Seventeen catches for 227 yards with zero touchdowns was Manningham's stat line through 6 games entering Sunday's contest against the Miami Dolphins. That's pretty underwhelming -- especially given the lofty pre-season expectations surrounding Manningham. But Mario put his abilities on display this week, catching 7 passes for 63 yards and a touchdown in his team's 20-17 comeback victory over the winless Miami Dolphins. Manningham got the best of a rookie cornerback for much of the game, beating him on a 7 yard fade route to score his first touchdown of the season with only :08 seconds remaining in the first half. With a record of 5-2, Manningham's team the New York Giants are comfortable leaders in the NFC East; all other teams in the division hold a record of 3-4.
Honorable Mention: Tom Brady went 24-for-35 (69% completion percentage) with 2 touchdowns and zero interceptions this week but threw for only 198 yards—his lowest total of the season—as the Patriots lost by a score of 25-17 to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The game ended with a Brady fumble that went through the Patriots' end zone for a safety.
Honorable mention Jason Avant? He had 5 receptions for 74 yards, and no touchdowns. It doesn't look that impressive, but watching the game I felt every 3rd and long, they'd go to Avant, and Avant didn't disappoint.
ReplyDelete@ Anon 9:00 a.m.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Avant's stats don't exactly jump off the page and slap you in the face, but it sounds like he came up big at key points in the game. Like you suggest, stats are useful but don't always perfectly measure the IMPACT of a player's performance.