Robert Griffin III may well be the quarterback of the future, but even the Redskins had to admit Eli Manning is the most clutch quarterback of the present. After seeing him rip their collective hearts out with a game-winning bomb to beat them 27-23 yesterday, it was hard to argue.
After RGIII had put the Redskins ahead with 1:32 to play, Manning hit Victor Cruz with a 77-yard score to illustrate that his time is still now. Asked if Manning was the NFL’s best fourth-quarter quarterback, Redskin coach Mike Shanahan said, “He sure proved it (yesterday). Great throw, double-covered, hit it right on the money.’’
Two dozen times, Manning has led the Giants to victory in the fourth quarter. Yesterday was his eighth game-winning drive since the start of last season, the most in football in that span. The best? It would seem so.
“Right now he is. He won this one,’’ said Redskins cornerback Josh Wilson, who picked off Manning in the third quarter and held Cruz in check through most of four quarters, until getting beaten badly on the game-winner.
“He’s been doing it well for a while,’’ Washington receiver Santana Moss said. “He spoke a couple of years about himself and said he was elite. He’s been playing that way all this season. I like Eli, he’s a pretty good quarterback.’’
At this point, it’s almost hard to remember when Manning wasn’t elite. He has so spoiled New York fans that it was shocking to watch him struggle against Washington’s defense, missing a wide-open Cruz in the end zone for a potential first-half TD, overthrowing him on a bomb early in the third quarter, and tossing a pair of picks.
But Manning hit 26-of-40 passes for 337 yards, working the clock like a shrewd hourly employee on a drive for a field goal with 7 seconds left in the first half, and hitting Cruz in stride on a go-route right through a double-team with 1:13 left in the game.
And regarding Manning being the NFL’s best fourth-quarter quarterback in the league, Giants LB Michael Boley said the Redskins got it wrong: “We have the best quarterback in the league.’’
brian.lewis@nypost.com