By Michael J. Basile, @MdoubleJB
Monday Morning Manning: Week 6
It’s the unfortunate feeling for most NYGiant fans that the season is over for the second year in a row before the calendar hits Halloween. Through 6 games, Big Blue has shown that they aren’t capable of competing yet. Even the biggest Eli Manning supporters are saying it’s time to move on. Manning threw for 281 yards and completed 24-43 with an interception. A QB rating of 66.1.
More importantly: he didn’t give his team a chance to compete at MetLife on Thursday night, and they are now 1-5.
THE GOOD: Saquon Barkley . . . He made Eli’s numbers look a bit better by taking some short passes for extra yardage. Manning’s deep post to Cody Latimer was his best throw of the night by far. Pointing out anything positive from Eli’s performance beyond that would be a stretch.
THE BAD: Eli threw an interception early. Poor throw, AND a bad decision. Barkley was wide open in the flat, but instead, Eli decided to try to fit the ball in a small window to their third-string tight end, Scott Simonson. Then later on Eli took a sack near the goal line and dropped the football. The Giants recovered, but he can’t afford to put the ball on the ground, especially inside their own 5-yard line. The offensive line’s pass blocking was horrible, and Eli never got comfortable. You could tell when Eli dropped back he was looking at the pass rush as opposed to his receivers down the field.
THE UGLY: The Giants are 1-5, they clearly need 2-3 new offensive lineman, a Quarterback, and another pass rusher before they think about being a competitive team. This was a Thursday night game at home. In the current NFL schedule setup, the Thursday night home team has proven to have a huge advantage due to the short preparation time. When dissecting why this offense is an embarrassment, blaming the offensive line does get old after a while. Let’s not forget two of the deep shots Manning did have were targeted to 3rd and 4th wide receiver on this team.
There is league-wide poor offensive line play. Yet Eli Manning fails to get it done with playmakers like Odell Beckham JR, Saquon Barkley, and Sterling Shepard. Does the line need drastic improvements? Of course. But for a QB making more than $22 million a year, Eli’s performance was hideous. He gave his team a chance in week 5 against Carolina, but he added another loss on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. And in the loss with the way he played, the team didn’t have a prayer.