TEXAN 2-STEP
O’Brien dances away from Eli criticism
If Bill O’Brien sees any erosion in Eli Manning, he certainly wasn’t going to admit it in a conference call with reporters Tuesday.
“These guys gain so much experience over the years. They’ve seen it all. Eli has seen it all. There’s not really one defense he hasn’t seen,” the Texans coach said ahead of his Sunday matchup against the Giants. “And we have a lot of respect for Eli and the way he approaches every game. It’s a tough challenge for us.”
O’Brien saw the best of Manning, the peak of the quarterback’s career, as an assistant under Bill Belichick in the two Super Bowls.
Since that second Giant Super Bowl victory in 2011, however, Manning has advanced to the playoffs just once and has not won a postseason game.
He looked especially shocked and immobile in Sunday night’s loss to the Cowboys, leaving the Giants 0-2 and in desperate need of a victory against Houston (0-2).
The Giants’ offense has been a disaster, overall, starting with the quarterback and offensive line. But O’Brien still sees the potential.
“I think obviously with Eli back there, he’s a real experienced guy, a guy who really understands the offense, getting them in and out of the plays, and trying to get them into the best play possible,” O’Brien said. “Then you look at their skill players: Saquon Barkley is really a top-notch running back. You’ve got Odell Beckham, great receiver. Then you got other guys. They’re an offense that has a lot of weapons and they pose a big challenge to us on Sunday.”
O’Brien also has a history with Barkley, whom he helped recruit at Penn State the year before he left the head coaching position there to return to
the NFL. O’Brien said he met Barkley once during that process, when Penn State was playing Michigan.
“Great guy. Really humble, really humble guy at that time. I think he was committed to Rutgers and we were trying to get him to Penn State,” O’Brien said. “And then I left and obviously followed his career. He’s a great player, very hard to tackle, definitely a three-down back. He’s good in the passing game. Obviously a really good runner. A very, very difficult matchup.”