Gamble.pro

Okay, I’ve had enough and now I’m ready to finally come right out and say it: The Mannings – yes Peyton too – are overrated.

I’ll pause and let you shout at your computer screen. (This is especially needed for all the members of the media that worship at the Manning temple every Sunday.)

If you’re read this blog at all in the past then you know that I’ve never been high on Eli. I’ve predicted that he couldn’t carry the Giants to the win all year and when it came to time for his to put up or shut up, Eli stumbled and fell.

But I must say, Peyton is a bit overrated too. Oh I don’t mean he isn’t a good quarterback. In fact, he is one of the best.. of all time. I’m not arguing against this point. Look at his numbers. They are incredible.

But somehow Manning has become known as an MVP and a quarterback that can win a game on his own. Well, he can win games one his own but not big games. And more often than not, those games that Manning pulls out were actually won by a defensive interception or a mistake by the opposing offense.

Don’t believe me? Just go back and look at the games. Go back and look at this season.

Manning was horrible early on when he didn’t have his entire o-line. Then he gets back his o-line, spends the second half of the season playing mostly bottom feeders in the NFL, and suddenly he is annointed MVP. Excuse me? No, I mean really.

Look at all the talent surrounding Manning. For years he has two of the top 6 wide outs in the NFL. He also had one of the best tight ends. He also had one of the best o-lines. Any decent quarterback would be very good and any good quarterback would be great.

Again, I understand the Peyton is one of the best of all time, but I also understand that he only one one Super Bowl with superior talent. That’s not good. In fact, that just might fall under the “choker” label.

And let’s not even talk about Eli. He only won because Asante Samuel dropped an easy pick in the Bowl last year. He only won because of a super-human pass rush. Take those two things away and he… well he looks like he did this past week. He loses and looks horrible.

So, yeah let’s stop with all this Manning loving okay? They need help to be good. Remove that help and they aren’t winning any big games. It’s just that plain and simple.

Okay, I’ve had enough and now I’m ready to finally come right out and say it: The Mannings – yes Peyton too – are overrated.

I’ll pause and let you shout at your computer screen. (This is especially needed for all the members of the media that worship at the Manning temple every Sunday.)

If you’re read this blog at all in the past then you know that I’ve never been high on Eli. I’ve predicted that he couldn’t carry the Giants to the win all year and when it came to time for his to put up or shut up, Eli stumbled and fell.

But I must say, Peyton is a bit overrated too. Oh I don’t mean he isn’t a good quarterback. In fact, he is one of the best.. of all time. I’m not arguing against this point. Look at his numbers. They are incredible.

But somehow Manning has become known as an MVP and a quarterback that can win a game on his own. Well, he can win games one his own but not big games. And more often than not, those games that Manning pulls out were actually won by a defensive interception or a mistake by the opposing offense.

Don’t believe me? Just go back and look at the games. Go back and look at this season.

Manning was horrible early on when he didn’t have his entire o-line. Then he gets back his o-line, spends the second half of the season playing mostly bottom feeders in the NFL, and suddenly he is annointed MVP. Excuse me? No, I mean really.

Look at all the talent surrounding Manning. For years he has two of the top 6 wide outs in the NFL. He also had one of the best tight ends. He also had one of the best o-lines. Any decent quarterback would be very good and any good quarterback would be great.

Again, I understand the Peyton is one of the best of all time, but I also understand that he only one one Super Bowl with superior talent. That’s not good. In fact, that just might fall under the “choker” label.

And let’s not even talk about Eli. He only won because Asante Samuel dropped an easy pick in the Bowl last year. He only won because of a super-human pass rush. Take those two things away and he… well he looks like he did this past week. He loses and looks horrible.

So, yeah let’s stop with all this Manning loving okay? They need help to be good. Remove that help and they aren’t winning any big games. It’s just that plain and simple.

Okay, I’ve had enough and now I’m ready to finally come right out and say it: The Mannings – yes Peyton too – are overrated.

I’ll pause and let you shout at your computer screen. (This is especially needed for all the members of the media that worship at the Manning temple every Sunday.)

If you’re read this blog at all in the past then you know that I’ve never been high on Eli. I’ve predicted that he couldn’t carry the Giants to the win all year and when it came to time for his to put up or shut up, Eli stumbled and fell.

But I must say, Peyton is a bit overrated too. Oh I don’t mean he isn’t a good quarterback. In fact, he is one of the best.. of all time. I’m not arguing against this point. Look at his numbers. They are incredible.

But somehow Manning has become known as an MVP and a quarterback that can win a game on his own. Well, he can win games one his own but not big games. And more often than not, those games that Manning pulls out were actually won by a defensive interception or a mistake by the opposing offense.

