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Post-Game Transcript: Quarterback Eli Manning

Eric from BBI : Admin : 12/10/2017 5:56 pm
Quarterback Eli Manning

Postgame vs. Dallas Cowboys, December 10, 2017

Q: Did you hear the crowd yelling your name on the first drive?

A: Yeah, I did. I thought we had a good crowd today and I appreciate all the support these past weeks and sorry we couldn’t get them a better game today.

Q: What are your thoughts on Geno Smith’s dad getting death threats?

A: I don’t know anything about that. Obviously it’s unfortunate if that’s the case. I don’t think that’s what anybody wants.

Q: After this week’s adversity, what does it mean to you to be back out there and to start?

A: That’s where you want to be. That’s where I want to be. I wanna go out, be there with my teammates, try to get a win, be there for the fans and do my part. Hopefully the coaches believe I gave us the best chance to win at quarterback. I thought we did some good things today; competed. Three and a half quarters right in the mix. We have to find ways to finish stronger in the second half and at the end of games.

Q: Are there things that you say to try to keep your receivers in there? You had a couple drops against you that killed some drives. Is there a conversation that you guys have after that?

A: Not a whole lot. I’ve got a lot of respect for our receivers. They work hard, they practice hard, they do everything we ask them to do. I understand, hey, drops are part of the game. They’re running the right routes, hitting the right spots, have confidence they’ll make the next one and make plays for us and a couple of them made some outstanding plays for us.

Q: The crowd reaction when you came on the field for the first time …

A: My focus is trying to get the play and figure out what the Cowboys are doing. I appreciate it. I appreciate all of the support the fans have given me for 14 years and these last weeks, especially. I appreciate them coming out today and cheering me on and cheering on the Giants.

Q: How do you think Rhett Ellison reacted to expanded opportunities today?

A: I thought Rhett did a good job and I thought he made some nice catches, did some good things, got the touchdown. Every time we’ve gotten him the ball, he’s done a good job turning it up and getting yardage and making plays. The way they were playing, he had an opportunity to get the ball and made the most of it.

Q: On the pass to Engram, that long pass, was it an audible or what did you see in there?

A: Had a good call versus their blitz. Something we wanted to get to. Just the way they played that coverage in the blitz, we thought we could hit him in the corner and sure enough had that big play, so that was a good one.

Q: [INAUDIBLE] something about a hand signal you and Sully were talking about afterwards…

A: Nope, just the play that was called.

Q: How much of a different feel did this game have for you? Did it? Obviously you’ve been through a lot the last two weeks.

A: No. It’s still going out there and trying to win a football game, so it didn’t really feel different. You want to go out there and beat the Cowboys, play in front of your home crowd and give them the win. Again, I appreciate the support all the fans have given me these past weeks. It does mean a lot. Everything they’ve said and have come out and supported me and the Giants, I appreciate that. For me, it was about coming out today and playing well and giving our team a boost and our fans a boost and get a win.

Q: How about the process of it because Ben obviously wasn’t part of it. What changed there for you?

A: For me, it’s still preparation. You watch your film, meet with the coordinator, with Sully, and go over what our plan is, what do we like versus certain looks. The process did not change a whole lot.

Q: What about in-game?

A: In-game, same kind of deal. Process still pretty similar with the fact that I still talked with Sully on the sidelines. Mac always had his touches on the offense and everything, but it’s still about playing the game and communicating with the offensive coordinator, with Sully, and none of that changed.

Q: Once the game starts you’re just trying to win, but how about on the drive in this morning and just your emotions knowing you had your job back?

A: I guess I just looked at it as, hey, it’s another opportunity to go play and win a football game, so obviously the last few weeks have been difficult with losing my starting job and losing your head coach. Those things are hard and they are personal, and hurt. I don’t like losing a head coach, I take that personally. That’s on me for not doing my job. I don’t like losing my starting job. That’s personal, also, and that’s because I haven’t played well enough and we’re not winning games. I appreciate Spags giving me an opportunity to get to start this week and see if we could get us a win and I’m sorry we didn’t play well enough to get that win.

Q: Coach Spags talked about adversity bringing out unity in his press conference earlier this week. Did you guys feel any more unified out there?

