INDIANAPOLIS _ Eli Manning's best performance of the season resulted in nothing more than another Giants loss. But it may send ripples into the offseason.
In a stadium where he last won a Super Bowl, where a statue of his brother stands at the front entrance, Manning completed 25 of 33 passes for 309 yards, ran for and threw a touchdown in a 28-27 loss to the Colts. With the Giants already eliminated from postseason contention, Manning looked like he was playoff-ready.
The Giants? Not so much. They allowed Andrew Luck to hit Chester Rodgers on a 1-yard touchdown pass with 55 seconds left to cap a comeback from a 24-14 deficit late in the third quarter.
But with the team one game away from the end of the season when they will sit down and evaluate the play of a quarterback who next week will turn 38 years old. This performance will be fresh in their minds when they do so.
Manning did have a chance to guide the Giants to a game-winning drive, but a deep pass for Bennie Fowler was intercepted by Malik Hooker with 23 seconds remaining.
The loss dropped the Giants to 5-10. The Colts are 9-6.
A week after being shutout, the Giants got off this week's schneid on their first possession. They pulled a few designs from deep in the playbook, including end-around runs for Corey Coleman and Evan Engram, and went up 7-0 on a 1-yard run by Saquon Barkley. They went ahead 14-0 after Manning hit Sterling Shepard for a 55-yard gain to set up a 3-yard TD pass to Scott Simonson.
The Colts cut it to 14-7 on a 1-yard touchdown run with 4:09 left in the second quarter. Aldrick Rosas' 40yard field goal three minutes later made it 17-7 at the half.
The Colts opened the second half with a quick drive that included a 55-yard pass from Andrew Luck to T.Y. Hilton and a 2-yard TD pass to Dontrelle Inman. That made it 17-14. The Giants had not scored since the first quarter and it was imperative that they answer the change in momentum. They did so with Engram catching back-to-back passes for 40 yards to get to the 1 and then Manning running in on a sneak to make it 24-14.
The Giants had a chance to virtually seal the win late in the third when Olivier Vernon stripped the ball from Luck and B.J. Hill recovered it. The play was negated by a defensive holding penalty against Janoris Jenkins, though, and two snaps later Marlon Mack ran for a 3-yard touchdown to cut it to 24-21 at the end of the third quarter. Rosas kicked a 27-yard field goal with 9:20 left in the fourth to push the Giants ahead 27-21.
