Sunday could be Eli Manning's final game vs. Eagles as a Giant
Eli Manning #10 of the New York Giants runs off the field after defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 18, 2018 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Credit: Jim McIsaac
PHILADELPHIA
He took the first tentative steps of his NFL career in this stadium, an undistinguished debut in relief of Kurt Warner in mop-up duty against the Eagles. Eli Manning went 3-for-9 for 66 yards and was sacked once after replacing Warner in a 31-17 loss at Lincoln Financial Field on Sept. 12, 2004.
Manning returns to the place they simply call “the Linc” on Sunday in a desperation game for both teams, as the Giants (3-7) look to keep their flickering divisional championship hopes alive against the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles (4-6).
It might well be Manning’s last visit to Philadelphia to face the Giants’ long-standing NFC East foe.
There is no telling whether Manning is in the final phase of his Giants career and whether the team will be ready to move on from him after the season. Manning has given no indication that he’s ready to either retire or move on from the Giants. But at age 37 and with the team unlikely to make the playoffs in his 15th NFL season, Manning surely is aware that his future is uncertain.
He has done a fine job the last two weeks in leading the Giants back from the brink after a 1-7 start. But unless the Giants pull off the unlikely feat of running the table and somehow winning a watered-down division, there is a good chance that Manning is looking at the end of his run with the Giants sooner rather than later.
Call this Eli’s last stand, because it might very well be.
Between that first appearance at the Linc and now, Manning has fashioned a tremendous career, one worthy of Hall of Fame consideration with two Super Bowl MVP awards and every meaningful passing record in Giants history.
Through good seasons and bad, Manning has been the one constant, never missing a start because of injury since taking over full-time for Warner nine games into his rookie season. He doesn’t have his fastball the way he once did, and there were thoughts in the first half of the season that it finally was time to see what the Giants had behind him on the depth chart. But a 36th career fourth-quarter comeback win in a 27-23 victory over the 49ers two weeks ago and a terrific effort in a 38-35 shootout win over the Buccaneers last week — during which he completed 17 of 18 pass attempts — showed he still has something left.
Enough left to earn a place in the team’s plans beyond 2018? That’s to be determined.
At least the answer to that question isn’t as foregone a conclusion as it seemed to be at 1-7. Manning has bought himself a chance to fight his way back, just as he did in his two Super Bowl victories over the Patriots, which were punctuated with spectacular fourth-quarter comebacks. But he may need an even more unlikely series of performances in the final six games of the regular season to play his way into the 2019 equation.
Manning still commands the respect of his locker room, and his leadership skills remain unquestioned. While Odell Beckham Jr. made news a few weeks ago by not offering a blanket endorsement of Manning during an interview with ESPN, he has made it clear that he still believes his quarterback can continue playing winning football.
Two straight wins have at least cooled the talk about getting a look at rookie Kyle Lauletta or journeyman Alex Tanney, but Manning knows how quickly things can change.
He also knows the infinitesimal margin for error. Getting to 4-7 and into a tie with the Eagles for third place in the division would mean beating a team that has had the Giants’ number for years. Since their second meeting of the 2011 season, the Giants are 3-11 against the Eagles. That includes a 1-5 record in Philly, with last year’s loss coming on rookie Jake Elliott’s 61-yard field goal as time ran out.
“They’ve been good teams and obviously, hey, every time you play, you got an opportunity,” Manning said. “It’s just about what matters this game, and this opportunity to go out there and get a win.”
The Eagles aren’t the same team this year as last year. They have been beset by an assortment of problems typically associated with a year-after-Super-Bowl hangover. Everything broke right for the Eagles in 2017, including the seamless transition into the starting lineup of backup Nick Foles after Carson Wentz suffered a season-ending knee injury last December. But the offense has been woefully inconsistent this year, and the defense, especially the secondary, has been ravaged by injury.
One of the few times the Eagles played like Super Bowl champions this season was against the Giants, whom they beat, 34-13, at MetLife Stadium on Oct. 11. It was one of a series of poor performances from Manning, who threw for 281 yards and one interception and was sacked four times. The Eagles’ pass rush was relentless, and the Giants’ rebuilt offensive line offered little resistance.
But the addition of guard Jamon Brown and the improved play from left tackle Nate Solder and rookie Will Hernandez have given Manning more time to throw in the last two games. If the trend continues against the Eagles, he will at least have a fighting chance in what could be his final game in this decades-old rivalry.
There will be no official goodbye from Manning because he doesn’t know when he will officially say goodbye.
But surely he understands that this may be his final moment against a team he has come to know so well — through good times and bad.
Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”
