As the Giants hit the bye week and wonder what went wrong to leave them 1-6, there has been much discussion of a leaky offensive line and all the injuries at wide receiver.
But the guy they’ve been able to count on for years puts it on himself.
“I can still play at a high level and can get this offense going and do better than what we’re doing,” Giants quarterback Eli Manning said, via Howie Kussoy of the New York Post. “I got to play better.”
Of course, it would be hard for any quarterback to overcome this mess, and Manning hasn’t been awful. But they’re third-from-last in the league in scoring, and he’s on pace for his fewest passing yards since 2008. He’s currently completing a career-high percentage of his passes (64.2), but his 6.15 yards per pass attempt is the lowest since his rookie year.
When they did win a game, he did the least, with just 19 pass attempts when they beat the Broncos. With wide receiver Sterling Shepard set to return from an ankle injury after the bye week, he’ll get some help back for a young receiving corps.
“Yeah, well I think that’s definitely part of the job,” Manning said of working with new targets. “You got to find out what guys do well and put them in a position to make plays, throw accurate passes and give them a shot to make plays. So, it’s a combination. We have to make improvements. I have to, not coach them up, but make sure we’re doing things the right way and everybody is playing at a high level.
“Some of them, I got to stand in there and make throws.”
Standing in and taking it also goes for the criticism. And while they’ve said they’re not ready to take a look at rookie Davis Webb yet, their results are going to make many of their fans wonder how much time Manning has left.