by Cian Fahey

The story of Eli Manning's career can't be rewritten at this point. Manning is 35. He will be remembered as an inconsistent regular-season starter who got hot at the right time... twice. He could be a Hall of Famer once he retires, but he will be a borderline case.

Over the last two years, we have gotten a glimpse of what Manning could have been. The Giants quarterback has thrown 65 touchdowns (only Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady have thrown more) with 8,842 yards, the sixth-most over that span. That production hasn't come with a cost in turnovers either. Manning is tied with Drew Brees for 28 interceptions over the past two years, exactly 14 in each season, on 1,219 attempts. This after he threw 27 interceptions in just 551 attempts in 2013. He hasn't been a different quarterback. Manning wasn't the disaster his numbers suggested he was during that 2013 season, something Film Room wrote about at the time.

Manning will be remembered as an inconsistent, mistake-prone quarterback, but that's not always what he has been. For most of his career, his inconsistency and mistakes were a result of trying to throw the ball while wearing Kevin Gilbride's straightjacket of a scheme.

Ben McAdoo is the Giants head coach because of Eli Manning's success in his scheme over the past two years. McAdoo was brought in to completely alter the identity of the Giants offense from a vertical, deep-drop passing game to a quick-hitting, short-throw scheme. The Giants' level of talent has generally been low over the second half of Manning's career, and that didn't change when Gilbride left. What did change was how much Manning was allowed to elevate his teammates. The offense became less about fitting the ball into tight windows and throwing under pressure. McAdoo set the offense up so Manning could show off his acumen, timing, and precision. Had Manning played in this offense over the course of his career, he would likely be viewed in higher regard. He would likely be a certain Hall of Famer and someone pushing to be viewed in the same light as Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees.

Eli Manning Accuracy, 2015 Yardage To 5 6-15 16-25 26-plus Outside Numbers Left 89.5% 48 64.4% 45 54.5% 2 30.0% 10 Outside Hashes Left 88.7% 62 78.7% 47 80.0% 5 60.0% 5 Between Hashes 92.3% 39 87.9% 33 80.0% 5 100.0% 3 Outside Hashes Right 94.6% 74 81.8% 33 83.3% 6 80.0% 5 Outside Numbers Right 87.3% 55 68.3% 41 38.5% 13 50.0% 12

For his career, Manning has 44,187 yards with 294 touchdowns and 199 interceptions while completing 59.3 percent of his passes. If you keep his rookie numbers but extrapolate his numbers in McAdoo's scheme out over the rest of his career, he would have completed 4,308 of 6,902 attempts, a 62.4 percent completion rate, for 49,674 yards, 364 touchdowns and 163 interceptions. That improvement is obviously huge. Part of the problem with extrapolating those numbers out is how the league as a whole has changed over the course of Manning's career. It has become easier to put up big numbers as a passer over recent years, so taking the sample from this point is warped somewhat. These numbers are still relevant, though, because the affluence of the league's quarterbacks can be somewhat offset by the almost-complete absence of talent surrounding Manning for the past two years -- with one obvious, sparkling, dyed-blonde exception.

Odell Beckham's presence as one of the three best receivers in the NFL gives Manning a star to throw to. Beckham is just one receiver though. After Beckham, Manning has been throwing to incompetent receivers. Shane Vereen was the team's second-most talented receiver last year and he was on the fringe of the offense, often conceding snaps to Andre Williams. While McAdoo's offense tightened windows, the routes of Rueben Randle, Dwayne Harris, Hakeem Nicks, and Myles White tightened them again. Furthermore, while tightening those windows they were also dropping passes. His tight ends, Will Tye and Larry Donnell, were particularly at fault when it came to dropping passes, but even Beckham had significant drop issues in 2015. Charting for the Pre-Snap Reads Quarterback Catalogue revealed that Manning lost the fourth-most receptions on accurate throws because of receiver error last season. He lost 62 completions in 617 attempts -- essentially one out of every ten throws.

This sequence was typical of what Manning dealt with last season:

Early in the third quarter against the New York Jets, the Giants faced a first-and-10 at their own 43-yard line. Manning handed the ball to Andre Williams, who was stopped for a 1-yard gain. The Giants had the 23rd-ranked running game by DVOA last year. Williams is a constant source of frustration in New York. The coaching staff in its previous form forced him onto the field even though he consistently offered nothing but mistakes to go along with his limited skill set. Handing the ball off to Williams rarely gave the Giants anything good. Asking him to run routes was akin to asking Eli to play defensive end.

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The above GIF is the second-and-9 play that followed Williams' 1-yard run on first down. David Harris shows off horrible technique on this route, allowing even a running back of Williams' caliber to escape outside. (The Jets drafted Darron Lee in the first round of the 2016 draft because their middle linebackers last year couldn't cover.) Manning finds Williams with a well-placed and well-timed pass that would allow him to turn upfield. Instead of catching it, the running back watches the ball go through his hands. This play looks relatively simple from Manning's perspective but it wasn't, and the lost yardage was much greater than the above GIF can show.

The above image comes from the same play. It was taken immediately after Manning released the ball. At the snap, the Jets were showing a single-high safety look. They rotated to a Cover-2 shell after the snap with their underneath defenders playing man coverage. Manning recognized this, so he was able to get rid of the ball on time despite Muhammad Wilkerson's immediate pressure coming off the right side. Man-2 is a play call that is designed to counter passing plays. It's primarily used in obvious passing situations, such as second-and-9 or third-and-Long. That is because it's a coverage that can be badly exposed by running plays. Manning makes the smart throw underneath to Williams because that throw is essentially the same as a run in this situation.

