Eli Manning vs. Saints: 30/41, 350 Yards, 6 TDs

Quarter 2

Pass #13

Situation: 2nd and Goal NO 1
Description: Q2-(14:21) E. Manning Pass Incomplete Short Left to R. Randle (B. Browner). Penalty-NO-B. Browner, Defensive Holding, 0 Yards, Enforced at NO 1 - No Play.

I think Manning is trying to throw this ball to Donnell on this play and it isn’t a bad idea. Donnell is a big TE at 6’6″, 265 lbs and is matched up against the 6’0″ 214 lbs Vaccaro. Manning can just throw it up for Donnell and let him body up Vaccaro. But Manning’s throw placement is in my opinion poor as he tries to throw it low enough that only Donnell can make a chance. Whether this works or not is impossible to tell because Browner uses Randle like a sling shot to attempt the INT. Browner gets called on the easy holding penalty and the Giants get a new set of downs.

Pass #14

Situation: 2nd and Goal NO 1
Description: Q2-(13:34) E. Manning Pass Short Right to O. Beckham Jr. for 1 Yard and Touchdown.

This is a carbon copy of the first touchdown as Randle runs the rub route combination with Beckham. Breaux has to go around Randle in man coverage which opens up Beckham on the slant. Manning again throws it with good timing as he throws it between Breaux and Mauti for the touchdown. (10/12, 112 Yards, 2 TDs).

Pass #15

Situation: 2nd and 8 NYG 25
Description: Q2-(10:23) E. Manning Sacked at NYG 22 for -3 Yards (K. Edebali)

Manning does two things wrong on this play. The first is not throwing to This first read Tye on the curl route. Mauti may be closing in but this is an easy completion if it throw to Tye’s right. This could of been an short completion to set up a 3rd and medium play. Instead Manning tucks and runs with the ball. This makes no sense either as the pocket was pretty good. Manning has more time in the pocket but his internal clock is going off (maybe due to poor protection in the past). OLB/DE Kasim Edebali is put on the ground by C Weston Richburg but Manning runs right into him for the sack.

Pass # 16

Situation: 3rd and 11 NYG 22
Description: Q2-(9:45) E. Manning Sacked at NYG 9 for -13 Yards (Team). Fumbles (Team) and Recovers at NYG 9. E. Manning to NYG 9 for 0 Yards (C. Jordan)

The ball slips out of Manning’s hand on the throw to Vereen on the screen pass. That’s all I have to say about this play.

Pass #17

Situation: 1st and 10 NYG 20
Description: Q2-(1:46) E. Manning Pass Short Right to S. Vereen Pushed Out of Bounds at NYG 27 for 7 Yards (B. Browner)

Manning’s eyes open up Vereen again on the flare route. Manning is look towards the middle of the field toward Tye and Beckham. Both of them are running in breaking routes which holds Browner and Vaccaro towards the middle of the field. Vereen leaks out of the backfield and Browner doesn’t follow him out the backfield because he is trying to read Manning’s eyes. Vereen is open in the flat because of this and Manning doesn’t look his way until he is basically throwing the ball to him. Manning’s good eye manipulation holds the defense in place which gives him an easy throw. (11/13, 119 Yards, 2 TDs)

Pass #18

Situation: 1st and 10 NYG 34
Description: Q2-(1:23) E. Manning Pass Incomplete Short Left to D. Harris (D. Swann)

Manning is reading the two man route combination of Randle and Harris and sees that CB Damian Swann is trailing behind Harris on the out route. Manning makes a good read to throw it to Harris and throws with good timing on this route as it is before the break. Swann is able to recover and break up the pass though. I actually think Manning’s throw is not the problem on the play. Harris runs a very sloppy out route and rounds his cut. This A) allows Swann to recover as he can undercut the out route and B) messes up the trajectory of the since it was thrown before the cut. The ball ends up behind Harris, allowing Swann to break up the pass but if Harris makes a good break on the route, I don’t think Swann can recover and the ball would have been in a better location. (11/14, 119 Yards, 2 TDs)

Pass # 19

Situation: 2nd and 10 NYG 34
Description: Q2-(1:19) E. Manning Pass Short Middle to S. Vereen to NYG 35 for 5 Yards (S. Anthony)

Manning does a good job going through his read and going to the check down once he sees his first two reads are not going to be open. He is reading the Post-Out Combination of Beckham and Tye. Beckham beats Breaux in man coverage but Jarius Byrd does a great job getting over and taking away the post route. Tye cannot get separation from Browner in coverage as well so Manning goes to Vereen is open for the dump off underneath Anthony. Manning throws a good pass that prevents Anthony from making a play on the ball for a quick gain. Its a shame the read wasn’t left to right as Randle had bailing man coverage by Lewis on the play and was open on the curl. (12/15, 124 Yards, 2 TDs)

Pass #20

Situation: 3rd and 5 NYG 39
Description: Q2-(0:59) E. Manning Pass Incomplete Short Right to W. Tye (B. Browner). Penalty on NO-B. Browner, Defensive Holding, 5 Yards, Enforced at NYG 39 - No Play

Manning’s first and only read he goes to on this play is Tye on the out route. Tye gets Browner on his back so his is able to get open to the outside. While Browner is in decent position (thanks to him holding) there is really no where else to go as everyone else is covered. Manning’s throw on this play though is perfect as it is high and outside where only Tye can catch it. Tye isn’t able to bring it in (Browner may of punched the ball out when he brought it in) but Browner get called for the holding call.