I think the team has done a great job of staying together. It’d be easy to complain, and to bark at each other and say it’s not fair and that one side’s not doing their part, but we haven’t fallen into that trap. We have some high character guys on this team that are working hard every week, doing their absolute best to compete, and I appreciate that. I appreciate the effort, work, enthusiasm to go win a football game. Again, we played hard today, we were right there in the mix against a good team, and we just don’t have that firepower to finish these games.

Q: Was there any personal conversation you had with Coach Spagnuolo before the game?

A: No. We just talked this week about the flow of things, and that it wouldn’t be different without Coach Mac here. You know, just two-minute drives, using timeouts, handling the clock, just had some conversations with him on what we want to do and to make sure we’re on the same page.

Q: What did it mean to you to get so much support from your peers around the league?

A: Whether it was from former teammates, friends, fans, notes, text messages, it meant a lot. Those former teammates who I played with, I appreciated it. It made me want to be a better teammate to Geno and support him. And from the fans, I appreciate the nice words said about me. I just had to do the right thing and be a good person, and be a great teammate, and that’s what I strived to do.

Q: Is it tough in the last three weeks to not have the mentality of just playing the string out?

A: No. I think the mindset is to prepare and play hard, and go out there and get a win. Nothing’s easy, but we hung in there and have played tough. Dallas made a couple big plays, and we didn’t.
"What do you think about Geno Smith getting death threats?"  
Moondawg : 12/10/2017 6:04 pm : link
Eli "I enjoyed that."

What the fuck is he supposed to answer to that?
some more Q and A  
Vanzetti : 12/10/2017 6:12 pm : link
Q. If Ellison was eight feet tall, do you think he would have caught that pass you rifled over his head when he was wide open?

A. No. But maybe Reed Richards would have caught it.

Q. When you missed a wide-open Wayne Gallman by about six feet when he was only fifteen feet in front of you, do you think most twelve-year-old QBs would have completed that pass?

A. Yeah, some of them would have but maybe not "most."
Where QBs throw the ball...  
STLGiant : 12/11/2017 10:19 am : link
So much has been said about Eli throwing the ball here or there and not directly at a receiver...

A couple things to keep in mind. As a QB, you have passing lanes in front of you that are not shown by TV coverage, based on where the pressure is coming from, ergo you cannot always throw exactly to where a receiver is or the ball will be batted down at the LOS.

Second, all QBs are taught to throw the ball to a receiver and the path of the ball will tell the receiver which way to run upon catching it. Many times the receiver is looking back towards the QB, so they have no idea if they are going to get lit up by a DB. A ball behind the receiver tell him he is running right into a hit. A ball low means a defender is coming right at his back, one high is that the defender is coming at him low.

Third, when it's 3rd and 12, you typically want to throw the ball to the guy who is at least 10 yards downfield or beyond, not the check-off guy running a flare or an 5-yard out. Unfortunately, at times you are forced to throw a ball into double or triple coverage to try and make the impossible pass and get a first down. It's risky, but depending on the score, the time and the importance of the drive, and the pressure, you as a QB may otherwise have no choice.

Fourth, QBs also see when their receivers are being interfered with and will sometimes try to get the ball close enough to their receiver to draw a penalty flag.

Finally, in a WCO, the receiver must read the defense, just as well as the QB, and adjust one's route accordingly to find the "green space" where the defense isn't. When you have rookie or street FAs as your starters, sometimes the ball is thrown where the receiver should be, and unfortunately, the receiver isn't there, but erroneously elsewhere. If you don't think that's true, go look at a WR playbook. You will obtain a GREAT education.

I'm not saying that all of Eli's throws are always perfect. They aren't. I'm just saying sometimes ball placement means more than just UGH, he throw the ball behind him or too high or too low. I'm just saying that many times, there is a method to the madness...



RE: some more Q and A  
PatersonPlank : 12/11/2017 10:32 am : link
In comment 13734046 Vanzetti said:
Quote:
Q. If Ellison was eight feet tall, do you think he would have caught that pass you rifled over his head when he was wide open?

A. No. But maybe Reed Richards would have caught it.

Q. When you missed a wide-open Wayne Gallman by about six feet when he was only fifteen feet in front of you, do you think most twelve-year-old QBs would have completed that pass?

