New York Giants: Eli Manning cannot be benched

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning hasn’t been all that good in 2017, but the club cannot bench the signal-caller anytime soon.

The New York Giants aren’t benching quarterback Eli Manning after starting the season 0-3. It’s not happening. Stop Tweeting about it. Stop taking any sports talk radio hosts looking to attract calls and attention with such a take seriously. Don’t, for a single second, believe head coach Ben McAdoo is even entertaining the notion during the final week of September.

It’s easy to understand how one attempting to connect figurative dots could come to the conclusion that McAdoo might sit Manning during the early stages of the fall. Manning has played poorly over the past 12 quarters, McAdoo hasn’t been shy about criticizing his offense’s leader, even before the start of the current campaign, and a Giants team that was advertised to be a Super Bowl contender is 0-3 and seemingly well on its way to a losing season that could signal the end of an era.

Yes, things aren’t going well for the Giants, and there’s plenty of blame to go around. Logic suggests New York isn’t going to win 10 of the club’s final 13 games en route to righting the ship and somehow, someway, defying the odds and qualifying for the playoffs. Manning turns 37 years old next January, so it makes sense some would want to see a younger product get a shot if the Giants are, in fact, doomed to suffer a disappointing campaign that includes zero playoff games.

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Everyone, most notably Big Blue supporters bewildered about how a team seemingly so good on paper could play so badly in three-straight games, needs to take several steps back and examine the big picture. The Giants unquestionably have a massive hill to climb between now and the end of the season, and Manning, for better or for worse, is the best option New York has at the position.

Geno Smith earned the right to be Manning’s backup and second on the depth chart, if only via default, but we all know what Smith is and isn’t at this point of his career. The 26-year old who flopped while with the New York Jets could serve as a respectable fill-in if Manning was sidelined because of an injury or some other physical setback, but Smith isn’t providing a special spark the offense needs at the moment. He’s a backup for multiple reasons.

Smith entering the starting lineup wouldn’t fix New York’s disastrous offensive line. He wouldn’t turn Ereck Flowers into a left tackle worthy of starting for any NFL team, let alone for one hoped to earn a postseason berth. Smith wouldn’t bolster a rushing attack that is downright anemic three weeks into the campaign. It appears neither Manning nor Smith is going to get much out of veteran wide receiver Brandon Marshall for whatever reasons.

Elsewhere on the roster, rookie quarterback Davis Webb isn’t ready to see meaningful in-game action. He just isn’t. Webb shouldn’t play a snap of football before 2018 outside of versions of Madden, and those who believe otherwise clearly didn’t see the first-year pro in August. There may come a time when Webb is ready to replace Manning, but that day isn’t today, and it isn’t in the foreseeable future.

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Manning needs to play better. There’s no nice way to say that. He’s failing those around him, and the truth of the matter is that he probably knows that better than any analyst, observer, fan or player. Those running the Giants, whether it be current general manager Jerry Reese or some other administration, will have to plan for life after Manning and need to decide if Webb can be a franchise quarterback.

As cliche as it may be to type and read, the Giants are now in “one game at a time” mode. Losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 1 would essentially end New York’s season less than a month after it began. Manning’s job is to lead his offense onto the field versus Tampa Bay, and it’s a gig that is secure beyond his team’s next four quarters.

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