The Tom Brady-Manning brothers rivalry might have finally ended after New York Giants head coach Ben McAdoo announced that they were benching Eli Manning in favor of backup QB Geno Smith on Sunday in their week 13 matchup against the Oakland Raiders.
Manning’s benching brings up questions about whether he’ll start another game for the Giants or even play another snap.
If anything, it may mark a somber end to a rivalry that might not have been at the forefront of everyone’s minds, but was nonetheless exciting and full of emotion.
In a season that’s been rife with controversy over whether NFL players should or shouldn’t be allowed to kneel during the national anthem (and President Trump tweeting about it 20 times since September), there was a lot of good football to watch, but also a lot more bad football. The Giants (2-9) have been underachieving since the season began and have been riddled with injuries to boot. Manning can help that he plays for a team that ranks 28th in total offense, but he can’t help that the Giants are 31st in total defense.
Patriots fans (particularly me) have a deep-seated hatred for the Manning brothers on the football field. Aside from the rivalry between older brother Peyton and the golden boy Tommy, Eli has been the real thorn in the side of Brady and every Patriots fan out there having beaten the Pats not once, but twice in the Super Bowl (XLII and XLVI). And yet, it pained me to watch Eli answer questions on Tuesday afternoon on the verge of tears.
WATCH: Eli Manning reacts to the announcement that he will not start on Sunday pic.twitter.com/nQoPEcfTl3
— New York Giants (@Giants) November 28, 2017
Of course, you shouldn’t rest on your laurels, but it wasn’t like Eli was doing that. He currently ranks 15th among all quarterbacks in the league with 2,411 passing yards, 14 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions. He’s completing over 62 percent of his passes.
Geno Smith, on the other hand, with the New York Jets, threw for a lot of yards in two seasons starting (3,046 passing yards in his rookie year and 2,525 yards in the following year), but he also threw a lot of interceptions (21 and 13, respectively). He’s also never had a pass completion rate over 60 percent over those two seasons.
Eli’s still miles ahead of Geno. It’s not even close.
Whatever the future may hold for Eli, he deserves much, much better from the Giants than what they’re giving him. Shame on the Giants.
