1. ELI'S (STILL) COMING. There's an old saying I remember from my fraternity days, which actually weren't that long ago: Tear 'em down, build 'em back stronger (We won't get into that). In a way, it seems like that's what's happened with Eli Manning over the past year or so.

At some point during that December loss to the Patriots, the light in his head started flickering. During the playoffs, it shone bright. Baby Manning was all grown up, managing the game instead of trying to win it with every throw.

Well, against the Redskins, Manning's numbers were far from perfect (19-of-35 for 216 yards, one interception and no passing touchdowns), and he played with fire far too often with some near-picks. But you could see the beginning of the marriage of the gunslinger to the field general. On his third throw of the game, Manning threw into a hole in a cover-2 look from Washington, dropping the ball right between safety LaRon Landry and corner Carlos Rogers in guiding Plaxico Burress to his spot for a 30-yard gain. On the next play, Manning jackhammered a deep in-cut into a small window to Burress for a 19-yard gain.

Those tosses displayed Manning's self-assuredness. The "who stole my lunch money?" look is gone. The coaches have responded accordingly, and that's why you saw the Giants run more varied spread looks and more shotgun sets last night. Fact is, the Manning you saw in the Super Bowl -- at least for one night -- looked like he'd be sticking around for a while.

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2. WORTH EVERY CENT. Earlier in the day, agent Drew Rosenhaus and the Giants hammered out a deal that extends Burress' contract through the 2012 season and brings the receiver $35 million over the next five years. So Burress went ahead and spent the evening showing the Redskins -- and everyone else remotely interested -- why New York did that when he had three years left on his existing contract.

Burress may not be completely healthy, but the ankle that hampered him throughout last season is certainly in much better shape than it was then, and it shows. Either he was the first read on all of Manning's throws, or he was the only one getting open. Whatever the case was, Burress ran hitches and digs and go routes, and he looked about as complete as can be while rambling through the Redskins' secondary for 10 catches and 133 yards.

Burress deserves praise for playing through all the pain he did last season. But you almost have to wonder how he would've done in the playoffs if he had actually had full use of both his legs.

3. DRAWING THE LINE. Another workmanlike effort from New York's offensive line was reflected by the balance the unit helped provide on offense. The Giants ran the ball 32 times and threw it 35 times. They wound up with 154 yards on the ground and 200 yards through the air.

Manning was rarely touched while getting rid of the ball in a timely fashion. Brandon Jacobs, meanwhile, had a handful of runs in which he didn't have to make a single move before hitting the 5-yard mark.

No, the line isn't a star-studded group. But David Diehl, Rich Seubert, Shaun O'Hara, Chris Snee and Kareem McKenzie (who had his way with Redskins end Jason Taylor) consistently get the job done; this game was no different.

4. WHO NEEDS 'EM? Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan weren't in uniform. But they might as well have been.

The Giants defensive line has somehow retained its menacing look without its two strongest cogs from last season. The group is still deep enough to support a six-man rotation, and just days after signing him, the coaches saw fit to get Jerome McDougle some snaps in the nickel defense. That allowed Justin Tuck to move back inside to the 3-technique tackle spot where he wreaked havoc last season.

And get this: On Washington's second possession, a third-and-12 in the first quarter, the Giants dropped both Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka into coverage. They still got in quarterback Jason Campbell's face, despite sending just three rushers. Therein lies a big reason why the Redskins didn't get their initial first down of the game -- not counting a gift-wrapped one off a roughing-the-kicker call -- until 28:50 into the game.

Somehow, Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo rolls those guys out like they're coming off an assembly line. Bet there are some other people in the league wondering where they keep getting them.

5. DON'T READ TOO, TOO MUCH INTO THIS. Check this out: The last time a Super Bowl champion lost its opener was ... 1999. It took John Elway's retirement to precipitate that one.

Think about it. Emotionally charged atmosphere. Nationally televised stage. Prime-time audience. A team feeling "disrespected" (How original!) after winning it all.

