ELI 'HUNGRY' FOR A THIRD BOWL
HE is The Last Manning Standing, his Big Brother retired and now a pitchman/fan, his head coach for the first 12 years of his career no longer on the sidelines, and Eli Manning enters a brave new world hungering to get the Giants back to the playoffs for the first time since Super Bowl XLVI and win that third Super Bowl. When asked how he would describe that hunger, the quarterback said: “I’d describe it as I feel like I haven’t eaten dinner in four years, and I’m hungry. So, I’m ready to get back to the table and enjoy that. I’m working hard.” That never changes. He has been a coach’s dream, a franchise dream, from the start. He may be 35 all of a sudden, but in the third year of an offense he has mastered and loves, and the promising return to the field at last by sight-for-sore-eyes Victor Cruz, and the prospect of rookie Sterling Shepard taking heat off supernova Odell Beckham Jr., it is hardly unrealistic to envision a career year for him. Could Eli Manning be in the running for MVP? “I think he can,” Cruz said. “I mean, obviously, if everyone pans out and we’re all out there helping him out, getting those healthy bodies on the field for him to throw to, I think he’s got a shot to really do some groundbreaking things, reach some numbers he’s probably never reached before. Us as receivers, we’re excited to just be that help that needs to get him to that elite elite level.” Manning, of course, mostly remains the talk-ischeap-play-thegame quarterback, even if he has publicly targeted a 28 points per game offense. “I want to get better,” Manning said. “Sometimes that carries over into better numbers, but my goal is that carries over into more wins and making playoffs. That’s my only concern.”
Cruz can vouch for his quarterback’s hunger.
“He looks at us on the outside as receivers, he’s like, ‘I know it’s jog through, but we need to be one level above jog through. We need to be at a level to where I can work on my timing and work on my steps,’ and he can get the ball out at a sufficient time even though it’s just jog through,” Cruz said. “So you know that that level of intensity that he’s in, it’s gonna rub off on anyone.” Last Manning Standing. “I don’t care what he says, he wants to have one more championship than his brother,” Cruz said, and smiled.
The score right now is Eli 2, Peyton 2. Little Brother witnessed Big Brother’s body betray him at the end, so you better believe he feels an extra sense of urgency.
“You want to take advantage of every year, every year you feel like you have an opportunity to do something special and make the playoffs, and so you don’t want to waste seasons, you don’t want waste games, you don’t want to waste anything,” Manning said.
Manning is professor emeritus, with help from Cruz, in the ongoing Education of Beckham.
“It’s my job to keep him going when things are well,” Manning said, “but, hey, there’s gonna be games where a defense takes him away for a quarter or a couple of series, and he doesn’t have a catch. It’s my job to pump him up, find ways to get him the ball, find ways to keep him happy so he can make plays for us.”
When someone reminded Manning that Beckham Jr. will be seeing nemesis Josh Norman twice now, Manning replied: “We play Washington twice.”
Manning has always set high standards for himself.
“Definitely want to take another step, making better decisions ... you watch the film from last year, see a lot of opportunities to make better throws, better plays, and be more productive in this offense,” he said.
His 35 touchdowns in 2015 (against 14 interceptions) and 93.6 QB rating marked career bests. His 4,433 passing yards were second to his 2011 season (4,933).
“We want to be explosive, and score a lot of points, and run a lot of plays,” Manning said.
Big Brother, meanwhile, seems happy in retirement.
“I’ve seen some of Peyton’s DirectTV commercials, some good stuff,” Manning said.
Last Manning Standing. And Last Manning Starving.
“I wouldn’t bet against him, I can tell you that,” Cruz said. “I think he’s got a good corps of guys that can make plays for him that he can just look at wherever on the field and make things happen.” MVP things? “I think if there’s any year that you can bet on Eli being in those conversations,” Cruz said. “I think this year’s it.”