When the New York Giants first benched veteran quarterback Eli Manning in week three of the regular season in favor of rookie Daniel Jones, the news broke out in commemoration and respect, detailing his journey to the end, or so we thought.
The New York Giants relied on their old stallion once again:
A mild high ankle sprain has forced Jones to take a seat for the last two weeks, giving Manning a final opportunity to go out on a high note, aka, a victory. The Giants scratched, clawed and battled their way to a week 15 win over the Miami Dolphins, posting 36 points on two Manning touchdown passes and two Saquon Barkley runs.
Barkley looked invigorated after seven straight weeks without reaching the endzone and 13 weeks of sub-100 yard games. He finally shattered both draughts on Sunday at Metlife with Manning’s destiny hanging in the balance.
However, the Giants may start Manning one final time while Jones heals, although, I don’t believe we will see the two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback again under center, as the Giants cannot guarantee another victory and letting him walk into the sunset is the most honorable thing to do.
A surprising tidbit of the victory took place before the game, as center Jon Halapio explained to the NY Post:
“What really got us going was his pregame speech,’’ Halapio said. “He was just fired up, man. Just knowing this might be his last home game starting, collectively we wanted to send him out right. It was easier to do it after he gave us that pregame speech.’’
“Last thing he said was, ‘F–k it!’
Manning has been the face of the New York Giants for 16 years, and he’s ready to let Jones take the reigns and lead the organization into the future, whether it includes head coach Pat Shurmur, or not. The Giants brass would be smart to keep Manning on the bench for the remaining two games, even if Jones isn’t healthy enough to return. Letting Manning walk out on a meaningless victory that somehow meant the world, is precisely how it’s meant to be.