It's not exactly a good spot for a new coach to walk into. This clearly wasn't Jim Zorn's best night. Early on, his team looked like John Daly's liver.

So please, don't read too much into this game, on either side. The kingpin almost always looks ready to win not just the next Super Bowl, but the next 10. For the Redskins, that trend was worsened by the presence of a new staff and system.

Just relax. There's a long way to go.

Staff writer Albert Breer covers the NFL for Sporting News. E-mail him at abreer@sportingnews.com.

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The New England Patriots went through an arduous 16-0 regular season last fall, in which their collective foot never raised a millimeter off the pedal. They played three big, physical clubs in the playoffs. They have a veteran team that has played 93 games the last five years, a period in which no one else has played as many as 90 (the Colts and Seahawks have played 89.)

So the idea the defending AFC champions have ramped down their approach to preseason isn't exactly far-fetched, especially for a team that opened camp with a dozen players on the physically-unable-to-perform list.

And here's the best evidence of truth in that theory: Tom Brady, for the first time in his nine-year NFL career, failed to take a preseason snap.

Even with all the success the Patriots have had this decade, there is no tougher team to read, just three days from the NFL season's dawn, than New England.

"We have not played very well," Brady said Monday. "If we want to go out there and play better, we have to perform much better in practice. We got off to a very good start yesterday and we have to build on that today. That is where you establish confidence. That is where you establish guys who know what to do, understand the scheme and can execute under game conditions."

To put it nicely, the Patriots' offense has looked like a shell of the unit that set a league record with 589 points in '07. The first team, sans Brady, failed to score a touchdown in preseason. New England, in turn, was outscored 67-9 in the first halves of their four exhibition games.

So how much of the problem can be traced to Brady's absence?

"The other guys gotta do their job within the system, but Brady is able to get rid of ball quick enough, so some of the offensive line's problems in protection, with that extra split second Brady gives them, you're not going to have that," one veteran NFL scout said Monday. "And opponents know he's gonna make those decisions quickly.

"There's always that confidence level, too, when you've got that guy. Not only does the opponent know it, but you also know it and that's going to help you be efficient."

The offensive line suffered most without Brady.

Part of the problem was health. Pro Bowl left tackle Matt Light missed the first three games of the preseason, and starting right guard Stephen Neal hasn't played since injuring his knee in the Super Bowl, an ailment that has landed him on the regular-season PUP list. In fairness, Light's return last Thursday brought marked improvement in the two series the first team participated in.

Still, some the poor strokes of luck earlier could've been mitigated by a lack of scheming in pressure by opposing defenses in the preseason.

Only they weren't. Matt Cassel, the starting quarterback in all four preseason games, was sacked four times in 38 drops, roughly 10 percent of the time. Without counting scramble plays, which would decrease the percentage, Brady was sacked on just 3.5 percent of drops in 2007.

In the Super Bowl, Brady was sacked five times in 53 drops, producing a percentage nearly identical to Cassel's preseason figure, and perhaps a sign that the Giants found a rusty cog in the Patriots machine.

"The Giants exposed kind of what we saw in preseason, if you get pressure on that front, their offensive line isn't that great," the scout said. "They can be attacked by athleticism. You can kind of see it when teams bring it with hybrid linebacker, if they're not able to run the ball. ...

"I think if you're able to slow their receivers and take away his first read, you make things more difficult, where he's processing information for a longer period, whether you do it by getting pressure in his face, or jamming receivers, or allowing them to run on you. They'll have to do something to adjust, because their protection could have problems."

Of course, there are a lot of contingencies.

But none will produce the kind of conclusive evidence on the state of the Patriots' offense like Brady's presence.

Brady said Monday he is not sure what effect losing preseason snaps will have on him. That's because, in playing no less than two preseason games in any previous season and no less than three in eight of his nine years, he never has been in this circumstance.

Brady, though, is the MVP. Perhaps the bigger issue, in the end, is the line. And who knows how much Brady can mask.

