NFL

Eli needs to do what he does best — lead the Giants

Clutch is not isolated to down the stretch of a Super Bowl staring down Bill Belichick and the Patriots or throwing through the arctic blast at Lambeau Field or repeatedly pulling his battered body off the soggy Candlestick grass.

Whether or not to put “elite’’ in front of Eli Manning’s name is a tired and pointless discussion, but as the Giants’ franchise quarterback he has been his best at the right time. In order to remind everyone of that rare and coveted reputation, in the next two weeks he needs to get his team back to the playoffs.

Manning won’t be asked to tackle Ray Rice on Sunday in Baltimore, and if the Giants cannot somehow clean up their shoddy run defense — this team’s most alarming, season-long failing — the postseason might be an afterthought before Christmas. Manning, though, is asked to score more than he did last week in Atlanta, which was not at all, more than he did at Washington (16 points), more than he did in Cincinnati (13) and more than he did in Philadelphia (19). Manning this weekend is asked — loudly — not to throw anything remotely sloppy in the vicinity of Ed Reed because the Pick Six that follows will have nothing to do with betting horse races or buying lottery tickets.

Manning is asked to get his act together and get the Giants where they unquestionably belong, as one of the six NFC playoff teams. He has already secured his postseason legacy and the Super Bowl MVP automobiles he has been awarded don’t get driven away if the Giants go one-and-done in January. There is nothing career-defining about what comes next, but Manning is probably 60 percent done with his quarterback life and there are no guarantees that every December will afford these opportunities.

The Giants, after their requisite 6-2 start, after dominating first-place teams such as the 49ers and Packers, would be bitterly disappointed not to get into the NFC tournament. It would actually be embarrassing on some levels because it would constitute a late-season meltdown that could not be traced to a spate of injuries or a run of bad luck.

Yet fear is not a Manning motivator.

“I think the excitement and opportunity to make the playoffs is the greatest motivator,’’ he said. “I don’t think fear is a motivator.’’

Sitting in this spot one year ago, at 7-7 and knowing two wins captured the NFC East title, the Giants weren’t backed into a corner as much as they were thrust onto the high-wire circus act with no net. The emotion of the Christmas Eve tussle with Rex Ryan’s “Big Brother’’ Jets nearly overshadowed the playoff implications and riled the Giants up to a frenzied level. The next week, the Cowboys arrived for an elimination, winner-take-all, loser-go-home division championship.

This year it’s all about how the numbers tumble. The Ravens represent nothing to the Giants other than a failed Super Bowl XXXV back when Manning was a freshman at Ole Miss. If the Giants win in Baltimore, they try to clinch a playoff berth against the Eagles, the league’s greatest crash-and-burn story with Andy Reid closing out his tenure and his fractured team in full spoiler mode.

That they did it last year is fine and dandy and, Tom Coughlin says, if anyone wants to breathe in confidence from it, go right ahead. But Manning isn’t taking in those fumes.

“It’s different situations,’’ he said. “I don’t think it gives you extra confidence. Confidence comes from your teammates, the character of your teammates, your coaches and preparation during the week of the game. I don’t think confidence comes from something that happened 12 months ago.’’

Confidence also comes from demonstrated performance and what Manning has demonstrated recently isn’t awe-inspiring. In his last eight games, he’s thrown nine touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. The highs of piling a combined 80 points on the Packers and Saints are mitigated by the lows getting nothing done against the Bengals and even less in Atlanta.

“We’ve tried like heck to talk about ascending and not having that very good game, then that not-so-good game and then a very good game,’’ Coughlin said. “Evidently, we haven’t got that message across.’’

Calm and steady are two of Manning’s greatest traits; he’d rather analyze than obsess. He does not embrace or condemn an entire game, he breaks it down in painstaking detail. That’s why what confounds everyone — scoring 52 points one week, none the next — can make sense.

“Again, I don’t look at the scores, I look at each play, the execution, the circumstances that we are in and how we executed in those situations,’’ Manning said.

Thus, what goes in the books as a shutout loss to the Falcons is viewed in pieces. “We got the ball on our second possession, drive right down there, do some good things, settle for a field goal [that missed],’’ Manning said. “Next time we get the ball, drive down again, go for it, don’t get it. We responded pretty well, we just didn’t finish it.’’

It now is all about the finish. The Giants right now don’t need Eli to be elite, they just need him to figure out a way to score just enough points in two games to get his team where it belongs.

Baltimore boos for the home team

Up Next is an opponent in a strange situation. The Ravens are reeling, mired in a three-game losing streak after a 9-2 start. Yet they have already clinched a playoff berth and likely will retain their hold on first place in the AFC North, as they own the tiebreaker advantage on the Bengals, who at 8-6 are one game back. Joe Flacco is struggling and not putting himself in position for a fat new contract, injuries have hit hard — middle linebacker Jameel McClain is the latest loss — and the Ravens last week were booed often at M&T Bank Stadium as they got beat 34-17 by the Broncos.

“That to me is painful,’’ coach John Harbaugh said. “There’s no question about it. It stings, but rightfully so. That’s the way that we had played. We had done things that you just can’t do if you want to win a football game against a good team. We deserved it. We’ve got to go earn those cheers. That’s up to us.”