Shockey did nothing for the g-man before he got hurt last season, he was a non factor on the field, his run blocking sucked and he dropped tons of balls. Plaxico on the other hand was having a great season and our #1 big threat on offense. Apples and oranges IMO.
I will agree that Plax provided a "threat" this year, but he certainly hasn't delivered from a stats perspective. 35 catches for 454 yards and 4 TDs is a pretty crappy season. Check out his game log-
http://www.nfl.com/players/plaxicoburress/gamelogs?id=BUR595691. Almost 30% of his production this year came from 1 game... the season opener. Since then he hasn't caught more than 5 balls in a game and has only gone over 50 yards receiving twice. He also had a huge case of the dropsies so far this season- missing a lot of easy balls.
I personally don't think yesterday's loss was a direct result of missing plaxico. There were 3 bigger factors: A) The receivers who did play dropped a TON of balls- Hixon on the long throw, Steve Smith twice on third down, Boss, Toomer, Hedgecock, etc. B) The weather in NYC was horrible- 25 to 35 mph winds, you'll notice that Donovan was having trouble completing deeper throws as well- which is why the Eagles switched to short slants and swing passes to Westbrook, C) The Eagles are a good team with a winning record and are a hated division rival. In divisional games you can generally throw everything out the window, this doubles when you play a blood rival. I hate Philly as much as anybody, but when they play the Giants I always worry b/c I know it will be a good game. Also, over half of Philly's wins this year have come against playoff teams- Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Arizona, and now the Giants and they've lost several games they should have won (Dallas in week 2, Washington in week 5, and that silly tie against Cincy).
