If this is how it ends, the final play of Eli Manning’s long career with the Giants was typical, really, of the last six seasons. He was facing a hopeless situation on his home field, throwing a desperation pass to a receiver who was making his first appearance for the team.

Manning hit TJ Jones -- remember that name for a trivia question -- for 28 yards to the Bills 12-yard-line, but time ran out before the 38-year-old quarterback could throw another pass. Time ran out again, two days later, when head coach Pat Shurmur broke the news that he was being replaced as starting quarterback by rookie Daniel Jones.

It was time.

“Eli was obviously disappointed, as you would expect, but he said he would be what he has always been, a good teammate, and continue to prepare to help this team win games,” Shurmur said, and no one who has ever encountered Manning will doubt that for a second.

So now the Giants move on with Jones, and if they are lucky, the kid from Duke will have a career as long and as productive as the man he is replacing. Here’s a prediction, though: Don’t count on it. Manning has absorbed plenty of criticism over the past half decade for his failures, as fans and the media alike focused on what he wasn’t.

This is a good day to appreciate what he was. Manning made his first start on Nov. 21, 2004, and kept that job for 231 of the 232 games that followed. If you forget about the first time he was sent to the bench -- and this franchise has been hoping you will ever since -- there are teenagers getting their learner’s permits who know nothing but No. 10 under center.

He won two Super Bowls, has more passing yards (56,537) than all but six players in NFL history, and managed to thrive in a market that swallows up even the best athletes. Sixteen seasons. Zero controversies. He wasn’t perfect on the field, but off of it, somehow managed to bat 1.000. Simply put, he was just a likable dude.

This is probably why, as his production slipped over the past few season, that so many fans and team officials alike chose not to see what was right in front of them on most autumn Sundays. They wanted Manning to succeed as much as he did. It had to be the poor offensive line, or the lack of a running game, or something -- anything -- else.

Few players have earned that kind of loyalty, and that went both ways. We live in an era in which superstar athletes don’t think twice about abandoning a city. Manning never considered it, not even as the team around him crumbled following that second Super Bowl win in 2012. The kid from Ole Miss never wanted to be anywhere else but here, in New Jersey, and that matters.

“(I’m) just blessed to be with this organization,” Manning said last week. “No one’s enjoyed playing for this organization more than I have and been appreciative of it, and I have a great respect and love for the Giants and the whole history of the organization.”

So now what? I’m not convinced we’ve seen the last of Manning on the field this season. Jones is talented, but based on the small sample size in the preseason and his mop-up duty in Dallas, he is also a little reckless when he takes off running. Two of Manning’s contemporaries, Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger, are on the shelf with serious injuries, and the Jets are scouring the market for someone to replace their backup quarterback.

But, barring an injury to Jones, there’s no turning back. Everything the Giants do should be about getting Jones in a position to succeed, and that means as much meaningful snaps as possible. If he throws five interceptions in Tampa on Sunday, he should be right back on the field when the Giants host the Redskins the following week.

That means, one way or another, fans will be saying goodbye to Manning in the coming months. He hasn’t given many hints about what he wants to do, but if the Giants are smart, they’ll find a role for him in the front office the way the Devils created a spot for legend Martin Brodeur. They should make sure this goodbye -- painful, but overdue -- is temporary.

Manning will be watching from the sidelines as a new era for this franchise begins in Tampa, and that will be weird. Maybe Jones, who shares his predecessor’s unflappable personality, will take this job and not look back for another 233 starts. Maybe he’ll add a couple more trophies to the case along the way.

From the bottom, though, that sure looks like a steep mountain to climb.

Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevePoliti. Find NJ.com on Facebook.