29-year old Eli Manning might have had his best year of his career in 2009.  He started all 16 games for the Giants this year and he completed 317 of 509 passes (62.3%) for 4,021 yards with 27 TD passes and 14 INTs (93.1 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 17 times for 65 yards (3.8 ypc) this year.  He has now played in 89 games for the Giants completing 1,593 of 2,793 passes (57%) for 18,644 yards with 125 TD passes and 88 INTs (79.2 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 126 times for 280 yards (2.2 ypc) with 3 TD runs in his career.  The Giants need Manning to keep playing at the high level he did this season.

30-year old David Carr is a solid back-up QB for the Giants.  He played in 6 games for the Giants this season and he completed 21 of 33 passes (63.6%) for 225 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (93.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 9 times for 27 yards (3.0 ypc) with 1 TD run this year.  Carr has now played in 91 games in his NFL career and he has completed 1,346 of 2,251 (59.8%) for 14,366 yards with 65 TD passes and 70 INTs (75.2 QB Rating).  Carr has also carried the ball 302 times for 1,331 yards (4.4 ypc) with 9 TD runs in his career.  I feel that Carr could do a decent job if forced into the starting line-up due to a injury to Manning.

The Giants didn’t look like they wanted to play yesterday.  Eli Manning was not too good completing 17 of 23 passes for 141 yards with a INT.  David Carr got into the act yesterday by completing 3 of 5 passes for 26 yards.  Danny Ware led the way on the ground for the Giants in this game with 22 yards rushing on 5 carries (4.4 ypc) with a TD run and he also caught 2 passes for 19 yards (9.5 avg).  Ahmad Bradshaw pitched in with 13 yards rushing on 7 carries (1.9 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 33 yards (16.5 avg).  Steve Smith led the way in the passing game for the Giants with 10 catches for 57 yards (5.7 avg).  The Giants finished up with 181 total yards on offense (35 rushing, 146 passing) in this game as they only had the ball for 23:08.

Linebacker Michael Boley (8 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 pass defensed) and S Michael Johnson (8 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) led a poor effort by the Giants’ D.  The Vikings finished up with 487 total yards in this game (129 rushing, 358 passing).  The Giants finished up with a disappointing 8-8 record good for third place in the NFC East.

The Giants laid an egg last week in the team’s biggest game of the year.  The hope is that they will try to end the season on a strong note tomorrow but they also might be looking ahead to a extended vacation.  The Giants will have to make sure that they give Eli Manning enough time to throw the ball and it won’t be easy with Jared Allen lining up against them.  But if Manning has time to throw the ball he should be able to get it into the hands of Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham and Kevin Boss as the Vikings are allowing 223.2 yards per game through the air.  The Giants probably won’t have much of a running game tomorrow as Ahmad Bradshaw has a broken bone in each foot.

The Giants had better be ready to deal with Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor as the Vikings will likely be leaning on the running game a lot tomorrow.  The Vikings will likely keep the passing game short to help keep Brett Favre healthy for the playoffs.  If the Giants or Vikings get a big lead look for Tarvaris Jackson to get some P.T. at QB in this game. 

PREDICTION:  VIKINGS 27, GIANTS 20