If ever there was a time for Eli Manning to be pulled from a game, it was in the fourth quarter of yesterday’s moribund 41-17 trouncing at the hands of the Vikings.
Manning with 12:59 remaining already had thrown his fourth interception and, for the third time, saw one of his errant throws returned for a touchdown. At 41-10, certainly the outcome was no longer in doubt and, though there were no illusions of a comeback led by backup Anthony Wright, what was the point in Manning remaining on the field for further humiliation or risk of injury?
Tom Coughlin said he thought about pulling Manning.
“But I didn’t see the purpose,” Coughlin said of his decision to keep Manning in the game. “I just don’t like that feeling. I wasn’t going to do that to him and I wasn’t going to do that to me, and us.”
Manning said he wanted to finish the game.
“I didn’t want him to pull me,” he said. “I wanted to be in there and try to get something going.”
Another consideration was giving Plaxico Burress the rest of the day off, considering Burress (7-93, 1 TD) had put in his busiest game in a month and continues to labor with a sprained right ankle. Burress remained in the game until the bitter end.
Burress, who scored his first touchdown in five games, said: “We were still out there fighting. We’re going to continue to fight until there are zeros on the clock.”
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If any member of the Giants defense was told they would limit running back Chester Taylor to 77 rushing yards for a meager 2.5-yard average they would have smiled and figured a victory was in the bag. That’s what the Giants did, but their defense was far from dominating.
The Vikings came in leading the league in rushing and 31st in passing, but the Giants did not take advantage of that discrepancy. Mainly, the Giants were unable to deal with Tarvaris Jackson, the unheralded quarterback, who completed 10 of 12 passes for 129 yards and one touchdown (a rating of 139.2). The Giants sacked Jackson four times but could not rattle him.
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As expected, RBs Brandon Jacobs (hamstring) and Derrick Ward (groin, ankle) did not play. Reuben Droughns (15-46) other than the opening series was not effective. . . . LB Antonio Pierce had X-rays taken of his ankle. . . . RT Kareem McKenzie in the fourth quarter went in for X-rays for a leg contusion. . . . CB Aaron Ross left briefly in the second half with a hamstring injury. . . . Former Giants TE Visanthe Shiancoe caught one pass for 13 yards for the Vikings.