Eli Manning’s 35 Touchdowns in 2015

Fitting Footballs Into Tight Windows

The first play we’ll look at was against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2. The Giants are leading the Falcons 13-10 in the beginning of the 3rd quarter.

On the left side of the field, Larry Donnell runs an in-route through the middle of the endzone versus the Falcons’ Cover 3 defense. Cornerback #23 Robert Alford is playing outside technique guarding against a potential fade route, while the deep center free safety is playing over the trips right side of the formation. This creates a gap between the two zone defenders.

Eli Manning gets flushed from the pocket and throws a pass to Donnell while on the run. The pass is perfectly placed for Donnell to use his body positioning to block out the shorter defender for the score.

One of my favorite plays made by Eli Manning came against the Buffalo Bills in the first quarter of Week 4. Dwayne Harris runs a seam route working between the two deep zone defenders. Manning’s pass is rifled between the defenders allowing him to catch the ball in-stride to fight for the touchdown staying on his feet.

Here is another example of Eli Manning making a tight-windowed seam-route pass. This time to Larry Donnell. The 49ers are in running a Tampa Two defenese where the inside linebacker, NaVorro Bowman, carries the Donnell up the seam. Bowman can’t turn in time, while the deep right safety isn’t quick enough to get over the top to stop the pass.

Odell Beckham: An Elite Wide Receiver

Having a wide receiver like Odell Beckham made Eli Manning’s life easier. The 5’11” wide receiver out of LSU has dominated the past two seasons in the NFL collecting over 2,700 receiving yards and 25 touchdowns.

In Week 3, the Giants run a triple-level flood concept with Beckham on the outside running a post route. The Redskins are in Cover 4 where cornerback #26 Bashaud Breeland is playing outside technique, while safety #34 Trenton Robinson drives on the middle read to Larry Donnell. This creates an opening in the deep center of the field for Manning. Eli throws it deep and Beckham brings in the slightly underthrown pass for the score.

This again happened in Week 10 versus the New England Patriots.

The Patriots are in Cover 1 Man with Malcolm Butler lining up directly against Odell Beckham. Beckham runs a fade route up the sideline finding the gap between the deep safety and Butler before cutting back across the middle for the long touchdown strike.

Eli Manning is a great fit for Ben McAdoo’s quick concept offense. He is a very quick decision maker and plays aggressively fitting balls into tight windows moving the ball down the field. With another year in the system, Manning increased his touchdown to interception ratio from 2.2 to 2.5 and increased his number of passes thrown per interception from 42.9 to 44.1.

Follow Samuel Gold on Twitter: @SamuelRGold.