The Giants were losing their grip on the game and on their season, when it was Eli Manning who answered the S.O.S.
Eli Manning, who remembered how to be great when great was needed.
Eli Manning, who in the Giants’ most desperate hour, remembered how to be Captain Courageous instead of Captain Checkdown.
E-Life.
For a 37-year-old quarterback and his 1-2 team.
J.J. Watt was threatening to wreck the game, the NRG Stadium crowd was at its loudest, Deshaun Watson had cut a 20-3 deficit to 20-15, when Manning got the ball back at his 23 with 7:31 remaining.
And if you thought Eli Manning was shot, think again.
And when Giants 27, Texans 22 ended, a beaming Pat Shurmur walked out of his rejuvenated locker room and back onto the field and told The Post: “I want Eli to have as much success as he’s ever had. I believe in him, I really do. I’ve always admired him as a player, so I want him to have great success and I feel responsible if he doesn’t.”
What Manning (25-for-29, 297 yards, 2 TDs, 132.3 rating) showed everyone was the quarterback John Mara and Dave Gettleman and Shurmur entrusted with the 2018 season.
Asked if he believes Manning can still win a championship, Shurmur didn’t hesitate.
“Absolutely,” he said. “Absolutely. I totally believe in Eli.”
Hold the obituary.
“He did what quarterbacks should do,” Shurmur said.
When quarterbacks should do it.
Manning capped a nine-play, 77-yard drive with a 7-yard TD pass to Sterling Shepard over the middle with Odell Beckham Jr. drawing double coverage.
“Eli got me pretty hyped up in the huddle, he was like, ‘We score this touchdown, we’re winning,’ ” Shepard said. “ ‘We need a field goal but let’s score this touchdown.’ ”
Barkley remembered it as “We need 3, but let’s finish the game.”
So Manning finished the game.
“When you hear that, you love that. … When you hear that from your vet and your leader and your captain, it drives you and it pushes you to find a way to try to get in the end zone and finish out the game,” Barkley said.
Manning looked as comfortable and confident against the Texans — Shurmur benched right tackle Ereck Flowers for Chad Wheeler and as terrifying as Watt may have been, there was more cohesiveness on the offensive line — as he looked uncomfortable and skittish against the Cowboys.
“I thought we did a good job just having a good plan to get the ball out,” Manning said. “Thought we kinda condensed the offense a little bit, make sure guys knew what they were doing, plays that they knew, they were playing fast, offensive line was playing fast.
“We have good players, just let ’em go play. Let’s not try to be perfect or do too much, let’s just let our guys go win because we got good athletes.”
Manning opened the drive with a 23-yarder on first down to Shepard on a crossing route.
“They brought a little pressure, played man-to-man, we picked it up,” Manning said.
A 17-yarder to Rhett Ellison was next.
“Kinda rolled out right, and safety bit thinking it was run, and had him all alone,” Manning said.
Soon it was third-and-2 at the Houston 27. Barkley was isolated against linebacker Zach Cunningham. Barkley proved again he is more than a running back.
“That time he had a linebacker on him that was pressed up,” Manning said. “He had a ‘Go’ route, he beat him right off the line of scrimmage, so threw it out, gave him a shot, and he kinda came back to it, jumped up, he’s athletic and it’s good to see him do that.”
Manning targeted Beckham (9 rec., 109 yards) 10 times. Completed five passes to Barkley in the second half. Threw short and intermediate dimes. Bootlegged left and right to avoid being a sitting duck. Made good decisions. Was helped by a running game (27 carries, 114 yards). Was a battlefield commander.
“He played his butt off today,” Barkley said. “We believe 100 percent in him, we believe 100 percent in Odell, we believe 100 percent in each other. That’s what makes a team special. If we can continue to believe in each other and not let outside factors dictate how we believe, then it’s gonna be a heckuva year for us I still believe.”
Shepard added: “If we protect him, he’s gonna make the throw.”
Manning, despite four sacks, never stopped standing tall in the pocket.
“Like Coach said, we’ve been kind of an ‘almost’ team,” Manning said.
Almost dead and buried.
E-Life again.
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