The New York Giants and veteran quarterback Eli Manning showed that they can still get the job done in a last-minute, come-from-behind victory on Monday night against the San Francisco 49ers.
Manning’s three-yard reception to Sterling Shepard gave the Giants a 27-23 lead they would not relinquish inside a minute to go, snapping a five-game losing streak.
It keeps wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.’s prophetic remarks of the Giants running the table this season intact, yet that might not be the best thing for the organization.
The Giants are a team amidst a rebuild, even if that word isn’t being thrown around enough around the organization. The offensive line needs to be completely rebuilt, the defense has to replace one of its best talents in the traded defensive tackle Damon Harrison, and a true franchise quarterback of the future is needed to replace Manning.
Captaining an offense that is one of the worst in the league, the immobile Manning has proven to the Giants that they need a younger, more athletic quarterback to optimize the current unit. Through nine games, Manning has been sacked 32 times, albeit just once in Monday night’s victory.
Any victory for a bottom dweller in the NFL will always be met with mixed results. A win is a win, but what future ramifications come with it. New York’s win saw their chances at nabbing the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft decrease as they moved to 2-7. The loss dropped the 49ers to a more favorable 2-8.
Entering Monday night’s game, the Giants had the third-best odds for the No. 1 pick at 12.1-percent, according to Football Outsiders. The 49ers weren’t too far behind at 11.3-percent. Expect those fortunes to swap heading into Week 11.
Both teams are still looking up at the Oakland Raiders and Arizona Cardinals. The one-win Raiders have a 54.5-percent chance at the top pick while the Cardinals are at 12.9-percent.
New York and San Francisco still are likely to have over a 60-percent chance of nabbing a top-five pick regardless.
It might not be the end of the world for the Giants should they pick at No. 4 or No. 5 come the spring. With a much weaker quarterback class compared to last season’s, the crown jewel of 2019 could very well be available for the Giants after the opening two or three selections.
The Raiders (Derek Carr), Cardinals (Josh Rosen) and 49ers (Jimmy Garappolo) all have quarterbacks to build the franchise around. So do the New York Jets (Sam Darnold), who are suddenly looking like a top-five draft team after four-straight losses of their own.
