Mike Sullivan former Giants QB coach

For the last eight years, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning has worked closely with coach Mike Sullivan. He’s worked even closer to him over the last two years, when Sullivan assumed the title of quarterback coach for the Super Bowl champs. Sullivan is one of seven Giants coaches who have been with head coach Tom Couglin’s since his tenure began with the Giants.

Mike’s success in grooming Eli as an elite NFL QB is bitter sweet. Personally, his success has led to his hire as the offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, under their newly-signed head coach Greg Schiano. But Mike’s success is a huge Giants loss.

“I’m extremely excited for Coach Sullivan, but I’m sad to see him go,” said Eli Manning. “We had a great relationship. He is a tremendous coach who pays attention to every little detail. He always had us well-prepared.”

As Coach Coughlin has said many time here, you get to the top of the mountain, you realize there’s one more mountain to climb,” Sullivan said. “I’ll always cherish the memories here with the Giants and so many wonderful people, not just coaches and players but front office people in the organization. That’s the difficult part, the relationships my wife and I have made with people in the community. We’ll always, always hold on to that and cherish that and be grateful for it. I’m just excited about taking this next step and this new opportunity. I feel very, very blessed.”

The question now is who will replace Mike Sullivan as the Giants QB coach, and what affect will that change have on Eli’s performance.

While Giants should be concerned, they should get a sigh of relief knowing that Giants GM Jerry Reese and coach Coughlin will find the right replacement. After all, remember Victor Cruz!

Are the Patriots playing up the ankle injury TE Rob Gronkowski suffered in the AFC Championship game? Both the Patriots and Giants know that Gronkowski’s contributions are a major factor in the success of the Patriots this year,.  Knowing the extent of his injury will certainly affect the Super Bowl XLVI game plans of the Giants and Patriots.

Early last week, Gronkowski’s dad Gordie gave away some injury information which the Patriots would rather keep secret.  Mr. Gronk told WIVB’s John Murphy (via CSNNE.com) that his son has a high ankle sprain.

On Sunday, Gronkowski got off the team plane wearing a walking boot on his injured left leg but at Tuesday’s Super Bowl Media Day he fielded questions in sneakers.

Was the leg boot and injury info released by Rob’s daid a ploy to affect the game plan of Giants coach Tom Coughlin?  It wouldn’t be the first time that Patriot coach Bill Belichick tried to get a leg up on his competition.

Remember Spygate?

Regardless of the status of Gronkowski, you can bet Coughlin and the Giants will have an answer for Gronkowski.

What NFC teams have the most first downs in 2011?  An intelligent answer would be one of the NFC Division contenders, like the Green Bay Packers (7-0), San Francisco 49ers (6-1), Detroit Lions (6-2) or New York Giants (5-2). But in fact, none of them are in the top 3 NFC teams with the most first downs heading into Week 9 of the NFL season.

The top 3 NFC teams with the most first downs are the New Orleans Saints (5-3), Philadelphia Eagles (3-4) and the Carolina Panthers (2-6). The Saints have accumulated 202 first downs so far in 2011, 51 rushing and 140 passing.  The Eagles are next with 170 first downs, 74 on the ground and 92 in the air.  Surprising, the Carolina Panthers have the third most first downs in the NFC with a total of 177, 65 rushing and 99 passing.

The Saints also hold the distinction of leading the NFC in 3rd down efficiency, successfully converting a 1st down 56.3% of the time.

More on First Downs Don’t Equal Success In The NFC