These days everyone is down on Eli Manning. How much so? All you have to look at is US-Bookies, a sports betting intelligence site to figure out how much.
But Manning is still the Giants starting quarterback and is looking for another win on Monday as his Giants take on the Atlanta Falcons.
What do they have to do No. 10?
“It’s putting a full game together, and we haven’t done that,” Manning said. “We’ve shown glimpses of good play in series, but we just got to play that complete game. Just finding ways to extend drives, stay consistent, and try to avoid the negative plays.”
It’s been a tough go so far this year or Manning and new coach Pat Shurmur. The coach was supposed to rejuvenate Manning with new offensive schemes. It hasn’t worked. What Manning has seen is a commitment to winning, even though it hasn’t happened yet.
“You see the passion, you know there’s passion and hard work,” Manning said. “He’s not throwing chairs, he’s not screaming and yelling at everybody. He has his own way of motivating guys. I think he’s done a good job of just kind of handling the pulse of this team and keeping us together, and I think that’s the most important thing.”
Now Manning should be able to put up numbers this week, as Atlanta is struggling with their defense. They tend to sit back. Although it’s different from other defenses he faced this season, there’s still some risks.
“They’re a good scheme on defense,” he said. “They don’t bring tons of pressure, but they will a little bit. So, they try to mix it up. They try to mix up their zone, their man, to keep you off balance. We just got to have plays that are good versus both of them. They’re mostly a single-high team (coverage). We’ll be prepared for everything. Just try to have different ways of getting the ball down the field. Different ways just to get the ball out on time, and get completions, and just try to stay out of those third-and-longs.”
He will have help as tight end Evan Engram back for the game and that will give Manning just another weapon for this game.
“I think with Evan, just that guy who can get open versus man (coverage). Another option if teams want to play a little two-high (coverage) and play two-man (coverage). A guy who can get open versus linebackers and create some mismatches and move him around. I think it’ll be good to get Evan back.”
And if it gets them a win, so much the better for the Giants and Eli Manning.
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