NFL

There’s no need to panic, Eli will right Giants ship … again

All it takes is one demoralizing defeat, a troubling pair of games where King Eli has misplaced his elite crown, for a barrage of questions from media and concerns from fans about another second-half swoon under Tom Coughlin that would sabotage the Giants’ Super Bowl defense.

Everybody chill.

In this euphoria-disaster sports town we live in, everybody rushes to the panic room first and asks questions later.

There will be no second-half swoon this time.

You either believe in Eli Manning or you do not.

You either believe he is a two-time Super Bowl MVP in his prime, or you do not.

He has righted The Big Blue Ship before, and he will right it again.

“The fact of the matter is this,” Justin Tuck said. “I’ve been in the league [eight] years, and been with Eli for all eight years. … I really haven’t seen a guy that’s more professional about his approach … about dissecting a defense, and getting his team in position to be successful. It hasn’t worked the last two weeks. But I’m not worried about him because of the fact that he’s probably more critical on himself than anybody is ever going to be with him so, I know he’s in the film room, I know he’s doing everything possible to get the ship righted.

“He demands that from everybody else around him, too, so … he’s not perfect, he’s not going to go out there and throw eight touchdowns and 400 yards every game.

“But he’s definitely going to go out and [put his] best foot forward, and always do the things that are going to help this team win. Football is funny that way, when you put that much effort into things, your likelihood of being successful goes up, and I know he’s doing that, and I’m not worried about him bouncing back.”

As Eli goes, the Giants go, and Tuck was all but wearing an Eli for President button when he addressed that reality.

“He’s got to be ‘The Guy’ that he’s always been,” Tuck said. “I think this team kind of feeds off the electricity that comes out of that offense and the big plays that they do. When it’s not there, obviously people have to step up. But it’s easier to win — a lot easier — when Eli’s playing like the elite quarterback that he is.”

And Eli understands the burden is on his shoulders considering special teams, the running game and the run defense were cruel jokes.

Coughlin, 13-20 in November, 32-40 after Nov. 1 with the Giants, said: “He’ll come bouncing back. He’ll be back.”

Play great, Eli, or else.

“Offensively, we got to do our part,” Manning said. “We got to play better offensively to help out this team.”

So who is that imposter wearing No. 10?

In three of the past four games, Manning has thrown for fewer than 200 yards. Over those four games, Manning has only two touchdown passes with four interceptions. And no touchdown passes against the Cowboys or Steelers.

“Obviously I didn’t play well [Sunday] night, there’s no hiding it,” Manning said. “I didn’t play my best football and I got to play better. … I’ve gone through stretches where I haven’t played great football and been able to bounce back and start playing better.”

2004: A six-game stretch (3 TDs, 8 INTs).

2005: A two-game stretch (1 TD, 5 INTs).

2006: A three-game stretch (2 TDs, 6 INTs).

2007: A four-game stretch (4 TDs, 8 INTs).

2008: A three-game stretch (1 TD, 2 INTs).

2009: A two-game stretch (2 TDs, 5 INTs).

2010: A two-game stretch (3 TDs, 5 INTs).

2011: A two-game stretch (1 TD, 4 INTs).

What’s wrong now?

Victor Cruz: “Just certain miscommunications that are going on out there.”

How does that happen?

“I think we didn’t do a good job of adjusting throughout the game to the different coverages, adjusting our routes and our route combinations according to that coverage,” Cruz said.

Tight end Martellus Bennett said teams have “been dropping more in coverage than rushing lately.”

“Everybody’s been game-planning for us differently than they had been playing against other people previously on tape, so we don’t get to see a lot of things until the actual day of the game,” he said. “There seems like there are a lot of opposite-color jerseys out there.

“They always got a guy over the top so a lot of deep balls that we usually hit we haven’t been able to get lately.”

Then check the ball down. Don’t force it to Hakeem Nicks, who isn’t himself, or Rueben Randle, who is raw. Audible to the run.

Fix it, Eli.