Keidel: For All Of His Greatness, Eli Still Makes Head-Scratching Mistakes
By Jason Keidel
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We love sports for the zero-sum finality of the final score. So many debates are ended by a paper-thin, numerical gap between two teams, or two athletes.
But we also love sports for the narrative. We tell stories through our favorite games, favorite teams, and our home towns.
Thus the games within the games, like the football contest between the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins.
Washington won the first game, by two points. And perhaps that trumps the second game, the searing subplot that owned all the bold ink leading up to the game.
Perhaps it's fitting that it feels like the blood-boiling hatred between Odell Beckham Jr. and Josh Norman ended in a stalemate. Beckham snagged seven catches for 121 yards. A robust, 17.3 yards per reception. He did not reach the end zone.
But it wasn't a draw, was it? The Redskins won. Or, perhaps, the Giants lost. Beckham clearly wasn't himself, and Norman clearly still gets to him. The electric, eccentric wideout was way more emotional than normal, stomping up and down the sidelines, barking at the defense in spastic spurts. If Beckham got the slight edge on the field -- and that's questionable -- then Norman got the last laugh on the scoreboard.
But for all the talk about the simmering rivalry between Beckham and Norman, for their allergy to moderation, it was Beckham's ultra-cool colleague who cost him, them, and you, a victory.
Eli Manning did it ... again.
His stat sheet told one story as he completed 25 of 38 passes, for 350 yards, and one touchdown. Solid play from a solid player. If only it ended there.
Manning must be the most confounding NFL star of recent vintage. Millions of football fans have grown up with him and others must feel they're growing old with him.
Which great player can be so galling?
Brett Favre comes to mind. His last playoff pass was an interception in the NFC title game, just as his team was about to kick a game-winning field goal. (Sound familiar?) But recklessness is part of Favre's football marrow, if not his charm. The country boy who just launches a pigskin around the field -- for fun first, for pay second.
Between his durability and longevity, between his stats and Super Bowl rings, Manning is surely a Hall of Famer. Yet, for someone of his calm and cachet, you don't expect these hive-sprouting moments.
On a team of turbulent moods, Manning is the locker room sedative, the leader who literally leads by example, whose idea of fist-curling speeches is a shrug. Indeed, you saw Manning nestle next to Beckham, tug on his collar, and offer some wisdom. Beckham nodded politely, assuming he even heard the laconic quarterback.
But it was Eli who needed counsel. His first interception, literally on Washington's goal line, was troubling. But the last one, as the Giants were inching toward a game-winning field-goal attempt, had to leave Big Blue fans wondering what goes on behind that unflappable face.
You watch the replay, wondering if some circumstance forced the wayward pass. Was the ball tipped? Was Manning shoved? Did someone slap his arm mid-motion?
Nope. It was just Eli being Eli, in all his odd mutations. One moment you're so glad you have a QB of his wisdom, of his talent, of his indestructible Manning DNA. He takes every snap of every game. His rubber bones somehow have absorbed the savage pounding of over a dozen NFL seasons.
With Beckham ranting up and down the sideline, kicking equipment -- some of it kicking him back -- the one player you need, and expect, to bring the low-key regularity that wins games in the final moments, is the man with the green dot on the back of his helmet.
The Giants had a chance to put a chokehold on their position in the NFC East. Had Eli not thrown that interception, nudged the ball another 20 or so yards, and ended the game with a field goal, they would be 3-0 with two early wins within the division. They'd be at eye-level with the Eagles, who are shocking the league with their fast and flawless start.
Beyond the obvious irony that Eli, not Odell, cost them the game, is the fact that the Eagles are in first place with a rookie quarterback. Carson Wentz seems wise well beyond his fledgeling status.
It is the rookie, not the two-time Super Bowl MVP, who is making all the good throws, while avoiding the bad throws. It is the rookie quarterback who did not throw a game-ending pick on Sunday.
Indeed, Wentz is the first rookie QB in NFL history who hasn't thrown an interception in his first 100 passes.
Wentz isn't even supposed to be here. If not for a galling knee injury to Teddy Bridgewater, which spawned the Sam Bradford trade, Wentz would quite likely be donning a baseball cap, clutching a clipboard, barking plays to Bradford.
Manning is supposed to be here. He's supposed to know better. And he's supposed to be better.
Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel
