Eli On WFAN: Giants Haven't Made Enough Of Their Own Breaks This Season
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Eli Manning sees 2013 as just one of those years.
The Giants' postseason hopes took a major hit with Sunday's 24-21 loss to Dallas. Now at 4-7, Big Blue likely needs to win out to have a shot.
After winning four straight games to climb back into the NFC East race, the Giants seemed to dominate stretches of Sunday's game, but for whatever reason couldn't seize control on the scoreboard. Manning told WFAN's Mike Francesa on Monday the game was sort of a microcosm of their season.
"It was one of those games where you go into halftime and you feel like you dominated the first half, really, but you have nothing to show for it," said Manning, who finished 16-of-30 for 174 yards and two touchdowns in defeat.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning
He said considering the Giants had nearly overcome a six-game losing streak to start the season, coming up empty against Dallas was very difficult to accept.
"We dug ourselves out of a hole a little and if we win this game we're right there in the mix and feeling good about things," Manning said. "But obviously this one set us back a little bit. Our mindset right now is we have to win our next five. We gotta win 'em all to give us a shot. We'll need some help in the division, with a couple of teams in the division losing. We got Washington this week and we gotta handle our business."
The Giants have seemingly been a step behind all season on both sides of the ball. Injuries early to key linemen like Jason Pierre-Paul left the defense a shell of what it had been before. Injuries and inconsistency on the offensive line rendered Manning a sitting duck at times. The rapport that had been developed between Manning and receivers Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks and Rueben Randle still isn't where it used to be. Injuries at running back created a revolving door of warm bodies during games when Manning was under siege.
And the list goes on and on.
"That's kind of football sometimes, where some years you just make every play or you get in a tough situation and you find a way to get out of it," Manning said. "You get that break, you recover that fumble, you buy that second in the count to find that guy open. Little things go your way. Some years you have it, some years it just tough. But that's football. You have to fight through it and make your breaks."
Opening monologue
The Giants will begin their long road back on Sunday night in Washington and then will fly cross country to face San Diego on Dec. 8. Manning said his team doesn't have time to harp on the Dallas loss if the idea is to make one last run at salvaging this season.
"I think we'll do it," Manning said. "We'll keep grinding and we'll keep working. We have no other options. There's nothing else we can do … We have to find a way to execute better and win some games."
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