MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

Eli Manning remains starter for New York Giants...

It was state the obvious day for Pat Shurmur.

The New York Giants coach announced Tuesday that Eli Manning would continue to be Big Blue's starting quarterback on Monday Night Football against the San Francisco 49ers.

Shurmur added that he expects Manning, and the rest of his team, to play better coming off the bye week.

With no other legitimate options on the roster, sticking with Manning was the clear path, despite the veteran QB's continued struggles.

Backup Alex Tanney is no coach's idea of a starting NFL quarterback. Rookie Kyle Lauletta hasn't even been active for a regular season game, and last we saw was coming off an arrest for traffic incident -- Shurmur added the fourth-round pick will not be suspended for the episode, but there were internal consequences. Until Lauletta dresses for a game and perhaps gets his feet wet in mop-up duty, starting the rookie isn't a realistic option.

Therefore, despite the proclamation before the bye week that New York would evaluate each position, the verdict came back as expected. The immobile Manning will continue to start for the 1-7 Giants behind an offensive line that would struggle to block trash emails with a spam filter. (NFL.com)

 

Pick the 9ers

 

I did (in this week’s office pool).

 

Sam Darnold: I’ll treat sitting out as a learning experience...

The Jets haven’t ruled out quarterback Sam Darnold for Sunday’s game against the Bills, but the rookie’s foot sprain is expected to keep him from playing this weekend.

That would mean Josh McCown gets his first start of the 2018 season and Darnold said Wednesday that he would look at that as a chance to improve mentally while healing physically.

“Obviously, I want to be out there with the guys. I want to go out there and play,” Darnold said, via Newsday.com. “Hopefully if I’m able to go out there and play Sunday, I will. If not, I’m just going to treat it as another learning experience. When adversity hits, it’s up to me on how to respond. That’s all I need to worry about.”

McCown last started a game on December 10 last year, which might lead some to wonder if the lesson on Sunday is that it’s tough to jump into an NFL lineup after not playing for a year. McCown said that he will be ready to go

“That’s not the plan,” McCown said. “Part of being in professional football is the expectation is to go out and play at a high level. That can’t be allowed to be an excuse and it won’t be. I’ll go out and expect to play to my standard and to the standard of this football team and win a football game.”

The chances of pulling that off will be helped by the fact that the Bills are on track to start Nathan Peterman in a game that’s shaping up to be the opposite end of the spectrum of the Tom Brady–Aaron Rodgers matchup from last weekend. (NBC's PFT)

 

So, really, all McCown and the Jets will need to do is NOT turn the ball back over after Peterman does and let their kicker kick some field goals to keep them in the lead?

 

Eli Manning: I’m only worrying about Monday night...

When Giants head coach Pat Shurmur confirmed that quarterback Eli Manning would start against the 49ers on Monday night, he said that he “explained to Eli that everybody needs to play better” and made no guarantees about what would happen at quarterback after Monday night’s game.

On Thursday, Manning said that “it’s always helpful to know where everyone stands” when asked about Shurmur’s message. That didn’t appear to be the relationship that Manning enjoyed with former head coach Ben McAdoo ahead of McAdoo’s decision to bench Manning last season, although one imagines it wouldn’t make it any easier to find out that the Giants no longer want him in the lineup.

Manning acknowledged the “urgency to get things going” without mentioning what might happen if he can’t do better, which makes sense because he said he’s only thinking about Monday night.

“We worry about this week,” Manning said, via NJ.com. “We have the 49ers. I have a job to do. I’m going to do it to the best of my ability.”

The Giants will be home to face the Buccaneers in Week 11 and any thoughts of making a change during a short week will likely be predicated on what the Giants get from Manning in Santa Clara on Monday. (NBC's PFT)

 

Matt Barkley to start for Bills at quarterback, Nathan Peterman benched

How bad is Bills quarterback Nathan Peterman? So bad that he’s been benched for Matt Barkley, a quarterback who has bounced around the league for years and only signed with the Bills last week.

The Bills made the surprising announcement today that Barkley will be their starting quarterback Sunday against the Jets. First-round rookie Josh Allen and veteran Derek Anderson are both out with injuries, and the newly arrived Barkley will start ahead of Peterman.


That says a lot about Peterman, who opened the season as the starter but has been brutally bad this year. At this point, it’s surprising that Peterman even has a roster spot. Perhaps he won’t once Allen and Anderson are healthy.

Barkley hasn’t played in a regular-season game since 2016, when he started six games for the Bears. He showed flashes of talent at times that season, but he struggled for the most part, finishing the year with eight touchdown passes and 14 interceptions.

Both teams are relying on backup quarterbacks on Sunday. The Jets will start Josh McCown at quarterback ahead of Sam Darnold. (PFT)

 

Philip Rivers quietly having an MVP-caliber season...

If a quarterback is on pace to throw 38 touchdown passes and six interceptions, finish the season with a 116.5 passer rating and lead his team to a 12-4 record, then he has to be the MVP favorite, right?

Not when that quarterback is Philip Rivers, who is having the best year of his career with the Chargers but isn’t really a factor in the MVP discussions. According to OddsShark, the overwhelming favorite to win the Most Valuable Player award is Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who is at -150 odds, followed by Drew Brees at +300 and Todd Gurley at +400. Rivers is way down there at +2000, making him an extreme long shot.


