NFL

Eli intelligence leads to lack of sacks against Giants

PASS THE TEST: Giants QB Eli Manning (10) has been sacked just four times, the fewest of any starter in the league.

David Carr never has seen it before and never has noticed anyone else do it. Only Eli Manning. It is unique, and one of the reasons why Manning is the least-sacked quarterback in the NFL.

When the ball is thrown amid pressure in the pocket, most quarterbacks first fix their eyes downfield to see if the pass is complete. Manning looks elsewhere.

“The biggest thing that stands out about him, and it’s kind of hard to notice if you’re not in the meeting room with him, you notice after he throws the ball, if he gets hit he looks at the number,’’ Carr, the Giants backup quarterback, said yesterday. “Who hit me? It kind of catalogues, it registers in his brain. Where was that protection? Where were we weak a little bit? Where was that breakdown? Where could it possibly have been? Can I get the ball out faster? He’s done that since I’ve been here.’’

Manning studies as he plays, and as a result he greatly enhances the likelihood he will be able to remain on his feet during and after the play. There are turbo-charged quarterbacks springing up all over the place, hybrid-type athletes who operate at high speed and have all the right moves.

Cam Newton looks like a linebacker and moves like a running back, but the Panthers have allowed 13 sacks. Everyone knows about Michael Vick’s jackrabbit quickness, but the Eagles have given up 17 sacks. Even the growing legend of Robert Griffin III, who Giants coach Tom Coughlin said “is probably the fastest guy on the field’’ is not immune to getting caught. Griffin has been sacked 12 times in his first six NFL games.

Plain ’ol Eli has thrown 255 passes and been sacked an NFL-low four times. Manning has not been sacked in three consecutive games.

The Giants face the Redskins and RG3 on Sunday, and Manning was asked if he ever looks out at one of those physical specimen quarterbacks and feels envious.

“There is no point,’’ Manning said. “I try to work with what I’m dealt with.’’

It’s working out for Eli. Keeping a quarterback clean is a group effort, starting with the offensive line, continuing with the ability of the running backs to pick up blitzes and the receivers to gain separation with their routes and make quick sight adjustment to allow the ball to be delivered at the right time.

Manning came up with a long list of ingredients needed to keep him upright in the pocket.

“Knowing your protections, knowing when you got a free guy rushing, knowing when you got time to throw, looking at the right people to get open, when do you throw it away, when do you try to wait and get it to your third and fourth receivers?’’ Manning said. “You don’t play to not get sacks. Sometimes they happen. Receivers have been getting open quickly, the offensive line has been blocking well and blocking the right guys so you don’t have guys coming in free, running backs have been getting chips. It’s everybody being a part of that.’’

It is not all about the protection, though. Manning is featured in his share of commercials but, unlike Newton and RG3, he never is shown in ultra-tight body armor putting on display his rare athletic prowess.

Asked to compare Manning to RG3, guard Chris Snee said, “Clearly if there was a race, 100 yards, I think [RG3] would beat Eli by 30.’’

Talking about all the mobile quarterbacks in the NFC East, Justin Tuck said, “It’s amazing [Tony] Romo is the least mobile quarterback in the NFC East that I get to play against.”

When someone pointed across the locker room to Manning, Tuck added, “I don’t get to play against him. That’s the guy we wouldn’t worry about containing.”

But sacking Manning has been next to impossible, and it’s not because everything always is blocked perfectly.

“Look at the way he escapes pressure, he’s actually very elusive for a quarterback, believe it or not he really is,’’ fullback Henry Hynoski said. “He gets out of things that we don’t know how he does it.’’

Manning’s self-preservation is often a byproduct of his comfort with his surroundings.

“He’s able to shake out things at times, really kind of amazed sometimes that he does it,’’ Snee said. “I guess he’s an athletic guy, as much as I like to bust him about it.’’

paul.schwartz@nypost.com