Two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning has struggled the past three weeks. Not a ton has been made of it because the G-Men have won two of the three games. But Eli has not played well, and it’s been evident both on the field and in the box scores.
Manning’s struggles were especially noticeable in Weeks Eight and Nine. Against the Cowboys and Steelers, Manning combined to complete just 25-of-54 passes (46.3 percent) for 317 yards (5.87 YPA), no touchdowns, and two interceptions.
NFL Films guru Greg Cosell mentioned on Friday’s Yahoo! Week Ten preview podcast that Manning’s struggles may be due to a “tired arm,” 318 throws into his ninth NFL season. And not only has it been evident on game tape, but Cosell and ESPN’s Ron Jaworski confirmed with someone in the know that Eli’s arm is tired.
“Ron Jaworski and I were having this conversation this week,” Cosell said. “I looked at Eli on Monday; Jaws looked at Eli on Wednesday. And he made a very interesting comment. It really struck me, and I would defer to Jaws on this because I’ve never taken snaps in the NFL. ... It looks to him like Eli’s arm is a little tired. And that he’s not driving the ball at the intermediate and deeper levels the way we’ve come to expect. Because Eli has a strong arm.
“And we even got that sort of confirmed by someone who’s a lot closer to the situation. His arm’s a little bit tired right now. He’s missed some throws that he would normally make.”
The Giants aren’t going to bench Manning, so they’ll likely just sit back and hope he snaps out of it.
New York visits Cincinnati in Week Ten.