Week 2 Film Review: Eli's Toughness Andy Benoit takes a closer look at some games from Week 2, with the benefit of film analysis: Giants O vs. Bucs D Yes, Eli Manning was spectacular down the stretch. Not talked about enough is Manning's toughness under duress. He may be the best in the league at throwing with a defender in his face. He loses none of his arm strength (which is top notch and also underrated) and accuracy under pressure. And he masterfully contorts his body immediately after releasing the ball in order to soften the inevitable blow. It's just spectacular quarterbacking. Maybe more impressive than Manning was the Giants' offensive line. Not only did it render Tampa Bay's four-man pass-rush irrelevant, but it also astutely picked up every blitz the Bucs brought. The Bucs, by the way, need to improve their timing and angles in pressure packages. This was best exhibited on Victor Cruz's game-changing 80-yard touchdown. Cruz burned safety Ronde Barber downfield, but with the Bucs blitzing their slot defender, the play was never supposed to last long enough for Cruz to get downfield. Manning and the Giants had no trouble identifying and adjusting to this blitz. With Manning generally having all day to throw, Tampa Bay's corners were inevitably beaten in man coverage, while their young linebackers were inevitably exploited underneath. Bucs O vs. Giants D Despite some early hiccups with blitz identifications, the Bucs' offensive line did a good job in pass protection, keeping New York's four-man rush at bay. The line wasn't as successful in the ground game (Jason Pierre-Paul was a beast; Rocky Bernard showed up a few times). Josh Freeman made several outstanding strong-armed throws outside the numbers. Before the late fourth quarter, however, Tampa Bay's offense didn't have great rhythm. The Giants didn't seem to fear any of Tampa Bay's receivers; only Vincent Jackson consistently made them pay for that. In the end, this offense still managed 27 points (with the help of good field position). But its ground game wasn't able to protect a lead. Greg Schiano clearly wants to win with a traditional grinding offense. He didn't get that Sunday. Saints O vs. Panthers D With Robert Meachem now in San Diego and Devery Henderson (concussion) out, the Saints have an average receiving corps. That was evident Sunday. Marques Colston was mostly irrelevant and Drew Brees didn't bother even looking for whatever receiver was on cornerback Chris Gamble's side of the field. Brees's timing and rhythm were off most of the game. He seemed to be a beat slow (by his incredibly lofty standards) in progression reads, which caused him to make some uncharacteristically poor throws when crowded by defenders. Credit the Panthers' defense for its solidity in coverage. It managed to contain even tight end Jimmy Graham. From a play-calling standpoints, the Saints didn't look like the Saints. Graham and Colston were not moved around the formation as often as usual. There was less shifting. The Saints used a lot of conservative base packages, calling a lot of conservative runs from those packages. The only true new wrinkle they showed was using Darren Sproles at wide receiver early on. Sproles finished with 13 receptions, but about half of them were check-downs. Panthers O vs. Saints D The Saints had trouble stopping Carolina's read-option, particularly when the Panthers ran it out of three-receiver sets. Those sets compelled the Saints to spread out and play with just two linebackers. All the Panthers had to do was run to the opposite side of the box safety. There were other significant facets to this fairly lopsided contest. Carolina's offensive line dominated New Orleans's defensive front (center Ryan Kalil and right guard Geoff Hangartner were particularly impressive). The Saints fifth-round rookie cornerback Corey White (starting because of injuries to Jabari Greer and Johnny Patrick) made some mistakes that Cam Newton and his receivers exploited. One of those receivers, Brandon LaFell, looked quick and fluid, having his best game as a pro. If he plays like this every week, the Panthers will be very difficult to defend. Texans O vs. Jaguars D Not a lot to dissect in this one. The Texans did what they do and the Jaguars did what they do. The Texans were (and are) the better team. Jacksonville played in a base zone the entire game. They kept at least one safety back extra deep (the Andre Johnson factor). The Texans attacked this vanilla look with screen passes and underneath dumpoffs. Jacksonville's fairly middling four-man rush was rendered irrelevant by a lot of Houston's zone play-action disguises. On the ground, running backs Arian Foster and Ben Tate had little trouble locating space at the second level. That changed a bit in the second half when Jacksonville's linebackers finally started attacking more downhill. But by then, it was too late. Jaguars O vs. Texans D This wasn't simply a case of Blaine Gabbert laying an egg. Yes, Gabbert's inexperience showed. He didn't throw with great anticipation at times, and the limitations of his presnap diagnostic skills were evident. But it wouldn't have mattered who was under center. The Jaguars' offensive line couldn't block Houston's pass rush (even when it was only a three- and four-man rush). The backup right tackle Guy Whimper shouldn't have even been allowed on the same field as defensive end J.J. Watt. The backup left guard Herb Taylor (starting because of injuries) looked every bit like someone who hasn't played since 2008. He didn't get much help from left tackle Eugene Monroe. Exacerbating the passing game woes was the fact that none of Jacksonville's receivers got much separation against Houston's bracket coverage concepts. It didn't help that the wideouts were running mostly isolation patterns (a staple of Mike Mularkey's offense but something that simply won't work for this group).