The Giants' horrible offensive collapse against the Eagles on Sunday doomed many a fantasy football team. I haven't seen anything suck that much since the Shamwow.
There are plenty of reasons for their poor performance -- the weather was terrible, they were distracted by the Plaxico Burress saga, the Eagles had underperformed this season and needed a win to keep alive their playoff hopes. It wasn't the fact they lost to the Eagles (fantasy-wise, I don't care), it was the way their offense totally disappeared. Eli Manning finished with 131 passing yards. Jacobs, Ward and Bradshaw had a combined total of 100 rushing yards and no touchdowns. Hixon, Toomer, Boss and Moss were all shut down. Their leading receiver was The Other Steve Smith, with 47 lousy yards.
Hopefully this performance was just a glitch, but things don't get any better the next two weeks. The Giants head to Dallas on Sunday to face a team that has underperformed this season and needs a win to keep alive their playoff hopes. Hmmm. The Plaxico Burress (and now Antonio Pierce) saga is still an issue hanging over the team. The Giants played like garbage last week at home, this week they're on the road and Dallas is NEVER an easy place to play. The New York media is jumping on them and crazy bloggers are writing posts with titles like "Are the Giants Losing It?". Things aren't good in the Meadowlands right now, and I'm not even including the Jets.
The following week, the Giants will be home against Carolina. That doesn't look great either. Happy Fantasy Championship Game Week to you.
If your fantasy team is relying on Eli Manning or Brandon Jacobs, you probably have to start them. But if you have another option, give it a lot of consideration. The next two post-Plaxico weeks don't look good for the Giants.