Besides Harris, who has already been beaten, the three defenders in position to prevent Williams from running after the catch for a first down are all facing the wrong direction. They are running after their assigned receivers, pulling them even further away from the football. A competent receiving back catches this ball and turns upfield for at least 4 yards. A good one gets the first down. Williams is neither, so the Giants are put into a third-and-9 situation despite their quarterback making the perfect read and the perfect throw for the situation.

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An obvious passing situation. A bad offensive line. A limited receiving corps. And one of the best, most creative defenses in the league across from you. This third-and-9 is one of the toughest plays a quarterback can face in the NFL. Before the snap, Manning alters the play, communicating with his receivers before setting his protection based on the alignment of the defensive front. The positioning of the safeties gave Manning a hint to what he could expect after the snap. He knew the defense was going to play Cover-1 or some variation of it. We can tell that by how quickly he acted in the pocket. As soon as he caught the ball his shoulders were turned towards the top of the field with a subtle pump fake to push the safety to that side of the field. That movement opened up the seam route for Will Tye. Tye ran a double-move, but his route was poor. Calvin Pryor has him blanketed, forcing Manning to put arc the ball over the outstretched arm of the defender but into the hands of his tight end. Tye makes the catch before falling to the ground for the first down.

Tye caught that ball, something he couldn't be trusted to do with any kind of consistency. He made up for that positive play immediately after by committing a false start penalty to put Manning in another obvious passing situation, first-and-15. The Giants line then missed a stunt pickup to give up a sack. What was the obvious solution to second-and-19? You guessed it: a 1-yard run from Andre Williams.

All of that brought us to third-and-18 at the Jets 39-yard line.

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Such is Todd Bowles' philosophy that third-and-18 is viewed as an opportunity to attack and try to force a turnover rather than sit back and settle for a punt. The Jets head coach lines up his defense in a very aggressive alignment. Manning sets his protection accordingly but is forced to adjust as Bowles adds another layer of aggressiveness after the snap. Bowles sends a blitzing cornerback from the slot, giving Myles White a free release and a one-on-one with the deep safety who rotates across to cover him. Manning holds the ball long enough to see the safety turn his head and run with White, so he knows he can throw to his back shoulder rather than try to lead him downfield.

Manning releases the ball just before the pressure arrives. White catches it for a 35-yard gain and a first down. Until...

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Ereck Flowers is the left tackle on this play. He was drafted in the top 10 of the 2015 draft. Flowers dealt with injury issues as a rookie but his performances were so bad that it's hard to give him the benefit of the doubt. Only fellow rookie Donovan Smith blew more blocks than Flowers did last year, according to Sports Info Solutions. Flowers was especially atrocious in pass protection. That is because he is incapable of matching speed rushers at the beginning of plays. His footwork is sloppy and slow, meaning he can't kick-slide out to counter edge rushers. He is left fighting to recover from the very beginning of each play. That can all be seen in the above GIF as Flowers is called for holding.

Flowers' inability to get off the line of scrimmage takes the Giants offense from a first-and-10 at the Jets 4-yard line to a third-and-28 at the Jets 49-yard line. Protection broke down instantly on that third-and-28, forcing Manning to check down for a 5-yard gain. The Giants punted.

Taking one drive from a whole season's work could be misleading, but that's really not the case in this scenario. When Beckham wasn't creating big plays, Manning was dragging his supporting cast in the right direction.

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Timing and precision is what makes Manning such a consistent and efficient quarterback. The above GIF shows off a third-and-14 from late in the fourth quarter in the Week 1 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys. This was the game that was marred by a late mistake from Manning before the defense gave up an easy game-winning touchdown. On this play specifically, Manning was able to fit the ball into a tight window for a first down while still protecting his receiver from a big hit. Had Manning been slightly off target or slightly late with this pass, the defense would have been given a chance at an interception. Had he thrown the ball higher, Beckham would have had his knees cut out from beneath him by the arriving safety.

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It's these timing and precision throws that made the failures from his receivers so frustrating. Tye should have had a touchdown on this play thanks to Manning diagnosing the coverage and leading him to a spot between two defenders. Instead, the ball bounces off his hands and goes into the safety's. Fortunately for Manning, the safety's hands are as bad as Tye's were.

You see, Giants receivers didn't just subdue Manning's production, they repeatedly created interception opportunities for his opponents. Six of Manning's interceptions in 2015 weren't his fault. Three of those six came when the ball bounced off of his receiver's hands. Only one quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, had more interceptions last year that were the fault of his teammates. Manning himself had an impressive 34.3 attempts per interception that ranked him in the top 10. Manning can take care of the ball in this system because he's accurate, he's smart, and he is comfortable holding the ball in the pocket or releasing it against pressure. No matter how the defense approaches him, he will react and adjust accordingly.

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From that same first quarter against the Buccaneers, Manning got an opportunity to show off his poise. In the above GIF you can see Manning get to the top of his drop and read the right side of the field. He doesn't have an open receiver so he climbs the pocket. In this condensed area of the field, Manning shows more urgency with his movement but maintains his awareness. He initially pump fakes to his running back underneath, but has the awareness to spot Rueben Randle alone in the back of the end zone for the touchdown.

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Manning is the whole package. He plays to his skill set consistently despite having the same wobbly moments that most quarterbacks have. His just happen to be in New York, where everything is bigger and brighter.

It's too late for Manning to alter his perception and the place he will take in the annals of NFL history. He can still continue to be a quality starter for the Giants into his late thirties if 2015 is anything to go by. The Giants probably don't have the quality around Manning to make another meaningful run at the Super Bowl, but they do have precedent when it comes to making shock journeys into late January.