A. Yeah, some of them would have but maybe not "most."


No QB hits all his passes. You may not think he played that well, but he did hit 67% of his passes. Nitpicking a throw here or there that was off is rediculous.
RE: Where QBs throw the ball...  
bradshaw44 : 12/11/2017 10:36 am : link
In comment 13735242 STLGiant said:
Quote:
So much has been said about Eli throwing the ball here or there and not directly at a receiver...

A couple things to keep in mind. As a QB, you have passing lanes in front of you that are not shown by TV coverage, based on where the pressure is coming from, ergo you cannot always throw exactly to where a receiver is or the ball will be batted down at the LOS.

Second, all QBs are taught to throw the ball to a receiver and the path of the ball will tell the receiver which way to run upon catching it. Many times the receiver is looking back towards the QB, so they have no idea if they are going to get lit up by a DB. A ball behind the receiver tell him he is running right into a hit. A ball low means a defender is coming right at his back, one high is that the defender is coming at him low.

Third, when it's 3rd and 12, you typically want to throw the ball to the guy who is at least 10 yards downfield or beyond, not the check-off guy running a flare or an 5-yard out. Unfortunately, at times you are forced to throw a ball into double or triple coverage to try and make the impossible pass and get a first down. It's risky, but depending on the score, the time and the importance of the drive, and the pressure, you as a QB may otherwise have no choice.

Fourth, QBs also see when their receivers are being interfered with and will sometimes try to get the ball close enough to their receiver to draw a penalty flag.

Finally, in a WCO, the receiver must read the defense, just as well as the QB, and adjust one's route accordingly to find the "green space" where the defense isn't. When you have rookie or street FAs as your starters, sometimes the ball is thrown where the receiver should be, and unfortunately, the receiver isn't there, but erroneously elsewhere. If you don't think that's true, go look at a WR playbook. You will obtain a GREAT education.

I'm not saying that all of Eli's throws are always perfect. They aren't. I'm just saying sometimes ball placement means more than just UGH, he throw the ball behind him or too high or too low. I'm just saying that many times, there is a method to the madness...




The haters don’t want to hear it. Every throw must be pin point accurate. Eli must be destroyed. Errrr... I mean released!
There are haters, that's for sure..  
STLGiant : 12/11/2017 11:09 am : link
The last thing I didn't note was the scheme. When your OL stinks and you have hardly a running game, you will be unable to run any play-action passes, the defense just won't honor the run fake and even if you break a run or two for 8-9 yards, the odds are still in the defenses favor...

When you have the aforementioned, you are forced to run a quick slant passing game. The problem is that since the defense already knows that, they have outside LBs taking a drop and one or two free high safeties, and one of them is licking their chops just ready to light up your WR as soon as he touches the ball...sometimes not even if he touches the ball but it's thrown near him.

That scheme does more to injure WRs than any scheme in the playbook...not surprising since Ben was a RRPK minded OC. At least Eli has more audible freedoms now that he didn't have under Ben...

Irrespective of Sully's comments earlier in the week, you can see from Sunday's game that the Giants have indeed changed a lot of their offense since Ben's departure...for the better.
RE: RE: some more Q and A  
Vanzetti : 12/12/2017 12:07 am : link
In comment 13735268 PatersonPlank said:
Quote:
In comment 13734046 Vanzetti said:


Quote:


Q. If Ellison was eight feet tall, do you think he would have caught that pass you rifled over his head when he was wide open?

A. No. But maybe Reed Richards would have caught it.

Q. When you missed a wide-open Wayne Gallman by about six feet when he was only fifteen feet in front of you, do you think most twelve-year-old QBs would have completed that pass?

A. Yeah, some of them would have but maybe not "most."



No QB hits all his passes. You may not think he played that well, but he did hit 67% of his passes. Nitpicking a throw here or there that was off is rediculous.


I was just trying to lighten the mood by posting with some levity. I'm actually a big Eli fan. I think he is part of the problem of why the Giants cannot move the ball and score. But I also think if he played with a good OL, he would be close to the "old Eli." I just don't see the Giants having a good OL next year
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