When New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning left the MetLife Stadium field on Sunday evening and ran into the emotional embrace of his family as thunderous applause reigned down from above him, it all just felt right.
Manning won’t be gifted the magical goodbye of a Super Bowl title like he very much deserves, but perhaps win No. 3 on the season in Week 15 at home could turn out to be the next best thing.
That may sound crazy for a surefire Hall of Famer who has been a part of so many substantially large moments, but allow us to explain…
Second half comeback…
Manning made a mark in NFL history books by making a habit of bringing his team back from the brink of defeat. And if Sunday turns out to be the final game he ever plays, could it be more fitting that he did it again?
The Giants trailed 10-7 at halftime before Eli helped the team rip off 29 second half points in order to secure their first win since Week 4.
No, it wasn’t a game-winning drive or another fourth quarter comeback, but it was one last late rally for Eli — one more feather for his cap.
Classic Eli performance
Manning hasn’t always won clean, but he’s won a lot in his career. When he was at his very best, he was taking shots down the field, throwing caution to the wind and letting things fly.
Often, that resulted in an increased number of interceptions, but also an increased number of big plays and high scores.
That’s exactly what Manning gave the Giants in Week 15, tossing three interceptions (two ugly ones), but balancing it out with nearly 300 yards passing, two touchdowns and a win.
Love it or hate it, that’s the formula that has won Manning most of his games.
Back to .500
Manning should be considered a Hall of Fame lock, but his detractors will forever be there to argue against him. And as we’ve seen over the previous week, one of the areas they intended to attack was his career record — which had been below .500 entering Sunday’s game against the Dolphins.
Although wins and losses are a team stat, which is always the counter-argument when you point out Manning’s two Super Bowl wins, that was the weakest area of Eli’s resume.
No more.
Although an even .500 record isn’t what we’d all have liked to see for Manning, it eliminates the “losing record” line of protest and ensures Eli will not exit East Rutherford a loser.
Final play: Shotgun draw
Both ironic and fitting, if Manning never takes the field in blue again, his final play will have been a shotgun draw.
Why is that at all significant?
Well, if you’ve followed Manning’s storied 16-year career, you’d know that he’s run the shotgun draw more than any other play and there’s not a close second. It actually became a running joke under offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride and has survived the test of time.
It’s a play that frustrates fans to now end, but it’s also one of the most Eli things ever.
Emotional embrace with his family
Watching Manning enter the tunnel to be greeted by the smiling faces of his children and the tears of his wife, Abby, was an amazing moment to witness and if your eyes don’t well up seeing that, check your pulse.
Manning very clearly did all he could to hold in his tears, but his lip was quivering and for only the second time in his entire career (following Super Bowl XLII is the other), he showed genuine appreciative emotion.
Again, Eli won’t get to hoist the Lombardi Trophy and share that moment with his family, but he will forever have that warm embrace of his loved ones as the remaining 40,000 fans chanted his name.
Manning said it after the game and it’s 100 percent true — that is a moment that will forever be remembered.
Prevented a franchise-worst losing streak
The Giants are a bad football team right now. Historically bad. They did not win a game in either October or November for the first time in their long and illustrious history and entering Sunday, were mired in a nine-game losing streak, which was tied for the worst in team history.
One more loss and the Giants would have had a new black mark that could never be erased. It would have happened under the watch of co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch, general manager Dave Gettleman and head coach Pat Shurmur.
Those four would have never been able to escape the stain of a 10-game losing streak, but Manning saved them from themselves.
Leave it to Manning to save the organization one last time after they have failed him so bad in recent years.
Did not cost Giants draft positioning
How this plays out over the final two weeks remains to be seen, but Manning’s win on Sunday did not damage the team’s draft positioning. Despite the win, they are still slated to select No. 2 overall.
That’s a good combination for Manning — prevent a franchise-worst losing streak while not doing any damage to the future of the organization.
How fitting is that reality? Again, it’s just such an Eli thing.
Goes out a winner
The second half of Manning’s career has been a disaster. Much of the blame for that can be placed on the mismanagement of the team, but that’s a debate for a different day.
The bottom line is that Manning and the Giants won on Sunday, meaning that if he does decide to step away from the game of football, he’ll go out having won. That’s much better than having a losing taste in his mouth entering retirement (or whatever comes next).
It wasn’t a franchise-altering win or anything that really matters in the grand scheme of things, but a win is a win is a win. And Eli won.
.png?w=600)
