EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- His stats already said it, but with no interceptions to muddy the picture the eyeball test confirmed it again Sunday: Eli Manning is playing like one of the top three or four quarterbacks in the league and he's carrying the New York Giants right now.

Even on a day like Sunday, when he didn't throw a touchdown pass, Manning's playing so well he's lifting the Giants no matter who the defense is missing or when their running game sputters. Manning makes you forget how the Giants are playing with an overhauled offensive line, or the unproven replacements they've plugged in after losing two old standby receivers.

The reasons the Giants are now 4-2 and winging into their bye week tied for the NFC East lead after Sunday's 27-24 win over Buffalo mostly start and stop with Manning, who caught a lot of heat in the preseason for nominating himself as one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL. But who's laughing now?

For the first time, Eli Manning is far and away the best player on his team. AP Photo/Kathy Willens

Manning is on the way to having the best season of his eight-year pro career at a terrific time for this banged-up, in-transition Giants team that's now playing without five injured starters, plus backup running back Brandon Jacobs. And how good Manning has been is even more obvious than the stats suggest when you ignore the rest of the swirl on the field and just watch him operate for an entire game, especially a game like Sunday's victory over a vastly improved Buffalo Bills team that came to MetLife Stadium with a 4-1 record, and a win over the New England Patriots in its back pocket.

These Giants go as Eli goes now. And he's going to have to keep carrying them like this if they're going to stay in the playoff chase.

"I love wins before the bye week," Manning said. "[Otherwise] it's a long two weeks. ... We did exactly what we set out to do today. We're in a good spot now. ... Things are clicking. We have to make sure we keep that going."

"Eli was superb," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said after Manning finished 21-for-32 passing for 292 yards against the Bills, and led the Giants on the winning field-goal drive after getting the ball back with the game tied at 24 and four minutes to play.

Three of the Giants' four wins have now come on late drives.

"If we are down by less than one score going into the final seconds of the game we feel absolutely confident he's going to give us a score," injured Giants defensive lineman Justin Tuck said.

When Manning threw for 420 yards a week ago against Seattle, it justifiably got lost amid his three interceptions and the Giants' overall poor play in their loss. He had the Giants driving for what would've been their third straight come-from-behind win until he threw a pick-six interception near the goal line. And that was a shame for Manning, because he's been otherwise exceptional carrying an offense that's relying on a running game that hadn't had a 100-yard rusher and only one gain of more than 20 yards before Ahmad Bradshaw (104 rushing yards, highlighted by a 30-yard run) accomplished both feats on Sunday along with crashing in for three 1-yard TD runs.

Manning is also working with a receiving corps that lost the Giants' first Pro Bowl wideout in years, Steve Smith, and tight end Kevin Boss, whose unlikely 15.2 yard-per-catch average was very quietly second-best on the 2010 team. But Manning found second-year tight end Jake Ballard for five receptions and 81 yards Sunday, and he keeps going to Victor Cruz even when Cruz seems to make a bad play for every big play. Sunday, it was dropping a pass though he was wide open.