When Eli came in

We were 5-4, Warner was shellshocked and had a band throwing hand. We had lost a couple in a row and Warner was ineffective.

... at least on offense. Pretty similar actually.

But we had better defensive play. Not by much, but better.

Well the offense was on the decline. It want producing. On top of it, Warmer kept getting sacked and losing the ball.

Then they lost two in a row to fall to 5-4 with Warner's turnovers playing a big part in both losses. Warner had begun to fumble the football nearly every time he was hit. The Giants had to make a change IMO.

before ELI started. That's 400 yards combined.

In comment 14579804 WillieYoung said:

Quote:

before ELI started. That's 400 yards combined.

WOW! That's horrible!!!

By a superb coach who used both his eyes and metrics to make and support the decision. I remember reading about how Coughlin suspected Warner was hanging out the OL to dry and proceeded to time all of Warner’s dropbacks to empirically prove to himself his insight was correct and grounded in fact.

Now, remember when superb football minds used to make rational decisions for the Giants. Aye, so green was my valley...

with back up WRs and no defense to create a short field. Am I right in thinking we have created no turnovers on defense. I would play him the 2nd half of the season to get his feet wet for next season. Then find pass rushers and go back to the 4-3 defense.

.. holding the ball and on pace to fumble 20+ times as his grip was slipping. Luke's back was a mess and had allowed 4 sacks in back to back games. The passing game could somewhat move the ball but couldn't score - he only had 6 TD passes. In other words the winning record made people inappropriately fond in hindsight.

The coaches couldn't keep trotting him out there to become vegetable for the sake of keeping the vested vets at bay who threatened revolt if they rebuilt. They had to move on.

So Coughlin benched him. To be fair Eli couldn't run it either until after 3 or 4 years.

had turned into a damn fumbling machine. (I was wrong about Eli being better, of course.) As others have said, Warner started holding the ball forever, then fumbling as soon as any contact was made.

Different team though. That team had a lot of successful, big-name vets who weren't interested in rookie growing pains. This team is a lot younger.

In comment 14579932 arniefez said:

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So Coughlin benched him. To be fair Eli couldn't run it either until after 3 or 4 years.

you mean he couldnt run it the 2nd year when they went 11-5?