Thursday Night Football: New York Giants at Chicago Bears
By Jason Lisk
Where does Eli Manning rank among quarterbacks to start 0-5 in a season. Several guys have done it at the start or end of their careers who were good. In 2003, Drew Brees and the Chargers started 0-5, but he wasn’t Drew Brees yet, and San Diego drafted Philip Rivers the next season. Other guys didn’t make it all 5 starts (Aikman as a rookie, for example). The best players in their prime years were probably two Bengals. Boomer Esiason saw the Bengals fall apart in the early 1990’s, and they started 0-5 in 1991 on the way to a 3-13 season. Over a decade earlier, Ken Anderson was the quarterback when Cincinnati started 0-5. That team would rebound after drafting Anthony Munoz and reach the Super Bowl. The 1990’s Benglas? Not so much.
The Giants are at an interesting crossroads. Old veteran coach in Tom Coughlin. Quarterback entering his thirties in Manning. Despite the turnovers, most of the problems on offense revolve around the offensive line in blocking, and lack of consistency in the running game. The defense has a host of problems all its own and has seen the front seven fall apart, further exposing the back. The Giants weren’t good defensively last year and that has not changed.
The Bears, meanwhile, look to rebound after two straight losses. Those losses came against two teams that will be in the playoff picture in the NFC. The Giants will not (unless the NFC East produces no winning teams). It is the kind of game that a team with playoff aspirations must win at home.