It’s been a rough year for Eli Manning and the New York Giants, but in what will be his final home game at MetLife Stadium, he got the moment he deserved.
In a game that nobody outside of the Tri-State Area or South Florida would even care about, the New York Giants snapped their atrocious nine-game losing streak by beating the equally terrible Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Though both teams are a forgettable 3-11 on the year, this game was all about Eli Manning getting the respect he deserves as a quarterback.
Manning, who started last week vs. the division rival Philadelphia Eagles and nearly won it on the road, had been benched in favor of his successor in rookie Daniel Jones back in Week 3. Approaching his 39th birthday, this will be the last season Manning will play for the Giants, the only NFL organization he’s ever known. He may go elsewhere, but retirement feels very likely.
In what will be his last home game in front of the G-Men faithful, Manning delivered one last memorable performance. He completed 20-of-28 passes for 283 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. No, it wasn’t pretty, as is the case with most Manning starts, yet he played well enough to give the Giants a commanding 36-20 victory over the flailing Dolphins.
Manning would earn a standing ovation from the MetLife Crowd once he exited the game shortly after the two-minute warning. This is the star quarterback who delivered two improbable Super Bowl championships over the New England Patriots in his likely Pro Football Hall of Fame career. Manning is not a first-ballot guy, but he belongs in Canton nonetheless.
Though this win might end up hurting the Giants in the Chase Young sweepstakes, as they now have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Dolphins going forward, we were all hoping for one last signature moment in Manning’s Giants career. For him to be able to go out in MetLife with a victory only feels right.
It remains to be seen what happens to Manning after this season. Could he join his former head coach Tom Coughlin down in Jacksonville? Does Manning accept that he doesn’t have it like he used to and hang up the spikes with grace and dignity at the end of the year? Either way, 2020 Giants football belongs to Jones and the Manning era in New York got one last great chapter.