Giants Thrive on Manning’s Late-Game Poise
Giants tight end Jake Ballard scoring the decisive touchdown against Tracy White on Sunday in a 24-20 victory over the Patriots.
His teammates said Manning did not brand the situation with some kind of fiery verbal proclamation — like “Come on, guys, time to get it done!” — because that is not the way he works, for one, and the Giants are used to staging fourth-quarter comebacks this season, for another.
The drive, which resulted in a game-winning touchdown pass from Manning to Jake Ballard with 15 seconds left, felt to everyone pretty much like the two-minute drills the Giants rehearse here on Thursdays, when traffic from Route 3 provides the only background noise.
“It felt just like how we scripted it in practice,” wide receiver Victor Cruz said Wednesday.
According to the Giants, the 24-20 victory over the Patriots represents the 19th time in Manning’s career that he has rallied the Giants from a fourth-quarter deficit or tie. He has led the Giants to game-winning scores five times this season, including the last three games.
With a 68.7 completion rate and eight touchdowns, Manning, 30, is the most efficient quarterback in the N.F.L. in the fourth quarter. Even since winning Super Bowl XLII against the Patriots with a similar drive in 2008, he is said to be “poised” instead of “quiet.”
“I would hope that would be gone at this point of his career,” said Chris Snee, the veteran right guard.
Snee said he had not enjoyed answering questions before the game about the Super Bowl rematch, because to him it was not a rematch. That game was played more than three years ago, between opponents whose rosters had changed a lot since.
Sunday’s game, Snee said, had only two things in common with the Super Bowl: the Patriots were the opponents, and the Giants won. The Giants have a much younger receiving corps now, which makes Manning, by comparison, older.
“I can’t remember the Super Bowl,” the veteran right tackle Kareem McKenzie said. “But Eli does what you’re supposed to do in these situations. He’s not worried about the situation, and he’s not worried about what he’s got to do to get it done.”
Partly as a result of Manning’s composure, the Giants are 6-2 entering an intriguing game Sunday in San Francisco against the resurgent 49ers (7-1). The Giants are regarded as a young team that is gaining confidence, but Manning is unsure how much value that has.
When asked Wednesday if the victory over the Patriots could be regarded as a momentum-builder, Manning pondered the question and said: “I guess so. But it’s still a matter of preparation. That’s more important. It’s not like you get confidence and say, ‘Hey, we can just go out there, and we’re going to win.’ It’s still a matter of how you work, what’s the game plan, how well players know it, and what do we need to do to win.”
The Giants, he said, feel good about their ability to score late in games. But he said the team needed to work on playing better earlier and not having to rely on comebacks every week.
Earlier, Coach Tom Coughlin, asked to gauge the carryover effect of the New England game, said: “That was last week. Our team has finished pretty well this year. We have a goal about finishing a game and being stronger. We are doing a much better job of that, and we have done that a few times this year. Thank God we were able to do it the other night.”
During a conference call Wednesday, Jim Harbaugh, the former quarterback who is the 49ers’ first-year coach, said Manning “plays very cool.”
“Makes great decisions — and does a really good job buying time and gives himself more time to make those cool-headed decisions,” Harbaugh said. “Finds quiet spots in the pocket and makes throws that only the best ones in the game can make.”
Ballard said during the game-winning drive that Manning was so calm that it was inconceivable that the Giants would lose.
“I feel like because we’ve done it so many times, we’re used to it,” Ballard said Wednesday. “We know what we have to do to get the job done.”
EXTRA POINTS
Ahmad Bradshaw, the Giants’ leading rusher, missed the Patriots game with a stress fracture in his right foot and was unable to practice Wednesday. Wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, who also missed Sunday’s game, did not practice.
Source: nytimes.com
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