"It's more difficult," said our scout. "You can still see the weaknesses, but how many of those weaknesses are you going to be able to exploit with '12' in there? He changes things, because of the timing and quick decision-making he brings. It'll be interesting."

And for a group that returns virtually intact after a record-setting season, pretty unpredictable, too.

Staff writer Albert Breer covers the NFL for Sporting News. E-mail him at abreer@sportingnews.com.

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Probably not. But maybe.

What's important isn't that you don't know. It's that whomever the opponent is that week doesn't know. What's important is the people punching the clock at Gillette Stadium are the ones who do know.

Go back to the Steelers preseason game last week in Minnesota. On several occasions, the Pittsburgh offense broke the huddle and Willie Parker lined up as a shotgun quarterback, while the actual quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, scurried to the perimeter and lined up as a receiver.

Chances are, you won't see a lot of this look from Pittsburgh once the games count. But you can bet the Texans, the Steelers' Week 1 opponent, saw it. Count on the Browns, Ravens and Bengals being aware of this development too.

And Parker-on-the-direct-snap dynamic gives Steelers opponents one more thing to worry about, or waste time on.

Same concept applies in the case of the Patriots' handling of injuries. If the opponent doesn't know who will start, it has to prepare for two players more thoroughly than normal.

So it goes like this ...

On Tuesday, Bill Belichick was asked about wide receiver Wes Welker's health. "Wes, he's doing all right," the coach responded.

Last Wednesday, Belichick was pressed on Brady's status: "He's day-to-day." Belichick also was asked about left tackle Matt Light and right guard Stephen Neal: "I would say they are closer. They are getting better every day."

Neal, by the way, went on the physically unable to play (PUP) list Tuesday, sidelining him until at least Week 7.

Belichick's descriptions are vague and maybe even a little misleading.

But the Patriots have been on both ends of this. In 2005, then-Falcons coach Jim Mora had quarterback Michael Vick listed as "probable" for the balance of the week leading up to their game against New England. He didn't even dress, and Matt Schaub, a quarterback with a vastly different skill set, threw for 298 yards and three touchdowns as Atlanta almost upset the Patriots.

"It's just trying to preserve a competitive advantage," Mora told Atlanta reporters then. "If I give them an edge that I don't need to give them, then I think that is counter-productive to what our goal is."

So how did Belichick respond? By listing all 15 players on the club's first injury report that week as "probable."

Ridiculous? All these coaches play such kids games.

Coaches veil players' injury situations, as Mora said, "to preserve a competitive advantage."

Another case-in-point: On the Monday before last year's playoff loss to the Giants, Cowboys coach Wade Phillips told reporters that Terrell Owens didn't practice. Only problem was that those same reporters were in the locker room moments earlier, where players were saying how great T.O. looked at the club's workout that morning. From there, Phillips backpedaled like a defensive back.

Whether it's being vague (like Belichick did) or skirting the truth (like Phillips did) or emitting misleading signals (like Mora did), coaches aren't in the business of helping opponents. And by handing the other team their starting lineup, that's just what they'd do.

That brings us right back to Brady's situation.

On Monday, the Boston Herald's intrepid Karen Guregian spotted a walking boot, similar to the one Brady wore last year leading up to the Super Bowl, sitting in the quarterback's locker. The news was online minutes later.

As things usually go around star quarterbacks, speculation exploded in Boston. Is it worse than anyone thought?

On Tuesday, a pair of crutches were at Brady's locker. Meanwhile, the quarterback was off to the West Coast to handle a personal matter.

At the least, the joke on the media simply kept people guessing. Which is just the way the Patriots like it.

Staff writer Albert Breer covers the NFL for Sporting News. E-mail him at abreer@sportingnews.com.

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If NFL coaches needed more reason to feel sick about playing their stars in preseason games, Tom Coughlin, Osi Umenyiora and the New York Giants gave it to them over the weekend.

