Most Mondays in this space, I’m going to write something about football. Why?  Because I want to.  Sunday was a big early-season day for both NY, or if you prefer, New Jersey teams, as both the Jets and Giants won to go to 2-0.  Both teams are now alone in first in their divisions.  You could make a strong case that the Jets 16-7 victory at home over New England was the bigger win because it could be seen as a shift of power in the AFC East, while the Giants win in Dallas was less surprising.

However, this morning’s topic will be the huge games Sunday night from Steve Smith and Mario Manningham in the Giants’ 33-31 win over the Cowboys in the debut of the new Dallas Cowbows Shrine to Themselves and the numbers 10 of 13.

Lets take a look at the numbers first.  Overall, Eli Manning was 25-38 for 330 yards and two touchdowns.  Of those 38 passes, Manning threw 26 times to  Smith and Manningham, 13 times each.

Does a this feel familiar?  The 10 of 13 numbers sure do.  Just a little over one year ago, Manning targeted Plaxico Burress 13 times and completed 10 of those passes in the team’s season-opening 16-7 win over the Redskins.  It was a very different game from the see-saw last second win in Dallas; the Giants were in control throughout, and the teams didn’t score in the second half, but the comparison between Big Blue’s passing attack in 2008 and 2009 is illuminating.

- Manning was much, much better on September 20, 2009, than he was on September 4, 2008, not just by overall yardage, but by yards/attempt as well.

- SS and MM accounted for 86% of Manning’s passing yardage and 68% of his targets in Week 2, while Burress accounted for 37% of Manning’s targets a year earlier, but 66% of his production.  Manning targeted Smith and Manningham individually 34% of the time, very close to as often as he looked for Burress a year ago.

- Burress’ Week One last year is almost exactly a dead ringer for Steve Smith’s Week Two this year.  However, Smith had the second-best day by a Giant receiver this time out, while Burress was the majority of the team’s whole passing offense early in 2008.

- What about the others?  In 2008, I chalked up Manning’s 9-22 to “others” as both evidence of 1. his underlying inaccuracy and 2. the others lack of playmaking ability to create space and get open.  The 2008 others were Sinorice Moss, Derick Ward, Smith, Amani Toomer and Brandon Jacobs.  The 2009 others were Kevin Boss, Domenik Hixon, Derek Hagan and Ahmad Bradshaw.

- In 2009, Manning was 0-1 throwing the ball to Jacobs and just 1-4 in the 2008 game.  The less the offense throws to Jacobs, the better?

Moving Forward

- Simply, two is better than one.  At this point in the season, the Giants in 2009 are better for having two legitimate threats on the outside than they were in 2008, when Burress was Manning’s only trusted receiver.

- Did the Giants get a Draft Day steal in Manningham?  He had a huge 2007 as a Michigan Wolverine, and looked like a first-round pick, but slipped to the Giants with the final pick of the third round at #95 on the heels of a slow 40-yard dash time (4.59) at the combine, admitting that he smoked weed, and concerns about his intelligence, magnified by a terrible Wonderlic test score.

- Smith is finally looking like the receiver the Giants thought they were getting when they drafted him out of U$C in 2007.  With 16 receptions thus far, he’s already almost 30% of the way to equaling last year’s production and his one touchdown matches his 2008 total.  Clearly, Smith has benefited from his time with Eli and from the absence of Burress.

- Fantasy Implications: Smith, Manningham and Manning’s stock should be up after their week two showings, especially Manningham who was available on the waiver wire entering Sunday’s play in most leagues.  In my first draft in August, I picked Smith in the tenth round and wasted a pick on Sinorice Moss in the 13th on the theory that Eli would have to throw to someone.  I now have a waiver claim in on Manningham in both of the leagues I play in.