The New York Giants come to town this Sunday in a matchup with the San Francisco 49ers that I’m pretty sure FOX Sports would prefer to just black out. The 0-9 49ers and the 1-7 Giants are playing some atrocious football right now, and expectations are pretty low for their Week 10 tank-a-palooza.
The Giants season has been a disaster, and there seems to be no signs this thing will get better anytime soon. The 49ers season has been a mess as well, but they are very clearly in the first stages of their rebuilding process. The Giants are hanging on to the hope that getting healthy will be the answer. And much of this revolves around where they stand with quarterback Eli Manning.
Following their Week 9 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Giants head coach Ben McAdoo said he will look at any and all changes that will help them get a better handle on their future. He emphasized, “[t]hat includes everybody.”
Manning is signed through the 2019 season, and is a Giants legend at this point. The organization has a clear decision to make, whether it be releasing him and moving on, or trying to build back up around him for one last run.
Our friends at Big Blue View talked about Eli Manning’s future, and how it might be connected to McAdoo’s future. Geno Smith is Manning’s backup, while 2017 third round pick Davis Webb has been inactive the entire season. The Giants are not going to the playoffs, so it would seem to make sense to start getting a handle on what Webb can do. But is McAdoo willing to make the tough decision to change quarterbacks?
Both the Giants and the 49ers have a winnable game this weekend when they square off. If Webb is inactive for the ninth straight week, so be it. But if we see him active, maybe we start to see a changing of the guard this weekend at Levi’s Stadium. It’s mostly speculation at this point, but the Giants mess is one of the many storylines to consider in this ugly matchup. I don’t expect Manning to get benched this week, but the Week 10 inactives could be interesting to track to see if Webb gets activated.