Eli Manning hates losing most.

The veteran Giants quarterback hates answering questions about his job security second-most, as he recently admitted.

"Wins are important," Manning said after beating the 49ers. "Wins mean a lot, especially after this season and what we've had to go through as a team, what I've had to go through. ... It doesn't bother me what people say, but just having to answer questions about it, I guess."

But those questions are sure to resurface this week because the Giants' playoff pipe dream — winning eight straight games to steal the NFC East Division title — all but officially ended after only two consecutive wins in a 25-22 loss Sunday to the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.

Manning threw an inexcusable interception that likely cost the Giants three points — coach Pat Shurmur tried to take the blame — but played better than he had in almost all of the previous seven defeats. He finished 26-of-37 for 297 yards with one touchdown.

Any calls to bench Manning won't be based on his performance the last three weeks, when he showed that he still can be a successful quarterback when all goes right around him.

But, in today's NFL where offensive lines are suspect and injuries to playmakers are frequent, quarterbacks too often need to shine amidst chaos, which is where Manning has fallen short since winning his second Super Bowl MVP in February 2012.

So, when should the Giants make the move to bench Manning, who has taken every snap through 11 games, in order to evaluate rookie quarterback Kyle Lauletta? Lauletta has been inactive behind Manning and backup Alex Tanney in every game so far.

Three weeks ago, Shurmur told Manning he was starting against the 49ers, "with the idea that he's going to get us on a run here and there will be no decisions to be made.

"In other words, part of the conversation (with Manning) was, 'We trust you, we want to work with you, and we trust the fact that you're going to get in there and help us win football games.'"

The Giants face this grim reality: They are three games out of the NFC East with five remaining, and because of an 0-4 division record can't win a tiebreaker against the Cowboys and the Redskins or Eagles (maybe both).

The right time to bench Manning — more than likely a prelude to his goodbye from the franchise in the offseason — is Week 14 against the Redskins because:

The Giants will be officially eliminated by then:

It gives the home crowd a chance to show Manning appreciation:

Week 14 is on the road:

The Bears and Titans are too good:

Four games is enough to evaluate:

Ryan Dunleavy may be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy. Find our Giants coverage on Facebook.