New York Giants: Eli Manning is not the main problem on the Giants’ offense

The New York Giants once again failed to score 30 points in an NFL game as their offense was nonexistent in a loss to the rival Cowboys. The Giants are bad but the problem is far from Eli  Manning.

The New York Giants have not scored 30 points on offense in a regular season game in over a calendar year. With a rapidly aging Eli Manning, the failure falls only partially on him.

The New York Giants offense is really bad. Let’s not sugar coat it. The offense stinks and the defense looks like it’ll come around.

The Giants have been in each of their losses. They even “lost pretty” in both with the scores not being all that far apart.

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If you take away a deflected pick six from the Jags in Week 1 and a long TD by the Cowboys in Week 2, the Giants’ results might be a lot different.

But, this is not even ill-fate. This is not bad luck. The Giants might have been in every game, but there is a reason no one is making excuses and a reason no one is looking at this 0-2 as anything other than a pathetic winless record.

The Giants’ offense is terrible. The Giants have failed to build around Eli Manning, who they still see as the guy.

The Giants spent big time money on their offensive line, which can’t block anybody. They dropped a small fortune on Odell Beckham Jr. who can barely get the ball and do what he does because no one has time to find him.

Saquon Barkley is only averaging two yards per carry, and if you take away his one breakout run there would be a lot more questions.

He might be one of the teams leading pass catchers but that is more scheme and him being the quickest target to pass to almost every down.

It is easy to look at Eli Manning, who has never been mobile in his career, and blame him for this all. He has his flaws. But, the flaws he has always had.

It does not get Eli off the hook. If he continues to fail at getting the ball downfield and continues to go weeks without sparking the magic we have seen so many times, then it can be more on him.

This is on the Giants. The reason for their woeful offense is due to an overall lack of talent and execution. Eli has done his job with what he has.

The Giants might have failed to draft a quarterback. But, Saquon Barkley might not end up being a bad consolation prize.

They also failed to build a team around Eli Manning who is naturally aging. The Giants tried to but failed to better the offensive line. They tried to but failed to upgrade Eli Manning’s targets.

He can no longer play as an immobile QB. He used to be able to get away with it, but now he cannot.

The Cowboys outplayed the Giants in one instance. They were able to get the big play. The opening drive TD set the tone for this game and the Giants season. Dak Prescott is mobile but had just enough time to capitalize off a falling Janoris Jenkins.

If the Giants were able to get a big play back on their end, and I do not mean garbage time TDs, then the results of this game could have been different. But, they didn’t.

One big play in two games will not win them anything. Good to great defense will not win them much if they don’t have an offense.

Eli Manning might be bad now. Maybe this is the end of what has been an admirable career.

But, to say that Alex Tanney or Kyle Lauletta would all of a sudden turn the Giants offense into elite would be wrong.

There is not much more they could do that Eli can’t. There is still a bad team around him and the Giants’ schedule is still really difficult down the road. It will not get easier.

If Eli Manning was not who he was, and he didn’t win two Super Bowl MVPs, this would be a whole different narrative. He might have even been gone this offseason.

However, he is. He is a Super Bowl champ and is the Giants iron man. With things going this poorly it easy to be blinded by what he has done.

Maybe it would be better to give Kyle Lauletta reps. Him learning and playing and only getting better could be better than watching Eli get worse, but the Giants clearly do not intend on doing that.

Eli Manning gives them the best chance to win right now. The Giants want to win right now after blowing up their rebuild after one week of trying it last year.

So, to set Kyle Lauletta up to fail much like Manning would be pointless. The Giants are not going to get better overnight.

But, this is what the Giants want. He is not the reason why they are bad. It is not his fault the Giants chose not to find an immediate upgrade at the position.

So, do not blame Eli for anything. Eli owes the Giants nothing yet is sticking around to take a beating and be part of what will probably be another losing season.

Blame the Giants for failing to adjust to a 3-13. Blame the whole offense for not having enough to literally score one or two more TDs.

They are the ones who committed to Eli. So, until they swallow their pride and go all-in on the future, they should not bench Eli. He is the piece that has worked for them before.

The game against the Cowboys was a small sample of how bad things can get. Or, it showed the Giants are capable of winning this season, just not this early.

Either way, it is not on Eli Manning that the team is playing like this. There are many moving parts here and no matter the QB, they would be running for their lives and looking for Barkley every play too.

That is something that is a lot bigger than the man holding the fort down. That seems like what Eli is doing. At least we can all never forget his Super Bowl wins.