Eli Manning’s struggles haven’t stopped Giants from contending

Eli Manning need look no further than himself for his team’s struggles in recent weeks. The New York Giants quarterback has struggled to protect the ball and move the chains. And yet the 9-4 Giants are poised to make the playoffs with Manning saying that he thinks the offense could be close to clicking.

Finally.

In Sunday’s ugly yet important 10-7 win over the division-leading Dallas Cowboys, the Giants won despite Manning who had two first half fumbles as well as an interception. It was all part of a game where the offense struggled to run the ball or pass it. That’s been a common theme this year and certainly has been the case in recent weeks.

Since a win at the Cleveland Browns three weeks ago where he had three touchdown passes and no interceptions, Manning has three touchdowns and three interceptions in his last two games. He had 14 interceptions in each of the last two seasons; so far with three games left Manning has already thrown 13 picks in 2016.

“We just got to understand, hey, I know I can play well, I know I can make the plays and get hot. Just have to stand in there and make the plays,” Manning said. “I’m going to keep working and go in every week confident that I can go out there and have a great game.”

He is still on pace to top 4,000 yards for what would be the sixth time in his career. But his numbers are down across the board.

If it weren’t for the Giants ever-improving play on defense, then things could be a whole lot tougher in the land of Big Blue.

“That’s what I’m trying to do, do my job, find completions, score points, move the ball,” Manning said. “We got to clean some things up and I got to play better and smarter football.”

With the win on Sunday night, the Giants have won seven of their last eight games.