snaps before he fumbled it away, then put him back in on the next Jets' possession for a few plays, only to yield to Simms when Sanchez' shoulder pain prevented him from continuing. In the post-game interviews, Ryan explained his bizarre decision to insert his best quarterback (arguably) into a messy preseason game with 11 minutes left by insisting that he was trying to win the game. What? Imagine if Coughlin had put Eli Manning back into the action because the team had fallen behind, only to have the incumbent starter get rocked and come up hurt. This is not to compare Manning and Sanchez, not in the least. Manning is eons ahead of Sanchez in every way, but the point is that in the chess game of professional football, this isn't a move any rational coach makes. In fact, there were rumors running rampant that Sanchez balked at going back into the game. While that cannot be confirmed, it's hard to imagine otherwise. He's probably had enough. One would think that Jets' ownership has also had enough, but there is enough murky evidence that the owner, Woody Johnson, is encouraging this type of behavior in general terms. That, or that Ryan has decided that the only way to get out of this mess, one that he has had a hand in creating in the first place, is by self-destruction. At the Sunday press conference, Ryan chose to turn his back to the media corps to give his non-answers. He claimed he didn't know what else to say, and that might be the truest words we've ever heard from the bombastic, self-aggrandizing son of Buddy. Somewhere in the middle of all this is new general manager John Idzik. How it must feel to inherit this debacle, try desperately to right the ship, only to have his coach and possibly his owner working against his every move. Imagine, again, the Giants in the same situation. After Manning was acquired from San Diego during the early minutes of the 2004 draft, he was already anointed as the second coming of his older brother, Peyton. As the season progressed, Eli did plenty to impress the coaching staff but not enough to clearly win the job. He saw some spot duty and, finally, was handed the team while starter Kurt Warner hit the bench. Manning learned a lot from the veteran Warner, who gave his blessing and understood the move. Manning, not Warner, was the quarterback of the future, and the team chose to bring him along gently at first, then throw him in the pool and wait for him to learn to swim. By the time the 2007 season had ended, Eli and Coughlin had their first Super Bowl trophy. The Jets, on the other hand, have been cursed with quarterback after quarterback and disaster after disaster no matter the coach or even the owner. The Giants' offensive problems are not -- contrary to popular negative griping every time there's an incompletion or interception -- because of Eli Manning. At this point, the 2013 troubles will stem from an assortment of injuries, inconsistencies, errors of judgment and uncertainty in the backfield. The looming question: Will David Wilson or Andre Brown will emerge as the No. 1 or will they share the load … or will the whole experiment crumble? Imagine, for the third time, Coughlin turning his back during a press conference or walking out in the middle of one because he didn't like the line of questioning. Imagine. You should be happy you're a Giants fan. Don't change. Have something to say? Ask a question? Check out Dave's website at E-GIANTS
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