(Photo Credit: Steven Ryan/Getty Images)

Eli Manning possibly being replaced

We’ve seen an Eli Manning benching before. But now it seems permanent, real and career-ending.

The New York Giants announced on Tuesday that Manning, twice a Super Bowl winner and twice that game’s MVP, would be replaced Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by rookie Daniel Jones, the team’s No. 1 pick.

Is it Mankind’s fault that the Giants are 0-2, that they pass-protect like turnstiles, that they no quality receivers? It is not. Manning has been badly served by former general manager Jerry Reese and his replacement, Dave Gettleman. Next to him in the GM role will be Boob McNutt, and how could he do any less to help his team’s most important position?

If you can’t bench every player on an 0-2 team, why not sack your QB? Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur’s predecessor as the coach, tried this. He got fired.

Face it. Manning, the No. 1 pick in the 2004 draft, is a plodding relic of what he once was. But he has no weapons, no tools, and little protection. Why would the young and inexperienced Jones do better while lacking Manning’s knowledge?

The 0-2 Giants aren’t quite a train wreck, but smart heads will avoid the junction. They’re about to risk Jones for no discernible purpose other than change for the sake of change.

Can Eli win with this team? No. Can Jones? No. Should the Giants expose Jones to merciless beatings that can wreck his career? No.

But that’s the course they’ve chosen. We will be debating whether Manning belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame before this iteration of the Giants threatens to win again.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman