He has fallen from the ranks of the elite, dragged down in a way Mark Sanchez was dragged down by the deterioration of the team around him. Eli Manning will one day get up, because quarterback is his calling, because he is still in his prime, because he is strong of character, because the Giants will move heaven and earth to build an offensive line that does not betray him.
But, in the meantime, it is sad to watch the unraveling of our Eli.
The 0-6 Giants can’t win without him, and they can’t win with him anymore either.
Who is that imposter in the No. 10 jersey?
Who stole Eli?
Even on a night when he was afforded time to step into his throws, even on a night when Brandon Jacobs supplied a ground game for him, Manning could not remember how to rescue his team from the life raft and carry it to safety.
And it is killing him that he cannot be The Mann in his team’s most desperate, darkest hour.
Big brother Peyton has one interception in 198 throws. Little brother has 15 interceptions in 229 throws. Ouch.
He is not Peyton Manning. Never was. But he is not Eli Manning anymore either. He is a shadow of the quarterback who won two Super Bowls.
Baseball official scorers would call him “E” Manning. He probably cringes every time that rap video with Peyton airs.
Eli has thrived in this market because he has been the same guy every day — Easy Eli. But that was an unmistakeable crack in the veneer as Thursday night bled into Friday morning when tears welled in his eyes and his voice cracked as he pointed the finger of blame at himself for letting down the people most important in his life other than his family — his Giants. His teammates and his coaches.
It was a rare glimpse behind the even-keeled mask, a mea culpa that put an exclamation point on how much he cares, about his brothers and his craft, and his passion for winning.
A tsunami of incompetence has washed across Big Blue shores and left him alone and drowning on Eli Island, his championship mettle swept away.
As Jets fans gaze longingly at Geno Smith as a symbol of hope for the future, panicked Giants fans have begun to wonder whether it is possible that Manning’s best days could be behind him. It is, of course, a classic knee-jerk reaction typical of fans in every NFL city.
But facts are facts: Manning has lost 11 of his last 14 games. And in those 14 games, he has thrown 23 touchdown passes and 22 interceptions. (Thankfully, no Buttfumble.)
David Tyree, where are you?
These Giants have absolutely no margin for error from their quarterback. These Giants need him to be Super-Mann. And he has forgotten how to fly.
They believe in him because they have seen magic with their own eyes. They have seen him master his craft. They know how important football is to him. You don’t give up on Eli Manning. You sure don’t sit him for Curtis Painter.
You let him fight his way out of this.
The Giants have no choice, both financially and emotionally, to chalk this slide up as an aberration.
It doesn’t mean by the end of 2014 you don’t start thinking about Life After Eli.
The breakdowns have been all over. New faces on the offensive line. New running backs. Receivers not always on the same page. No tight end security blanket. No defense to support him.
None of it excuses the mistakes. The great ones find a way to overcome. Manning has been pressing, trying to do too much, and doing too little instead.
He is not Peyton Manning, or Tom Brady, or Drew Brees, or Aaron Rodgers. But he has not been the ascending quarterback the Giants were counting on. He stands helplessly amidst the rubble that has crumbled around him.
Slumps are not uncommon for most quarterbacks, and Manning by nature can be streaky. But no one expected this.
He had dreamed of a euphoric night at MetLife Stadium on February 2, 2014. Now he’ll have to hope he has enough equity so the boobirds cut him some slack a week from Monday night against the Vikings.
Eli Manning smiling and holding that Lombardi Trophy high over his head floating down the Canyon of Heroes seems like an eternity ago.
The Captain has gone down with the ship.
Mann overboard.
In shark-infested waters.