QB Eli Manning
Postgame vs. Chicago, November 20, 2016
Q: What do you have to do on a windy day like today? How does it impact the way you play?
A: It can be tough. The first half, I thought it wasn’t too bad. We kind of got gusts at times there in the second half. Especially in the fourth quarter, it got pretty constant with the wind. It was just one of those days that it was going to be tough to get the ball down the field. Your throws, you wanted to have a little zip on it and it’s tough to throw deep stuff and long out-breaking routes, so I thought we did a good job keeping things over the middle more, trying clean shots. You know when you start throwing over people and put a touch on it, that’s when the wind can really affect it, so we didn’t have too many of those throws.
Q: During that scramble that you had when you hit Victor for 48, was there a head nod? Was there a signal? How does he know to go when you’re scrambling?
A: We kind of talk about scramble drills and everybody has their assignment. He did a good job just peeling underneath him and taking it up. That’s Victor. He’s been in those situations before, we’ve done that. Big time play right there; big time scramble, getting down there and leading up to the touchdown that took the lead right there.
Q: Two more huge fourth-down conversions today, how much more confident do you guys feel now, going for it on these plays?
A: Fourth-down, we kind of knew going into this game- even McAdoo, before the game, told me, ‘Expect that if we get into around the 30-yard line or so that we’ll be going for it on fourth down some because it’s going to be tough possibly kicking field goals with the wind.’ We kind of had that mindset that if we can get into fourth and manageable situations, we might go for it on a few of them. Obviously the first one was huge, hitting Sterling Shepard on a crossing route which led to a touchdown. The next one we just got a field goal off of but whatever the situation, guys don’t get nervous, they get excited about the opportunity to continue the drive.
Q: You’re on a three-game home streak, it’s unusual to have a three-game home stint. What does that mean for this team going forward?
A: We knew we had to take advantage of that opportunity. Having three home games is rare and obviously if you can win all three of them, that’s big. We did what we had to do and took care of it. Now we’ve got two road games and we have to continue to handle business. I’m just proud of the way the guys are finding ways to win. Every game has been a little different; they’ve all been close, they’ve all come down to the last series. Offense, defense, everybody’s stepping up and doing their part to get wins.
Q: What do you think sparked when you first came out firing in the second half? What changed?
A: I think we played well the first half also. We only had three possessions. We had a touchdown, had a field goal, and had one punt. We didn’t have a whole lot of opportunities. We had long drives. I thought we were moving the ball well and we just continued that through the third quarter. We had two good drives. Guys just making plays, tough third-down conversions, just getting enough yards; had to run for one, had to scramble, hit Roger Lewis on a crossing route. Everybody’s stepping up. Ran the ball on a third and short. Just getting into third and manageable situations and we did a good job converting on third downs. Once we get into the green zone, we’ve done a good job these last few weeks. Scoring touchdowns in the green zone, that’s been big.
Q: You’ve won five straight. You’re 7-3. How would you describe the position you’ve put yourselves in?
A: 7-3, we’ll take it. The NFC East is tough. Obviously we know we’re behind Dallas still and Washington and Philly are playing good football and have a lot of wins. We can’t get comfortable. We’ve got to keep getting better so there’s still lots of room for improvement. We’ve got to score more points offensively but no turnovers today, so that’s a positive. It wasn’t the most ideal conditions to have a big day offensively, but we ran the ball over 100 yards, threw the ball efficiently enough, and had a nice game plan. Guys played smart and played good football.
Q: On your next-to-last possession, you hit the third man on the rollout. Did you have run-option or what were you trying to do?
A: I just had a rollout, maybe try to hit the back in the flat. Their defensive end got pretty good pressure and I didn’t have a whole lot clean. It’s a tough situation right there. You can always kind of run if nothing is clean, run, and maybe if you lose a yard or two, it’ll keep the clock running. I didn’t want to lose 10 yards right there on a sack. I thought I had room to hit Rashad. I guess the ball went a little high and got tipped up a little bit. I was just trying to get a completion where we don’t stop the clock and let it run. Kind of a tough situation right there.
Q: You mentioned no turnovers as a team. How much does that mean to you guys?
A: That’s what we need to do. The last few weeks we’ve kind of been good. We’ve had a couple, especially in the fourth quarter and late in the game. Philadelphia, kind of strange interceptions. One on a tipped ball, another the ball got stolen from the receiver. Last week we had one down the field taking a shot deep. We wanted to play smart. Don’t give them a chance to have any. I thought we did a good job playing smarter today and playing a clean game.
Q: How much has Sterling Shepard developed into a consistent weapon for you guys now that he has three-straight games with a touchdown.
A: Sterling is playing well. He’s just getting better on some routes and adding more to his arsenal of routes that he’s winning. He had a nice third down conversion on a crossing route. Obviously the touchdown. He had a double move and I think killed the guy. I think the guy was still running the shallow route thinking that’s what he’s running. He’s done a good job just understanding the offense, understanding the timing of certain routes, how to set up things. We’ve got to keep going with that.
Q: How is Will Tye contributing to your offense?
A: Will has done a good job. He obviously had the touchdown catch, his out-breaking route versus man coverage and the guy was all over him on the outside but he did a good job of fighting through that and making the catch, breaking the tackle and getting in. A couple other nice catches, so we’ve got to find ways to keep getting him the ball because he is a strong weapon for us.
Q: Does Rashad Jennings look quicker to you after coming back from the thumb injury?
A: No. He’s running well. I don’t know if he looks quicker but he’s running well, running hard and seeing the holes and making some nice runs.
