Cam's Struggling, Eli's Falling, and Other Lessons We Learned Last August

Remember when the critics were right about Cam Newton?

This Sunday, the Saints and Cardinals kick off the 2012 NFL preseason with the annual Hall of Fame Game. Fans know that we shouldn't read too much into what happens in August. These ae exhibition games, after all. But then our offense goes three-and-out on every drive, and then our quarterback gets blindsided on two straight plays, and then our defense can't stop the pass, and then our starting cornerback sprains his knee, and then OH MY GOD HOW ARE WE GOING TO WIN A GAME THIS YEAR???

Take a deep breath. I know, we haven't had seen live football in six months. It feels like an eternity since the Patriots' Hail Mary fell to the ground (and I almost threw myself off the Lucas Oil mezzanine). And with meaningful games still a month away, we indulge ourselves in meaningless side stories that make Antonio Cromartie and Chaz Schilens back page news. As Arian Foster said this week when reporters were obsessing over his switch to a vegan diet, "It’s just the flavor of the week. Y’all will forget about it in a month."

Last year, I detailed the error of reading too much into the preseason. To again help you keep perspective in this month of over-analysis and overreaction, let's take a look back at some of the things we learned last August.

Four preseason games into his career, Cam Newton had proven his critics right. His 42.1% completion rate and 5.3 yards per attempt predicted a year of struggles for the rookie.

Jim Harbaugh’s training camp did nothing to fix the beleaguered 49er offense. San Francisco’s quarterbacks threw for just 109 yards per game, with zero touchdowns and eight interceptions.

The Lions were finally turning their franchise around, outscoring their opponents by 67 points en route to a 4-0 record. The preseason’s only other undefeated team, the St. Louis Rams, had just come off a promising season with a young quarterback and were also trending upward.

After winning without Terrell Thomas last year,
Giants fans have little excuse to panic now.

Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers maintained his momentum with a 130.1 August passer rating. Eli Manning, on the other hand, continued his downward spiral. After leading the league in interceptions in 2010, he had zero touchdowns and a 51.6 passer rating in the preseason.

Furthermore, Manning had lost his two security blanket receivers, Steve Smith and Kevin Boss, and his defense was decimated by injuries. At the time, I called it the worst Giants offseason that I could remember. Jerry Reese noted that the Packers had just overcome their own slew of injuries to win the Super Bowl, but thinking the Giants could do the same was very wishful thinking.

Last week, with news that starting cornerback Terrell Thomas may have torn his ACL for the second straight year, the Giants are once again looking at a troublesome preseason. But I’m not worried. If last year’s preseason taught us anything, it’s that you can’t learn much from August.

Catch me ignore my above advice and panic during the Giants’ preseason games at @BostonGiant.

 Images found here and here.