A TALE OF TWO ELIs
MANNING’S TITLE BRETHREN BELIEVE HE’LL BOUNCE BACK — STARTING TONIGHT /
YO UN EVER forget your quarterback, the quarterback who got you that shiny Super Bowl ring on your finger, the quarterback who somehow escaped to find David Tyree, the quarterback who slayed the Perfect Patriots when he hit Plaxico Burress in the end zone with 39 seconds left in Super Bowl XLII.
And so even though it is 10 years later, those forever grateful, loyal Giants will not concede that Father Time has diminished their fearless leader Eli Manning, and they still believe in him as he prepares to lead this latest version of the Giants into Monday night’s showdown with the Giants at MetLife Stadium.
Pl a xi co Burress was asked walking off the Yankee Stadium field Saturday with his fellow Super Bowl XLII honorees what message he would give Giants fans, alarmed after Week 1, about Manning.
“Don’t panic, baby,” Burress told The Post .“Why would you panic with Eli Manning? I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t bet against him.”
The Super Bowl XLII Giants were 0-2 and had not yet learned that Manning could become a championship quarterback.
“He hasn’t changed,” Justin Tuck told The Post. “I mean, things around him have changed. But as far as him being able to do what he needs to do to help this football team win, that conf idence definitely hasn’t changed. Not in his ability. I think, obviously, we would like to shore up that O-line a little bit more. ... I’m not pointing any fingers.
“But my conf idence in El i hasn’t changed, and I’ve seen him get off to slow starts and then ramp it right back up. I definitely haven’t hit [the] panic [button]. I still feel as though they could be the NFC East champions, and I’m not moving off of that stance.”
Kevin Gilbride was the offensive coordinator of those champion Giants.
“You know, he’s the same guy,” Gilbride said. “I’ve always said that he’s never gonna win games with his feet, he’s gonna win games with his brain and with his arm, and if he has a group of people that allow him to do that, I think he’s as good as he’s ever been. I know a lot of people are questioning, ‘Is he at the end?’ But when I see him, I don’t see a diminishment of arm strength. ... So I think it’s just a matter of letting him do what he’s capable of doing, and if you give him that chance, I see the same guy.”
He’ll be a better guy if Odell Beckham Jr. suits up Monday, even as a decoy.
“[Beckham] just has the whole tool bag,” Burress said. “There’s no weakness in his game.”
The Manning legend very well could have begun in earnest when he outdueled Brett Favre in the arctic cold at Lambeau Field in the NFC Championship game ahead of taking down the Perfect Patriots.
“They trusted his preparation, they trusted his knowledge,” Gilbride said. “I don’t think anyone knew that when the games got bigger, the bigger the magnitude of the game, the better he would perform. But they saw him week in and week out, and I think that Green Bay game showed unbelievable physical toughness, ’cause in that cold weather, it didn’t faze him at all, he threw the ball as well as any.”
Manning’s resiliency was there for all to see after he threw four interceptions in a Nov. 25 blowout loss to the Vikings at Giants Stadium.
“They don’t call him Easy E for nothing,” Tuck said. “Eli never really got rattled at any point regardless of how great he was looking or how bad he was looking. And obviously we saw cases in both throughout that season. But we felt very confident not only in him, but in the fact that that O-Line was gonna give him time, he had the weapons around him to obviously make the plays that were there.”
Chris Sneew as the fourtime Pro Bowl right guard on an offensive line that played 38 consecutive games together at one point.
“When you have a quarterback who can play terrible in the first half and then lead you in the second half, I mean how you could not have confidence in that guy?” Snee said. “I think just our resiliency that whole year and the fact that we loved adverse conditions and really weren’t affected or wavered, we always thought we were gonna come out on top.”
Manning needs more help from his offensive line and running game, and from Ben McAdoo’s play calling, and from Brandon Marshall until Beckham can be Beckham again.
“But I’d still take him over any quarterback,” Snee said. “And listen, I know I’m friends with him, and we’ve had a history together, but I still think he’s capable of making all the throws.”
One throw to Burress, which followed one memorable throw to David Tyree, changed Giants history.
“He’s as calm today as he was 10 years ago,” Burress said. “Same demeanor in the huddle. He just goes out there and gets it done at the time when you need it most.”
Ten years later, to the Super Bowl XLII Giants — who will be honored at halftime of GiantsLions — Eli Manning remains The Perfect 10.