The biggest problem for Rivers is that he plays in the same division as Mahomes, who has set the world on fire this season. But Rivers has been close to Mahomes this season: Mahomes is on pace to throw more touchdown passes (52) than Rivers, but Mahomes is also on pace to throw more interceptions (12) than Rivers. Their passer ratings are virtually identical, with Mahomes at 116.7, less than one ratings point ahead of Rivers.

Mahomes and the Chiefs beat Rivers and the Chargers in Week One, and ever since then, Rivers and the Chargers have been playing catch-up. But as long as the Chargers can stay within one game in the loss column of the Chiefs, they’ll get a huge opportunity when the teams meet at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday, December 13. That game could be for the AFC West title, and it could be Rivers’ opportunity to state his case for the first MVP award of his career. (PFT)

 

Andrew Luck plays his fourth consecutive game without getting sacked...

Early this season, there were major concerns about Andrew Luck‘s shoulder injury, and the Colts’ ability to keep him from getting hurt again. Those concerns are fast disappearing.

Luck has been playing very well lately, and he hasn’t been taking many hits. In fact, today’s win over the Jaguars was Luck’s fourth consecutive game without taking a single sack.

The credit for that should go to a combination of Colts head coach Frank Reich (who has put together a very good offense to help Luck get the ball out quickly), the Colts’ offensive line (which is much improved from last season) and Luck himself.

Luck has been playing some of his best football in recent weeks. Over the last four games, Luck has completed 83 of 126 passes for 981 yards, with 14 touchdowns and four interceptions. And, of course, zero sacks.

At 4-5, the Colts still have an uphill path to the playoffs. But they’ve won three straight games and are starting to look like the team they hoped they’d be, with Luck leading the way. (PFT)

 

Patrick Mahomes leaves quickly after game because of family emergency...

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes broke a record and won a football game Sunday, but there was no celebration.

According to Brooke Pryor of the Kansas City Star, the stepfather of Mahomes’ girlfriend “suffered a medical emergency” while at the game and died.

Brittany Matthews posted about her loss on Instagram.

“Today is a day I will never forget,” she wrote. “Directly after this picture I sprinted to the front entrance to see my step dad passed out! He did not come back from this and he was called to heaven today! I KNOW 100 % he is so happy up there with his kids looking down on us cheering loud that his Chiefs won today! Thank you everyone for the prayers and sweet text! We will miss you Paul So So So much! I will take care of mom for you!”

Mahomes left immediately after the game, and wasn’t available for interviews.

Our thoughts are with the family for their loss. (PFT)
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So tragic.

 

Bills cut Nathan Peterman...

Nathan Peterman kept his job far longer than anyone expected. He kept it longer than he should have, too.

But the end has come for Peterman in Buffalo.

The Bills announced they waived Peterman on Monday.

The sign that the end was near came when Matt Barkley, who signed Oct. 31, was named the starter for Sunday’s game and led the Bills to a 41-10 win over the Jets.

Peterman opened the season as the Bills’ starter but went only 5-of-18 for 24 yards and two interceptions in the loss to the Ravens. He threw 13 interceptions on 133 career regular-season and postseason pass attempts.

He has thrown three career touchdowns and three pick-sixes.

Peterman finished 1-3 as the team’s starter in two seasons after the Bills made him a fifth-round pick in 2017. (PFT)

 

Peterman actually won a game?

 

Peterman has only 1 game over 100 yards and that was his last one. It was also the only game with double digit completions. He has 2 games with double digit QB ratings, 4 single digit ratings, 1 less than a digit rating and a 0. We can throw out one of those single digit ratings wince he was only in for 2 throws and was 2 for 2.

 

Still do not be shocked if some other team gives him a look within the next year. His numbers as a whole are much worse than his average. He'll probably have some preseason time. Not that the eye-test helps any.

 

How’s Peterman’s GoFundMe retirement account doing?

 

Better than your go fund/ my eight ball account is doing

 

My 8-ball account is a-ok... and PAID IN FULL.

 

Its up to $359

https://www.gofundme.com/nathan-peterman-please-retire

 

Lamar Jackson expected to make first start...

The Ravens are expected to start Lamar Jackson at quarterback Sunday against the Bengals, according to multiple reports. It would be the first-round draft pick’s first career start.

Starter Joe Flacco, who was listed as doubtful with his hip injury, is not expected to play.

Flacco has a hip injury, but he does not need surgery, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. Flacco also could miss next week’s game against the Raiders, but his injury is not considered long term.

Late this week, it appeared Robert Griffin III might have to start after the Ravens sent Jackson to the hospital Thursday with an illness.

But Jackson apparently is healthy enough to play.

Jackson has played 86 offensive snaps this season, but his only extended time at quarterback came in mop-up duty against the Bills in the season opener.

“He’s working every day, right through training camp, right through the season, at practice, and then extra after practice, meetings,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said earlier this week. “[He’s a] very diligent, very smart, very aware quarterback. He sees the game well, and then now all the process that goes into just training that eye has been valuable. So, we have seen improvement, and in practice, he looks good.” (PFT)

 

There is still 2 minutes left in the 3rd but Wentz sux.
Fitzmagic lost his rabbit.
I haterize 2 yd passes.