Battle for No. 1 pick
that’s because I haven’t played well enough and we’re not winning games.”
Manning came off as the injured party in McAdoo’s clumsy attempt to get Smith on the field. In effect, Manning benched himself after he refused to accept McAdoo’s plan for him to start in Oakland with Smith starting the second half. Even if Manning believed McAdoo’s motive to start him was just to allow him to extend his streak, did Manning have the right to say no?
That part of the story has been overlooked. Manning’s base salary is $13 million this season and he’s being paid to play, not make coaching decisions. But Giants fans clearly sided with Manning.
“I appreciate all of the support the fans have given me for 14 years and these last weeks, especially,” Manning said.
Midway through the final quarter Sunday when Dak Prescott connected with tight end Jason Witten — one of the all-time Giants killers — on a 20-yard touchdown, it was worth taking a look at the scoreboard to check on the 49ers and Browns.
San Francisco was on its way to going 2-0 since switching to Jimmy Garoppolo and improving to 3-10, dropping them a game behind the Giants for the second pick in the draft with Big Blue also holding the strength of schedule tie-breaker. That just about locks up pick No. 2.
If you are going to suffer through one of the all-time worst seasons in the 93-year history of the franchise, why settle for the second pick when the first pick could be within reach? The Browns went into their home game against the Packers a perfect 0-12 but held a 21-7 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The best chance for Southern Cal’s Sam Darnold to give up his final two years of eligibility and apply for the draft by the Jan. 18 deadline is for the Giants, not the Browns, to have the first pick. One of my quarterback gurus, who has a track record of picking the right QBs, insists he would take Darnold over UCLA’s Josh Rosen.
Even when the Packers closed to within 21-14 early in the fourth quarter, it still looked like the Browns were on the way to their second victory in their last 29 games. Remember, Aaron Rodgers is still out and Brett Hundley was the QB. The Giants needed the Browns to win this game and one more before the season’s over. And the Giants need to lose their last three and hope the tiebreaker comes out in their favor. he Packers had a short field after a 65-yard punt return and Hundley’s 1-yard TD to Davante Adams with 17 seconds left sent the game into overtime. Cleveland’s DeShone Kizer then threw an interception on the first possession and Hundley finished off the game with a 25-yard TD to Adams.
The Browns finish with Baltimore at home and Chicago and Pittsburgh on the road. It’s going to be too much to ask for them to win two of their last three when they haven’t won any of their first 13.
In this season from hell for the Giants, nothing has gone right.
TANDREW SAVULICH/NEWS