Eli Manning Gets Benched

The ugly mess with the New York Giants has gotten so bad enough that they've finally decided to bench their star quarterback in favor of Geno Smith. And I only got one word for that: Ugh!

The Giants announced this week that they are benching Eli Manning an
d going with Geno Smith to get the start this week against the Oakland Raiders.

Coach Ben McAdoo said about the benching, "Geno will start this week...Over the last five games, we will take a look at Geno, and will also give Davis Webb an opportunity."

This quote possibly means that it may be coming to an end for Eli Manning and the New York Giants, though I've been one of many people to believe that Eli Manning doesn't deserve all of the blame for the problems that have been going on this season.

Manning, of course, was emotional about getting the benching. He had started 210 consecutive regular-season games for the Giants and was given the option of continuing the streak against the Raiders, but something must have changed after Sunday's game.

Manning took it like a pro, despite being emotional, saying, "I will be ready to play if and when I am need. I will help Geno and Davis prepare to play as well as they possibly can."

Here's an interesting stat for this game: Geno Smith will be the first African-American quarterback to start a game for the Giants. They were currently the only NFL team never to have started an African-American quarterback, and that will all change Sunday. It won't, however, change the outcome for the Giants or for Geno Smith for that matter.

I understand that the Giants have had so many issues and injuries this season and they haven't played to the point where they should be. They're 2-9 and I'm guessing they should be at least 7-4 or something like that through this point of the season. But it's definitely a mess there, and this is not all Eli Manning's faults. He doesn't have his best receiver in Odell Beckham Jr. and he doesn't have an offensive line that can protect him. Not only that, but he doesn't have his former coach Tom Coughlin to help him. And coach Ben McAdoo is the absolute wrong coach for this team.

Even Plaxico Burress, Eli's former teammate, was not happy, tweeting:

Damn! Bench Eli? Man showed up every week for 14 years.

— Plaxico Burress (@plaxicoburress) November 28, 2017

Yes, even Plaxico Burress doesn't understand why Manning would get benched for a guy who hasn't proven himself to be a reliable starting quarterback throughout his career.

So it does seem like all of this leads to one thing: An eventual divorce between Manning and the Giants. That seems to be where it's going. I was hoping this would never happen to Eli like it did with Peyton Manning and the Colts, but things do happen and I'm guessing the Giants understand they need to go forward and that means dumping Eli for either Smith or Webb.

Geno Smith is definitely not the answer. He wasn't the answer for the New York Jets and former quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was a better quarterback for that team than Smith. Eli Manning is a better quarterback for this team than Smith. With Manning, you have a better chance to win a game. Not with Smith.

These moves make no sense, nor should they. Eli Manning should be the quarterback of this team. He's an elite quarterback and deserves to be under center, and the rest of that Giants management should be kicked out. I know Ben McAdoo is already on his way out the door, but I think the rest of the management needs to go for making a decision like this that's so stupid and sends a bad message to the rest of this team.

In fact, I hope the Giants lose again this coming week, because I don't buy into Geno Smith as a reliable quarterback in this league. He hasn't done it with the Jets and he certainly won't do it with the Giants. Eli Manning is the heart and soul of this Giants team and he needs to be out there taking every single snap with this team and no other quarterback should. After all, this is Eli's team and he should have it until he retires.

The Giants are a mess. We all know that. And this latest move proves they don't know what they're doing. It's like the Browns or even the New York Knicks, who had been doing this for years. Now the Giants are doing it and that is definitely a bad look for a league that relies on this team to be great year after year after year. It's not happening and it all shouldn't fall on Eli. Period!