THE $ 84M DOPE
Giants lost because Eli can’t count
Eli Manning can keep track of the $84 million in his new contract but can’t count to two. He admitted yesterday he thought the Cowboys had one timeout, not two, a blunder that cost the Giants Sunday’s game.
Eli Manning admitted Monday he told running back Rashad Jennings (above) not to score late in the Giants’ 27-26 loss to the Cowboys because he thought Dallas
had one timeout remaining instead of two. Big Blue ended up settling for a field goal and the ’Boys marched down the field for the winning TD.
As it turns out, Eli Manning’s decision to throw the ball out of bounds, and not take a sack to eat up the clock, wasn’t his only galling mistake Sunday night. It was just one of many mental miscues by the newly minted $84 million quarterback that resulted in the Giants’ heartbreaking seasonopening, 2726 loss to the Cowboys.
On Monday, Manning admitted to a stunning series of gaffes that only his DirecTV alter ego “Bad Comedian” Eli Manning would have committed, including telling running back Rashad Jennings not to score at the goal line in the final minutes and not knowing how many timeouts the Cowboys had left.
“I thought that they may let us score to get the ball back, so that’s why I informed Rashad if they let you score, just go down at the 1inch line. Don’t score,” Manning said on a conference call. “I was wrong on that, so that’s my miscommunication and my mistake on thinking that ... and expecting that from Rashad. So I’ve got to do a better job of not making those gamemanagement situations.”
Jennings told ESPN Manning instructed him not to score on consecutive plays with the Giants ahead 2320 at the Cowboys 4yardline and under two minutes remaining. Jennings figured the instructions came from the sideline. But they didn’t come from coach Tom Coughlin or any of the offensive coaches.
“On the firstdown play, I was told, ‘ Rashad, don’t score,’ ” Jennings said. “On second down, ‘Rashad, don’t score.’ I was tempted to say, ‘Forget it,’ and go score because I could. But I didn’t want to be that guy. But definitely, I was asked not to score.”
“That did not come from the sideline,” Manning said.
Manning said it was his suggestion on first down for Jennings not to score and again on second down, thinking it was best to eat up the clock since he was under the impression the Cowboys had one timeout remaining, not two. Manning was under the impression the Cowboys had the stopped the clock after an offsides penalty with 1:54 left, not realizing the clock stops automatically if the penalty is declined.
He also noted he communicated that with the coaching staff prior to second down. Apparently, their signals were crossed.
“I thought we were on the same page for the seconddown play,” Manning said. “First down was a 100 percent on me, it shouldn’t have been done. Second down shouldn’t have been done also.”
Manning telling Jennings not to score caught Coughlin off guard. He said he wasn’t aware of the plan until afterward.
“My intent was to go up 10,” Coughlin said.
Manning said he actually regretted his decision to throw the ball away on the illfated thirdand1 playaction pass, more than previously telling Jennings to go
down at the 1inchline.
“I’ve got to take a sack so we can run 40 seconds off the clock and get that field goal,” Manning said. “I think not making the better decision right there and taking that sack, that would’ve made a bigger difference than anything.
“That’s bad management of the game in that scenario and understanding how important the clock was right there.”
After the incomplete pass, the Giants settled for a 19yard Josh Brown field goal, extending the lead to 2620. Coughlin said he didn’t want to go for it on fourth down, because he didn’t want to give the Cowboys the chance to tie the game with a field goal if the Giants failed to convert. But Dallas ended up prevailing, driving down the field and winning it on Tony Romo’s 11yard touchdown pass to Jason Witten with seven seconds left.
“We have to stay positive and rally together,” defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins said. “I know it’s tough and I know just for myself this is probably one of the toughest losses that I’ve had in my career. I found myself, even today, needing a boost.
“Definitely devastated. You go out there and you fight, we fight as hard as we did, and we put ourselves in position, and we just couldn’t close it out and finish it.”
And, shockingly, it was the team’s rock, Manning, who let it down the most. Manning apologized to the offense during the unit’s meeting on Monday, apologized for his shocking brain lock that cost the Giants their first 10 start in six years. Despite Manning’s miscues, Coughlin’s opinion of his franchise quarterback hasn’t changed.
“I completely trust Eli, I always have,” Coughlin said. “To be honest with you, nothing like that has ever happened. His mind was in the right place here, he just didn’t have all the facts right, and unfortunately we didn’t get it corrected.”