Trainwreck In Jacksonville

Your mother always told you to wear clean underwear just in case you're in an accident. On Monday night the world watched a trainwreck unfold on live television in front of their very eyes while bearing witness to the fact that Eli Manning never learned that particular lesson from his mother. He didn't just have a bad game, he had a complete melt down. It wasn't only his continued, inexplicable, inability to throw a football. It was the defeat - defeat that was written all over his face and evident in his sagging posture. His feeble attempt to toss the ball away while being sacked was more than a simple act of desperation - it was a total nervous breakdown on national TV.

The issue has become larger than the destruction of a promising season - it has evolved into the possible destruction of a promising young quarterback. This young man, who supposedly is unaffected by the storm winds that swirl around him, may have lost more than the confidence of his coach and fellow teammates - he may have lost faith in himself. This is no longer about having a bad game - or a bad series of games. It is about his inability to throw an NFL football. Everyone has waited patiently for the superstar quarterback to finally emerge from behind the curtain where he has remained hidden. But over the three year watch, expectant hope has slowly evolved into a dawning realization that perhaps it may never be. At least not in NYC.

So, the trainwreck witnessed by millions on Monday night was not just the high hopes for a Super Bowl season being driven into a ditch. It was so much more. It was the hopes of this franchise - and the future of the head coach. Tom Coughlin has some tough decisions to make. This is no longer only about attempts to salvage the season. He now must be concerned about taking steps to avoid permanent damage to the psyche of the franchise quarterback.

The next two games will not only define the final act of this season. They will define the future of Eli Manning. Next up is Tennessee - the bottom of the barrel of the worst the NFL has to offer. It is a perfect opportunity for Eli Manning and the Giants to catch their breath and gather some much needed confidence. If they somehow manage to do just that and then, maybe - just maybe - go on to defeat the visiting Cowboys the following week, everyone will take a collective breath and all will potentially have been saved - the season and Eli Manning.

That, however, is the rosy scenario. A much darker cloud looms large on the horizon. Should Eli Manning continue his downward spiral and the Giants lose to TN followed by complete domination by the Cowboys in Giants stadium with Eli's meltdown on full display in front of the unforgiving faithful - the consequences will be much more than the complete collapse of a once promising season. It would place Eli Manning at the edge of a precipice with his very career hanging in the balance. And Tom Coughlin would then be facing some very difficult decisions for the Carolina game - decisions with lasting consequences for his quarterback, his coaching tenure, and the franchise itself.