Eli’s holiday break comes at right time
ELI MANNING will spend the next few days with family and friends enjoying the holidays. The father of three daughters won’t have to worry about people talking about what a terrible quarterback he is.
“I’ll hang with them and take [my] mind off things and enjoy having a weekend off,” Manning said Friday during his weekly segment on WFAN. “For the most part, it’s enjoying family and friends and having some laughs.”
He needs the break. Manning’s three interceptions and missed connections in a 24-19 loss to the Eagles on Thursday night in Philadelphia have raised concerns about what’s wrong with the 35-year-old quarterback. He completed 38 of a season-high 63 passes for 356 yards and one touchdown against the Eagles. But the interceptions were brutal.
The first came on the Giants’ second possession of the game when he tried to throw a pass over the middle to tight end Will Tye. The ball landed in the gut of Malcolm Jenkins, who returned it 34 yards for a 14-0 Eagles lead.
“The first one was a bad decision,” Manning said, adding, “I just didn’t see the other defender. I was throwing it away from one defender and threw it to the next. You can’t afford to throw interceptions like that. That’s the one I was most disappointed about.”
The second came in the third quarter when Jenkins swiped a pass intended for wide receiver Sterling Shepard, ending a promising nine-play drive. “[Jenkins] made a play on the ball,” Manning said. “That’s just football.”
The third came on the Giants’ last offensive play of the game when Manning was trying to drive his team for the gamewinning touchdown with seconds remaining. Under pressure he had no choice but to throw it deep and hope Tye could make a play on the ball. He didn’t, leaving Terrence Brooks to make the interception.
“It was a desperate si t uat i on,” Manning said. “I got hit a little bit as I threw it and couldn’t get everything on the ball I wanted to.” There were also several missed connections, including an overthrow of an open Odell Beckham Jr. on that final drive. If you think Manning’s confidence is rattled it isn’t. “I still think we’re confident we can win those close games, those tight ones,” he said. “You’re not going to win every single one of them.” Still, it was a continuation of what has been an inconsistent year for Manning. Instead of a finding a much-needed rhythm at the end of the year, the offensive struggles continue. Manning has thrown six touchdowns and six interceptions over his last four games, in which the Giants are 2-2. In three of those four games, his quarterback rating has been no higher than 78.4. His 61.3 rating against the Eagles was the lowest of the season. With one regular-season game remaining at Washington, his 3,847 yards passing is short of the 4,436 yards he threw for last season and the 4,410 yards in 2014. After throwing 30 touchdown passes in 2014 and 35 in 2015, he has 26 this year. His interceptions are slightly up with 16 this year after throwing 14 in each of the previous two seasons. Ever the cerebral optimist, head coach Ben McAdoo said all of the mistakes made against the Eagles are “correctable,” though he plans to talk with Manning about his decision-making on the second interception. “We need some more accurate throws, some better decisionmaking,” McAdoo said. “We had a chance to win the game at the end and had opportunities to do so and didn’t get it done.” That’s not what you want heading into the final regular-season game on New Year’s Day. The Giants may have clinched a playoff berth by then. Still, they need to regain some confidence offensively, the unit and Manning. “You want to go into the last game and play well and feel good about what we’re doing,” Manning said. Manning and the Giants are a long way from that right now.