And you need not take too hard a look to find plenty more metaphorical caution signs littered along the road to Week 1. Over the last nine days ...

� Browns QB Derek Anderson was concussed by, yes, Umenyiora.

� Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew turned an ankle.

� Bengals QB Carson Palmer broke his nose.

� Patriots WR Wes Welker bruised his ribs.

� Redskins DE Jason Taylor sprained his knee.

� Bills QB Trent Edwards sustained a thigh contusion and, then, OT Langston Walker -- the temporary replacement for holdout Jason Peters -- went down with an arm injury.

� News broke that Chargers LB Shawne Merriman's season could be in jeopardy with tears to the PCL and LCL in his left knee.

Of course, all these injuries easily could've happened in practice. Or a regular-season game.

But then, in practice, the club has a serious modicum of control on the players' risk. And, of course, making the risk in regular-season games come with reward.

So it is, indeed, different.

"I think the number one thing that brings frustration, anxiety and knots in your stomach, all the things that go along with the injury to the players which do not allow your team to function as it is presented on paper," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said Sunday night. "Those types of things are very difficult for coaches, no matter what age you are."

The NFL will wrap up its preseason with a slate of 13 games Thursday night and three more Friday. These are almost always games played chiefly from the fringes of the roster. But that might be even more pronounced this week, with the warning so loud and clear: Tread carefully with your starters.

But for some teams, what's done is done. And here's where teams that have paid a pretty heavy price stand ...

Giants DE Osi Umenyiora

Injury: Torn lateral meniscus.
Recovery time: Four months.
Impact: That timeframe was given by Coughlin and -- when added to a Newsday report, quoting a doctor who says Umenyiora could return by October -- the club might not put Umenyiora on injured reserve. As things stand now, there is a serious domino effect to the defensive end's absence, regardless of its length.

Mathias Kiwanuka, the team's 2006 first-round pick, will move back to end from strongside linebacker, meaning the Giants will lack experience -- Gerris Wilkinson on the weak side and either Danny Clark or Zak DeOssie on the strong side -- around middle linebacker Antonio Pierce.

The bigger challenge for the Giants is replacing Umenyiora in nickel situations, a unit that wreaked havoc last year. The club's wealth of edge rushers allowed Justin Tuck to move inside on passing downs last year, where his explosiveness was a major headache for the guards he lined up over as a 3-technique tackle. That option might remain. How do you allay these problems? Hand the checkbook over to Michael Strahan, and pray he wants to come back.

Chargers OLB Shawne Merriman

Injury: Torn PCL, LCL.
Recovery time: TBD.
Impact: The Chargers have finished top five in the league in sacks in each of the last three years. While it's hardly all Merriman -- Shaun Phillips and Luis Castillo can get after it, too -- he has accounted for 39 1/2 of the club's 149 sacks in that time and, because of the attention he demands, helps other players arrive at the quarterback.

Second-year pro Jyles Tucker, who had three sacks and two forced fumbles in Week 17 last year, likely will get the first crack at Merriman's spot, with Marques Harris also in the running. But those guys can't come to matching Merriman's production.

And even if Merriman decides to play through the injury, an iffy proposition at best, his ability to play at his accustomed level is an obvious concern. If he is out, or not his normal, hard-driving self, chances are it will affect Phillips' productivity on the other side.

Bengals WR Chad Johnson

Injury: Torn labrum.
Recovery time: N/A.
Impact: According to multiple reports, Johnson has a torn labrum in his left shoulder, which he injured Aug. 17, and plans to play the season through it, rather than have season-ending surgery. It's not unprecedented -- then-Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas finished the 2005 season after tearing his labrum on November of that year, and Patriots cornerback Ellis Hobbs played the last half of the 2007 season after suffering a similar injury against the Colts.

But the injury isn't to be taken lightly, and it reveals the need the Bengals felt to re-sign troubled wideout Chris Henry, even if he'll serve a four-game suspension to start the season.

