Eli's Last Stand?

For the first time since 2004 the New York Giants will be taking the field without quarterback Eli Manning leading them. The team announced yesterday that Geno Smith will start against the Oakland Raiders this Sunday. There's even a chance that rookie Davis Webb will get a whirl as the starter before this season's done.

This quarterback switch ends Manning's streak of 210 consecutive regular-season starts, second only to Brett Favre's ridiculous run of 297 in league history.

Is this the end of Eli Manning's run in New York? He was asked just that. He didn't know. How could he? Team's ultimately make those decisions just as the team made this decision. When things aren't going well for a team, and things have gone terrible for the Giants, fingers get pointed and it appears those fingers are pointed at Manning. He hasn't done well but neither has anybody else on the team, coaches included. In consecutive games against the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers it looked like the Giants defense had simply packed it in for the season. Manning runs the offense and he's been dealing with a depleted deck from the start of the season. Receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall have been out since Week 5. Sterling Shepard has missed a few games. Rookie tight end Evan Engram has been Manning's top play-maker far too often. The Giants receivers that have been the targets of Manning's passes are leading the league in drop percentage. The Giants haven't had much of a running attack. The offensive line has been terrible. This isn't a very good TEAM and Manning's become the reason.

Giants head coach Ben McAdoo told reporters that "this is not the end of Eli in New York" and that he'll back up Smith.

"This has nothing to do with my future," McAdoo said. "It's what's best for the organization moving forward."

It's more likely that this has a lot to do with McAdoo's future with the team but that's for another day.

This from general manager Jerry Reese:
"This is not a statement about anything other than we are 2-9, and we have to do what is best for the organization moving forward, and that means evaluating every position. I told Eli this morning that an organization could not ask any more from a franchise quarterback. He has been that and more. Nobody knows what the future holds, but right now, this is what we think is best for the franchise."

Reese's future with the team is likely a cloudy one as well.

It's tough for me to criticize a team's decision when I'm outside of the "room where it happens." They have to do what they feel is best for the franchise even if it's at the expense of the quarterback that guided them to two titles. Eli Manning for Geno Smith? That doesn't sound like anything close to something good for the franchise. Most of New York has seen all that they need to see of Smith. It does little for the present or future of the team. If the Giants are truly going exploratory in the final five weeks of their disappointing season why not see what they have in rookie Davis Webb? That would be a much more productive move than watching Smith do Smith things. Webb got used to dodging free-running pass rushers at Cal last season. He should feel right at home behind the Giants offensive line. Nothing about the benching of Manning feels right. All it does is focus the blame of a disappointing, disastrous season on the quarterback. Those guys get too much of the credit and too much of the blame. The reasons for this sad season can be found in every corner of the Giants franchise. Injuries wrecked a talented offense before the season really got started. On paper, the defense was championship-ready. On the field, they didn't play to that level. For me, the biggest problem with this team was seen in the back-to-back games in which the defense essentially took a seat. That has nothing to do with Manning and everything to do with the people calling the shots. This is a move of desperation at the end of a season that most with the team simply want to see end. Tim, Jack, and Wellington Mara are fortunate they aren't around to see it. Actually, it probably wouldn't have happened if they were.