SI

Eli Manning Called Giants' Mistake That Led to Steelers' Strip Sack on 'ManningCast'

Manning's intuition proved to be correct.

Tim Capurso

New York Giants former quarterback Eli Manning on the field before an October 2024 game against the Cincinnati Bengals at MetLife Stadium.
New York Giants former quarterback Eli Manning on the field before an October 2024 game against the Cincinnati Bengals at MetLife Stadium. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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The New York Giants made a critical mistake at the line of scrimmage late in the fourth quarter of Monday's 26-18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, one that directly led to a strip sack and fumble recovery for four-time All-Pro T.J. Watt.

And two-time Super Bowl champion, former Giants quarterback and current ManningCast co-host Eli Manning saw it coming while watching from the couch.

As the Giants, trailing by eight points with about three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, lined up for a third-and-7 play from the Steelers' 19-yard line, Manning wondered out loud why Giants quarterback Daniel Jones hadn't sent tight end Theo Johnson in motion to the right side of the line where Watt was lurking.

"They gotta motion this tight end over," Manning said. "Nope, he's not gonna ..."

Reinforcing Manning's point, Watt exploded off the line and blew past Giants right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor for the strip sack and fumble recovery.

"You called it," Manning's brother Peyton said, as Eli threw his hands up in the air.

And sure enough, both Giants coach Brian Daboll and Jones himself later confirmed that the quarterback was supposed to motion Johnson to the right side for a chip block on Watt.

"It wasn't a check," Daboll explained. "He was going. ... Pressure situation with the clock, we had a shift with the tight end to get back over to Watt and we didn't get the shift. We talked about it in the locker room. DJ [Daniel Jones] feels terrible to be honest with you. And I know he's going to own it.

"He came up here saying he owned it. It was a shift that was accompanying the play. He was kind of seeing, surveying the coverage, deciding what he wanted to do. And we didn't get the shift."

Daboll explained that it was a move the Giants were using to counter the Steelers, who had been rushing Watt from both sides throughout the game.

New York fell to 2–6 after the loss to the Steelers.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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