Yes, Cincinnati has T.J. Houshmandzadeh and will have Henry after the suspension, but Johnson is the type of player who opens things up for the players around him, much like Randy Moss does for guys like Welker in New England. Compounding the problem for the Bengals is that rookie wide receivers Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell have been slow to come around.

Bottom line: If Johnson plays through the year and produces, he'll deserve the bump in money that he'd like to have. Without him, the Cincinnati passing game would lack the game-breaking element Ocho Cinco clearly provides.

Staff writer Albert Breer covers the NFL for Sporting News. E-mail him at abreer@sportingnews.com.

6

The defending AFC champion New England Patriots made a couple of their preseason games look close, by virtue of strong second halves that narrowed the gap in the final score. But the truth about how they've been playing lies in the moments that count most.

In the first half of three preseason games, a total of 90 minutes of action, the team that went 16-0 last season has been clobbered by a cumulative score of 54-9. And each week, things have gotten progressively worse.

The Patriots were down 13-3 at the break against the Baltimore Ravens, and 17-3 after 30 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. On Friday night, the Philadelphia Eagles carried a 24-3 lead into the locker room, which easily could've been 31-3 if Hank Baskett hadn't bobbled and lost the ball as he approached the goal line in the second quarter.

Yes, the Patriots were missing five pretty important pieces -- reigning NFL MVP Tom Brady, left tackle Matt Light, guard Stephen Neal, defensive end Ty Warren and outside linebacker Adalius Thomas -- on Friday, all of whom would've made a difference. But the Eagles were without starting receivers Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown, and Donovan McNabb still went 13-of-17 for 180 yards and a touchdown. And to blame the Patriots' early woes on the absence of several front-line players would be an indictment of the roster for its lack of depth.

Of course, you can't forget that this is the preseason, and Bill Belichick typically keeps his masterful plans tucked away until the real games begin. In recent years, a lack of preseason success hasn't hurt the team in the regular season. From 2004-07, the Patriots were 7-9 in exhibitions, yet went 52-12 in the regular season during that stretch, winning four AFC East titles, two conference championships and a Super Bowl.

That said, the third preseason game -- when starters for both teams tend to get more playing time -- has typically been the one in which the Patriots have turned it on in recent seasons. In five of those six more telling preseason games from 2002-07, New England won by double digits. This time around, they did anything but turn it on.

Last week, Pro Bowler Mike Vrabel said that players' performance in one-on-one matchups was more important than the final score. But the Patriots didn't win those matchups against the Buccaneers on Aug. 17, nor did they take the lion's share of them against the Eagles.

"There are no excuses for us," cornerback Ellis Hobbs said. "We can't be up and down, with the media and the fans, because it's a roller coaster and you allow your emotions to set in, especially so early in the season right now. The season hasn't even begun. I'm not necessarily saying we don't have problems that we need to correct, but (it's about) having the sense and poise to know these things can be corrected and it's not too late."

Among scouts who saw Friday's game, there was a consensus the Patriots' starting defense was playing slow; one scout went so far as to say the Patriots "got old in a hurry." Indeed, the starting lineup is one of the NFL's most seasoned, with five defensive starters who are 31 or older.

Time to sound the alarm? Not quite.

"We have been on both ends of these kinds of games," Belichick said. "It is not a game on the standings. It is a reflection on what happened on that particular night, but there are still a lot of things that we can learn from on all those plays, and that is what we will try to do."

It's even more difficult to separate real from perceived problems this time around, with Brady out. Which brings us back to the burning question: Does New England's rough preseason start mean anything?

It may take a while to find out. The Patriots' first game against a 2007 playoff team comes in San Diego on Oct. 12. A road game against the New York Jets on Sept. 14 is a potential land mine, but if the Patriots play to their capabilities, they should be 4-0 when they face the Chargers.

Unless, of course, they show up like they have so far. If that happens, 0-4 would be more likely, no matter who's on the other sideline.

Staff writer Albert Breer covers the NFL for Sporting News. E-mail him at abreer@sportingnews.com.

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