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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 16 2008, 11:43 AM (32 Views) | |
| 27Hampton | Nov 16 2008, 11:43 AM Post #1 |
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| 27Hampton | Nov 16 2008, 11:45 AM Post #2 |
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By RALPH VACCHIANO DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Sunday, November 16th 2008, 10:16 AM Eli Manning is not the same bewildered rookie... Eli Manning is not the same bewildered rookie... ... he was when he last faced the Ravens in 2004. ... he was when he last faced the Ravens in 2004. Ray Lewis is facing a different Manning, the Super Bowl MVP and team leader. Ray Lewis is facing a different Manning, the Super Bowl MVP and team leader. Eli Manning says he doesn't remember the details, but it's much more likely he just doesn't want to remember. It was the worst game of football he had played anywhere, on any level. It was also the only time in his NFL career that he was benched. And that's exactly where Manning was the last time Ray Lewis saw him in a game that mattered, back on Dec. 12, 2004 in the fourth start of Manning's rookie year. He was standing on the sidelines, arms folded, eyes glassy and a cap on top of his head - a head that Lewis had been in from the moment that game began. "It was a long time ago," Manning said this week. "I've come a long way since '04." Yes he has, but the memory of his 4-for-18, 27-yard, two-interception performance (and 0.0 passer rating) in Baltimore that day still lingers in a few corners of the Giants' locker room and offices, and the wound was reopened a bit this week with the Ravens coming to town for a game this afternoon. The defending Super Bowl champs (8-1) haven't faced the Ravens (6-3) in a regular-season game since Manning experienced that nightmarish 37-14 loss. The last thing they want is for anything like that to happen again. "When you get utterly dominated like that it sticks with you forever," said receiver Amani Toomer. "We want to atone for that." Manning, of course, is much better prepared to do that now and he's nothing like the lost, sometimes-confused, and often-overmatched rookie that the Ravens saw back then. He's not only the reigning Super Bowl MVP, but he's improved his accuracy (60.5%) and is cutting way down on his mistakes (14 touchdowns, 6 interceptions). He's bigger, stronger, and much more poised, too. But perhaps the most important change is the 66 games of experience he's had since then, and the hundreds of different defenses and formations he's seen. The Ravens, under the on-field direction of Lewis, are masters at showing one look, then running another defense entirely. Lewis in particular enjoys messing with a quarterback's head. Four years ago, this is what he said he saw in Manning's eyes: "A lot of confusion. You could tell we were really getting to him." This is what Lewis thinks of Manning now: "I think he has made some great improvements in just being safer with the ball and things like that," Lewis said. "When you watch him play now, when people are getting to him, he's making some plays, getting out of the pocket and making some big throws." Of course, getting to quarterbacks - both mentally and physically - is a Lewis specialty. The coaches and schemes may have changed, but the 33-year-old future Hall of Famer still is like a maestro standing in front of his orchestra. On his command, linemen shift, corners and safeties move up and back and linebackers go from side to side like a well-choreographed ballet. They'll stay in one spot just long enough for the quarterback to make his adjustments, then right on cue Lewis will send them somewhere else. |
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2:03 PM Jul 11