DeAngelo Hall says Eli Manning isn’t a rocket scientist.

Well, guess what? Eli Manning agrees.

The Giants quarterback has a mastery of another subject, late-game comebacks, like the one he pulled off in Sunday’s 27-23 win against the Redskins with a 77-yard touchdown pass to Victor Cruz. But Hall, the veteran Redskins cornerback, wasn’t one to give much credit to Manning.

"I don't feel like he made that play. I feel we gave him that play," Hall told reporters in Virginia today. "We just had one guy set his feet, and one guy not do this. I could have thrown that ball, and he would have scored. It wasn't something where he was a rocket scientist, and he figured something out. We just played that as bad as possible."



Manning, who read Hall's remarks about 10 minutes before meeting with the media today, launched a reply as smooth and on point as that game-winning throw.

“I appreciate him giving it to me,” Manning said. “Thank you.”

Manning added, “I didn’t think it took a rocket scientist to figure it out, either. We had a guy running open, and we hit him.”

Manning is not usually one to make waves through the media. The times when he’s done so are memorable because of their infrequency, such as firing back to Tiki Barber’s leadership jabs in 2007, or responding that yes, he is an elite quarterback, in a radio interview last summer. His sense of humor, too, is usually saved for locker-room pranks or SNL skits.

So Manning sending a message, in the middle of preparing for another division game against the Cowboys, is as notable as the message itself.

His Giants have started their Super Bowl defense with a 5-2 record, and Manning may be playing better than any quarterback in the league right now. But he and his teammates have heard from a string of opponents reluctant to cede credit to the Giants, dating back to last year’s playoffs.

“I don’t know why it comes off that way, but it’s definitely a little disrespectful,” Cruz said.

The previous offenders were the 49ers’ Donte Whitner and the Packers’ Clay Matthews, who during training camp both made comments about their teams losing their playoff games to the Giants, rather than the Giants winning. It’s simply more fodder for the Giants’ preferred “us against the world” mentality, and Hall fed that today, too.

Manning and Cruz both described reading the Redskins’ coverage the same way -- specifically, safety Madieu Williams playing low and outside -- and knowing Cruz would have an opportunity on a vertical route up the seam. But Hall saw it as a gift from the Redskins.

“If that’s the way they want to put it in their heads, then that is fine,” Manning said. “But the fact is, that was the coverage. If they messed up, that is what you’ve got to do as an offense, you’ve got to take advantage of it. If a team wants to give up some plays, or they don’t want to play well on a certain day, it is our job to play better and make the plays and take advantage of that opportunity.”

Manning said on WFAN Radio this week that he had an idea of the Redskins’ coverages in the two-minute situation because the Giants ran a two-minute drill at the end of the first half. That was what got Hall going.

“For him to say that in the first half he picked up on it and to not make a play until the last play of the game?” Hall said. “I don’t know how well he picked up on it.”

As we all know, these Giants are never ones to turn down a source of motivation. And hey, if teams are giving out gifts…

“DeAngelo is not that smart if they gave it to them,” defensive end Justin Tuck said. “I love how DeAngelo plays, he is an awesome player. But to give a person a game-winning touchdown…”

Tuck added: “For all you guys out there listening, if you play us, if you feel like you want to give us something, I will take some sacks. I am sure Eli will take more 70-yard touchdown passes, Coach Coughlin will take a couple more wins to separate himself from Coach Parcells. There are all types of things.”

Jenny Vrentas: jvrentas@starledger.com; twitter.com/JennyVrentas