Don’t believe me? Just go back and look at the games. Go back and look at this season.

Manning was horrible early on when he didn’t have his entire o-line. Then he gets back his o-line, spends the second half of the season playing mostly bottom feeders in the NFL, and suddenly he is annointed MVP. Excuse me? No, I mean really.

Look at all the talent surrounding Manning. For years he has two of the top 6 wide outs in the NFL. He also had one of the best tight ends. He also had one of the best o-lines. Any decent quarterback would be very good and any good quarterback would be great.

Again, I understand the Peyton is one of the best of all time, but I also understand that he only one one Super Bowl with superior talent. That’s not good. In fact, that just might fall under the “choker” label.

And let’s not even talk about Eli. He only won because Asante Samuel dropped an easy pick in the Bowl last year. He only won because of a super-human pass rush. Take those two things away and he… well he looks like he did this past week. He loses and looks horrible.

So, yeah let’s stop with all this Manning loving okay? They need help to be good. Remove that help and they aren’t winning any big games. It’s just that plain and simple.

Game : Manchester United (3rd-41 points) vs Wigan Athletic ( 7th-31 points)

Venue : Old Trafford, Manchester

Date : January 14, 2008 (Wednesday)

Competition : English Premier league

Kickoff : 20.00 GMT

Manchester United have the opportunity to go above second placed Chelsea in the Premier league table when they host in form Wigan Athletic at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.

United crushed a listless Chelsea 3-0 at OT on Sunday- a performance that will give them great confidence going into this game. Sir Alex Ferguson opted to leave Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes on the bench, and started with Darren Fletcher and Ryan Giggs in central midfield, with Park Ji Sung and Ronaldo on the wings. Giggs performed extremely well, and is likely to be rested for this clash, with Carrick or Anderson taking his place. Youngster Jonny Evans put in a composed performance in central defence, and he will continue to deputise for the injured Rio Ferdinand on Wednesday.

Manchester United form- last five games- all competitions

Man United 3-0 Chelsea ( Nemanja Vidic, Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov)
Derby 1-0 Man United ( league Cup)
Southampton 0-3 Man United ( FA Cup- Danny Welbeck, Nani, Gibson)
Man United 1-0 Middlesbrough ( Dimitar Berbatov)
Stoke City 0-1 Man United ( Carlos Tevez)

Wigan Athletic have won six of their last seven Premiership games. Steve Bruce’s men shocked Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, with Maynor Figueroa heading home the winner in stoppage time. Wigan have a poor record against United though, with the last seven games between these two sides all going United’s way.

Wigan Athletic recent form- last five games- all competitions

Wigan 1-0 Tottenham ( Maynor Figueroa)
Tottenham 3-1 Wigan ( FA Cup- Henri Camara)
Bolton 0-1 Wigan ( Amr Zaki)
Wigan 2-1 Newcastle ( Ryan Taylor, Amr Zaki)
Wigan 3-0 Blackburn Rovers ( Emile Heskey, Luis Valencia, Lee Cattermole)

Corresponding fixture last season :-

Man United 4-0 Wigan Athletic ( Carlos Tevez, Cristiano Ronaldo*2, Wayne Rooney)

Wigan are in good form, but I think Man United will prove to be too much for them. United to win 2-0, with Berbatov and Carlos Tevez scoring.

After being horrible on Saturday with my picks, I actually got both picks right on Sunday. I picked the Eagles and the Steelers to win and they both did.

When the Philadelphia Eagles took the field against the New York Giants they looked like a very confident team. They didn’t care if they were playing the #1 seed and the defending champions. They knew they could win and that’s exactly what they did.

Yesterday I said the Eagles would try to stop the run and force Eli to beat them. I said that Eli wouldn’t be able to beat the Eagles and he couldn’t. In fact, Eli was slightly off for most of the game and he threw a couple of costly picks. Perhaps now the media will stop being so in love with Eli. He is still nothing more than a slightly above average quarterback who benefited from a crazy defense last year.

As the Eagles go on to Arizona they have to love their chances. But they shouldn’t love their chances all that much. However, I’ll cover that more toward the end of the week.

As for the Giants, they will now move forward with the knowledge that they have to try to resign one or both of their top backs. If not, look out… Eli needs a running game to be effective and if he doesn’t have one then the Giants will struggle next year.

In the AFC, the Pittsburgh Steelers looked really good, especially in the second half. They took care of the San Diego Chargers. It was actually the Steelers offense that looked really good. But their defense was solid too.

This sets up a huge battle against Baltimore next week. Baltimore has also looked very good. However, Baltimore relies on turnovers and luck too much. Sorry, but they do. However, I will get to that later in the week as well.