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The Giants and Eli Manning Stumble Toward the End of an Era
Eli Manning fumbled after getting hit by the Titans’ Kamalei Correa on Sunday.
Credit
Steven Ryan/Getty Images


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Eli Manning fumbled after getting hit by the Titans’ Kamalei Correa on Sunday.CreditCreditSteven Ryan/Getty Images
By Bill Pennington
Dec. 16, 2018

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Lying near his own 10-yard line, Eli Manning raised his right arm and pounded his fist on the turf.

Seconds earlier, he had clumsily fumbled the football as he toppled forward, an embarrassing pratfall that resulted in another touchdown in the Tennessee Titans’ 17-0 whitewash of the Giants on Sunday.

For 15 N.F.L. seasons, Manning has been famously unflappable in moments of failure and disappointment. But in this instance, perhaps especially in this moment since it so manifestly symbolized another lost season, Manning was slamming his fist in fury.

Before kickoff on Sunday, the Giants had won four of their five previous games, a rally that had expunged some of the stain of a humiliating 1-7 start to the year. A remote chance at a playoff berth still existed. Manning was at the center of the comeback and there was considerable talk of his value to the team lasting into next season.

But with Manning prone on the turf after his third-quarter fumble, any uplifting vibe to the 2018 season had vanished.

Worse for the Giants, they have to wonder if the rally was all a mirage — one that ought to be discounted moving forward.

Earlier this season, there was little disagreement that with Manning’s declining performance — and its deleterious effect on a reeling Giants offense — the team had to begin the transition away from Manning, a beloved figure in team history and a two-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player.

Privately, the team’s management conceded that a new quarterback, one acquired through the college draft or free agency, would be on the roster by next year.

If that plan changed in the last five weeks, if there was renewed confidence that Manning could still be the answer at quarterback, Sunday’s game should surely negate that thinking. In addition to his fumble, Manning repeatedly missed open receivers and threw an interception near the Titans’ 15-yard line, ruining the Giants’ best scoring chance of the day.

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Manning was also sacked three times and the Giants offense, so dynamic in the past month behind rookie running back Saquon Barkley, went back to looking predictable, inept and lifeless.

In the end, it became more evident than ever that the Giants must plan for their football life after Eli Manning. It does not mean Manning will be or should be released, indeed he could well be important for the inculcation of the next Giants starting quarterback, which could take several months or more than a year.

But Manning, who will be 38 years old next month, isn’t going to turn back the clock. If things go as poorly in the Giants’ final two games this month as they did against the Titans, it’s possible Manning will retire. Adding to the pressure of that decision will be the harsh reality of Manning’s 2019 salary, which is slightly more than $23 million.

The Giants will have a hard time affording a new, young free agent quarterback like Teddy Bridgewater, currently with New Orleans Saints, and Manning.

For the hearty fans who braved a drenching rain to watch the Giants get shut out Sunday — MetLife Stadium was never more than a third full — the notion that Manning’s days as the face of the franchise were dwindling had to be omnipresent.

It was a dreary afternoon, and for Giants fans clinging to be joyous memories of Super Bowl victories in 2008 and 2012, the end of the Eli era will be far more depressing than a day of soaking rain. A career Giant, Manning not only helped revive a dormant franchise, he willingly gave his time and money to countless causes in the New York-area community. He carried himself laudably after wins and losses in a demanding media environment, something he was still doing late Sunday afternoon.

At a podium just off the locker room, Manning took the blame for the missed connections with his receivers — “poor throw by me” or “just didn’t execute like I wanted” — and he conceded that he had not done enough to help the Giants resurrect their season.

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Of his ill-timed third-quarter fumble, Manning was, as he almost always is, plain-spoken: “It slipped out of my hands. I tried to push it out late. But right there, I have to back up, hold onto the ball and take a sack if I have to. I can’t turn it over to them and give them that good field position.”

Manning spoke in a measured, impassive tone. His eyes showed no emotion.

But it was 30 minutes after the game ended and roughly an hour since Manning had awkwardly fumbled not far from his own end zone, a miscue that finally doomed the disastrous 2018 Giants season and perhaps set in motion what will be the final stage of his career.

Lying on the turf, Manning raised his arm and pounded his fist.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/16/sports/giants-eli-manning-tennessee-titans.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fsports&action=click&contentCollection=sports®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront