Eli Manning’s consecutive start streak now stands at one.
The New York Giants quarterback was back under center for the Giants on Sunday where he always belonged, getting every snap under center in what would be a 30-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. His return as the team’s starter after being benched for last Sunday’s game by former head coach Ben McAdoo was greeted on Sunday by cheers and chants from the Giants faithful at MetLife Stadium.
Even though the game wasn’t the blowout that the boxscore would indicate, Manning’s return was still a rare reason to stand and cheer for fans of this 2-11 team. Last week’s benching ended Manning’s consecutive games started streak at 210 games, second longest in the NFL.
“That’s where you want to be. That’s where I want to be. I wanna go out, be there with my teammates, try to get a win, be there for the fans and do my part,” Manning said following Sunday’s loss. “Hopefully the coaches believe I gave us the best chance to win at quarterback. I thought we did some good things today; competed. Three and a half quarters right in the mix. We have to find ways to finish stronger in the second half and at the end of games.”
Manning didn’t have a great game, a rather pedestrian 31-for-46 for 228 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Both of the interceptions were late in the game with the Giants chasing the lead.
It wasn’t a perfect day for Manning – far from it – but given his offensive line and the lack of star power available for him as targets not to mention several key drops in this game, it wasn’t a bad performance.
In the aftermath of Sunday’s game, Spagnuolo was asked if Manning’s consecutive starts streak would stretch to two games. He wasn’t ready to commit to his veteran over backup Geno Smith or rookie Davis Webb.
“I’m not going to comment. I don’t know. I’m not going to comment on that right now,” Spagnuolo said. “That would be my gut feeling. Look, without looking at it and evaluating, but Eli Manning is the quarterback right now.”
