GOOD-BYE: Eli Manning, attempting a pass against the Dolphins last season, has won his last four starts following the Giants’ bye week. (
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Whatever Eli Manning did during the bye week — whatever he ate or drank, whether he worked out or lounged around, whether he watched football, movies, soap operas or no TV at all — the Giants hope it is the exact formula he has followed the last four years during the bye week.
Because Manning has become a master of the big-time performance the week after a bye.
This is exactly what the Giants, mired in a two-game losing streak with their stranglehold on the NFC East having weakened considerably, need Sunday night when they play the Packers at MetLife Stadium in a delicious matchup between the past two Super Bowl champions.
Dating back to 2008, in the first games after the bye week, Manning has led the Giants to a 4-0 record, thrown for 1,290 yards (an average of 322.5 per game) and has 10 touchdowns to only one interception.
What is it about Manning and his post-bye-week dominance?
Manning, for one, said yesterday he had “no idea’’ his numbers were so good after bye weeks.
“It’s not a stat that I look at,’’ he said.
It is, however, a stat that does not lie.
“I’m excited about it; I hope he sticks to the trend,’’ Giants receiver Victor Cruz said. “I guess it’s just a renewed sense of focus coming out of the bye week. You’re a little bit fresher and had some time to get some rest.’’
Manning has insisted his focus for the bye week was not to focus on football. He even said he did not bring his laptop with him to Mississippi, where he spent the week with his family.
But some of his teammates do not believe their football savant leader completely extricated himself from football during the bye week.
“I’m not buying it,’’ Manning’s backup David Carr said. “I didn’t talk to him during the bye week, but I’m pretty sure he wasn’t sitting at home eating and just hanging out. I’m pretty sure he was watching practice film.’’
Not so, according to Manning — unless he was sneaking film work late at night after his wife, Abby, had fallen asleep.
Carr said his theory for Manning’s post-bye-week success is all “in his preparation.’’
“If you give him an extra week, give him two weeks to prepare for something … look at his numbers, there is a reason for [the success],’’ Carr said.
“I can guarantee you one thing: He did not go off to Vegas partying,’’ Giants punter Steve Weatherford joked. “He’s the leader of the team. It’s important to him. He’s a professional. I’m sure he was unplugging back in Mississippi and was getting away from football, but at some point he was actively getting ready for the next game.’’
Whether Manning did or he did not actively prepare for the Packers while he was away, what he did do, he said, was rest his body and mind.
And the last month, during which he has not thrown a touchdown pass (since Oct. 21 against the Redskins), would suggest Manning needed to get away. He’s thrown four interceptions to zero touchdowns in the last three games and, in his last four games, Manning has thrown one touchdown and has six interceptions.
“He’s excited about playing, I can tell you that,’’ Giants coach Tom Coughlin said yesterday. “He’s looking at this as if it’s a start to a new season. That, perhaps, is the way he’s approached all games after the bye.’’
Manning yesterday talked about coming back “excited and re-energized’’ from the bye week.
“I thought we had a good practice [yesterday],’’ he said. “Guys were running around, guys are enthused. Hopefully, we’ll come out there and play great football.’’
If Manning and the Giants do that — if he ends his personal slump and leads his teammates to a win over the Packers, puts an end to their baffling annual November swoon — other NFL quarterbacks might take a closer look at his bye-week routine and attempt to copy it.