Manning Salvages Poor Performance With a Win

Eli Manning spent all week hearing everyone — from the fans to the press to the Giants' general manager — question whether he'll ever be good enough to be the team's franchise quarterback.

He spent the first 50 minutes of yesterday's game against the Chicago Bears answering that question with an emphatic no, and the last 10 minutes showing all the accuracy and smart decision-making the Giants thought he had when they made that franchise-shaping trade for him on draft day in 2004.

Manning was awful for most of yesterday's 21–16 win over the Bears, so awful that if the Giants' coaches had any reason at all to have faith in backups Jared Lorenzen or Anthony Wright, they'd have benched him. But Manning stayed in the game and looked like a completely different player on the Giants' final two drives, leading them to two straight touchdowns and a stunning come-from-behind win.

Manning's numbers for the game were mediocre: He completed 16 of 27 passes for 195 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions. But it was quite an accomplishment for Manning to even pull himself up to mediocre, given the way he started the game. Manning began making mistakes from the start, when his second pass went directly into the hands of Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher for an interception.

A later interception was even worse, because it looked like he had thrown away the Giants' last chance to win. Trailing 167 and facing third-and-goal from the Bears' one-yard line, Manning broke the tackle of Bears defensive end Alex Brown and saw Plaxico Burress in the corner of the end zone. But with the 6-foot-5-inch Burress matched up one-on-one with the 6-foot-1-inch Bears cornerback Charles Tillman, Manning didn't throw the ball high enough, and Tillman intercepted it.

That mistake — as well as a fumble that flew right out of his hand and will be replayed in blooper reels for years — was the type of thing that has driven Giants fans crazy about Manning. But he deserves credit for not packing it in and excelling when the Giants desperately needed him to.

In the fourth quarter, the Giants had touchdown drives of 75 and 77 yards, and with a healthy dose of help from his running game, Manning was in control on both drives, calling plays at the line of scrimmage, directing teammates and finding open receivers. With Manning at the helm, the Giants went from a 16–7 deficit to a 21–16 win in a span of just a few minutes.

Still, Manning doesn't make things easy, and even his touchdown pass in the fourth quarter was underthrown. Amani Toomer was wide open in the end zone and Manning made it much more difficult than it should have been, throwing short and forcing Toomer to dive for the ball. (It was ruled an incomplete pass by the officials on the field but ruled a touchdown after the referee reviewed the play.)

Just as Manning sometimes gets too much blame when things go badly for the Giants, the temptation to give him too much credit for yesterday's comeback must be resisted. Running back Derrick Ward, back after missing four games with groin and ankle injuries, had 24 carries for a career-high 154 yards. Ward also lost two fumbles, and he left late in the game with an injury.

From a strategic standpoint, the most interesting wrinkle in the Giants' game plan came on special teams, where their mission was clear: Avoid Devin Hester, the Bears' spectacular kick returner. Jeff Feagles effectively punted away from Hester all day, but Lawrence Tynes was less effective on kickoffs. Although Tynes didn't allow Hester to break any long returns, two of Tynes's four kickoffs went out of bounds, giving the Bears the ball at the 40-yard line, and his other two kickoffs were short, giving the Bears the ball at the 33 and the 41.

Hester was also involved in the Giants' luckiest break of the day. Lining up at wide receiver, Hester ran straight past everyone in the Giants' secondary and was wide open downfield. But Hester couldn't adjust when Bears quarterback Rex Grossman underthrew him, and a pass that could have been an 81-yard touchdown bounced off Hester's shoulder pads and fell incomplete.

It was a game like that for the Giants, in which their mistakes were overcome with just enough good plays and lucky bounces. And it was a game that makes it a near certainty that the Giants will make the playoffs. At 8–4, they now have a two-game lead in the standings on their nearest rivals in the NFC wild-card race. With six playoff spots for NFC teams and only four teams with winning records, the Giants are safely in.

Manning has a long way to go before he has answered all his critics, but for him and his team, yesterday's was a big win.

Mr. Smith is writer for FootballOutsiders.com.