Eli Manning wanted everyone to know what he felt, that as painful and terrible and disheartening as it was to collapse in such spectacular fashion and blow a game to the Eagles, all is not lost.
And so Manning did what he’s never before done, not in his seven years with the Giants.
He approached coach Tom Coughlin yesterday and asked if he could “beat him to the punch a little bit and address the team before he came in.”
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Coughlin obliged, and the quarterback spent a few minutes yesterday trying to repair what was broken and restore some spirit in time for the latest game of the season, Sunday in Green Bay.
“We’re going to write the ending to this story, no one else,” Manning said forcefully.
Indeed, the Giants have final say on how history remembers the way they turned a 31-10 lead with 8:17 remaining into one of the worst losses in franchise history — a “you had to see it to believe it” 38-31 loss punctuated by DeSean Jackson’s 65-yard punt return for a touchdown of rookie Matt Dodge’s lousy kick as time expired.
It will either be the prelude to a cataclysmic late-season swoon that keeps the Giants out of the postseason and could cost Coughlin his job, or it might actually be the seminal moment that galvanizes this team for a rising.
The Giants (9-5) have control of their destiny; they’re an NFC wild-card team if they beat the Packers (8-6), also fighting for their postseason lives, at Lambeau.
“We screwed up, it’s over, look at what is here now,” Coughlin said, relaying his.
“These are the facts of life: There are two games remaining. You win this weekend and we’re in the playoffs. That’s what the goal was in the first place.”
Never mind that the real goal in the first place was winning the NFC East, a goal realistically thrown away by the 28-point fourth-quarter meltdown to Michael Vick and the Eagles.
This was no ordinary loss, and thus this was no ordinary morning for Manning.
His address wasn’t very long or especially loud.
Manning said of his meeting,
“I don’t want to make a big
deal of it.”
His teammates were surprised when he called for the players-only meeting, and even more taken aback when Manning was the opening and closing act, with no one in between.
The emphasis was on opportunity, not misery.
“We don’t have time to moan, it’s not the time right now to start going in the tank or start slacking off or being in a bad mood,” Manning said.
“Now’s the time we got to be excited, you kind of have to look at the bright side of things, you got to be optimistic that, hey, we got a great opportunity to make the playoffs.
“We got to go in, play a big game in Green Bay. We just got to take care of our business. We’re going to be the one to decide whether we make the playoffs and what happens. It’s only us.”
Justin Tuck, who along with Manning and Chase Blackburn is a team tri-captain, said he and Manning have addressed the team before, but that this was the first time Eli went solo.
“He wasn’t loud and rah-rah-ing, but you could just tell by the look on his face he was definitely into what he was doing,” Tuck said.
“Everything he said was coming from the heart and very meaningful to him. We have three captains, but he’s the top dog. To hear him step in front of the group … it really resonated.”
Center Shaun O’Hara said it was the “most vocal” Manning has ever been. Cornerback Terrell Thomas said, “It was honest, it was the truth, it was a captain speaking when the time was needed.”
After Manning was through, Tuck said, “He actually got some cheers and hand claps because it was so out of character for him.”
How effective a motivational speaker Manning was won’t be known until Sunday.