Pass #21

Situation: 1st and 10 NYG 44
Description: Q2-(0:54) E. Manning Pass Incomplete Deep Right to O. Beckham Jr.[H. Kikaha]. Penalty on NO-H. Kikaha, Roughing the Passer, 15 Yards, Enforced at NYG 44 - No Play

Manning’s eye manipulation is again spot on as he is always going to go to Beckham on this play. He looks Vaccaro though by looking to his left towards Randle. Vaccaro can’t cheat over to Beckham. When Manning looks to his right, he sees Beckham has beaten Breaux and has a step on him. Manning makes the right read but the throw is under thrown. This slows down Beckaham and allows Breaux to take away one of Beckham’s hands. Beckham tries to make the great one handed catch ut he is unable to do so. If Manning lays this ball out, Beckham gets there before Vaccaro can and may have a touchdown. This is all for naught though as Kikaha takes out Manning at the ankles and gets the roughing the passer penalty.

Pass #22

Situation: 1st and 10 NO 41
Description: Q2-(0:50) E. Manning Pass Short Left to O. Beckham Jr. Ran Out of Bounds at NO 33 for 8 Yards (D. Breaux)

I don’t pretend to know what any of Eli Manning’s hand signals mean but I think this hand signal was an audible to kill the call and go to set play. The audible was due to the potential blitz of Anthony and Manning knew he had man coverage (since the Saints don’t hide what the do for coverage most of the time). Breaux is playing very off coverage Beckham and Beckham is easily open on his slant route. This is an easy read and throw and Manning executes it well. (13/16. 132 Yards, 2 TDs)

Pass #23

Situation: 2nd and 2 NO 33
Description: Q2-(0:43) E. Manning Pass Short Left to S. Vereen Pushed Out of Bounds at NO 30 for 3 Yards (S. Anthony)

Manning’s first read is to Beckham on this play. Breaux has him on lock down but Beckham’s route bu accident serves as a rub for Vereen’s flare route as Anthony has to go over the top of the Beckham. This open up Vereen for the easy completion in the flat and Manning sees this. This is an easy pitch and catch for a first down and Manning doesn’t do anything special. (14/17, 135 Yards, 2 TDs)

Pass #24

Situation: 1st and 10 NO 30
Description: Q2-(0:39) E. Manning Pass Short Left to M. White Ran Out of Bounds at NO 22 for 8 Yards

I honestly don’t know what this defense is suppose to be (specifically Browner looks completely lost) but if I had to guess this is Cover 3. Manning takes advantage of this and eyes play a key roll. Manning is looking to the trips side of the field and his first read is to Tye on the seam. He sees three Saints (Anthony, Byrd, and Browner) all around him. Seeing Browner playing deep in inside tells him he has one on one on the outside with WR Myles White against Breaux. Breaux is playing a deep zone and White’s comeback route easily beats this coverage. If Browner is where he is suppose to be (flat coverage), he would be underneath this route but instead he locks onto Manning’s eyes and stays inside. Manning whips his eyes to the left and immediately makes the right read and throw to White. (15/18, 143 Yards, 2 TDs).

Pass #25

Situation: 2nd and 2 NO 22
Description: Q2-(0:34) E. Manning Pass Short Right to R. Randle to NO 9 for 13 Yards (K. Vaccaro)

The success of this play is partly based on play design and partly on Manning’s throw. The Giants run a very common Slant-Flare combination and CB Kyle Wilson has to go out with Beckham on the flare route since he has flat coverage in Cover 3. This opens up a hole in the zone for Randle to get in on the slant route. Manning’s throw is great though since the window is pretty small as Anthony has a good read on the play. Manning throws this slightly behind Randle to get it past Anthony and gets the completion for the first down. (16/19, 156 Yards, 2 TDs)

Pass #26

Situation: 1st and Goal NO 9
Description: Q2-(0:14) E. Manning Pass Short Right to W. Tye Pushed Out of Bounds at NO 2 for 7 Yards (B. Browner)

Manning’s read progression on this play is excellent as Tye is his third or forth read on this play. Manning starts on his left and is looking at the Go-Out route combination but sees that both of them are covered well in man coverage. He comes back to his right and sees Beckham is covered well by Breaux but Tye has beaten Browner on the out route (Browner was cheating on an in breaking out and got beat easily). Manning’s throw is also excellent as he puts it high and outside where only Tye can get it for the completion. (17/20, 163 Yards, 2 TDs)

Pass #27

Situation: 2nd and Goal NO 2
Description: Q2-(0:07) E. Manning Pass Short Right to S. Vereen for 2 Yards and Touchdown

Manning doesn’t do anything special. Vereen vs. Anthony is a complete mismatch and Manning throws the easy pass to Vereen for a touchdown. (18/21, 165 Yards, 3 TDs)

Click on the Next Page for Manning’s 3rd Quarter Throws