If Eli Manning keeps this up, he's going to visit territory no Giants quarterback has seen in eight decades.
Now in his 12th season as the Giants' quarterback, Manning is on pace to have the most prolific statistical season of his career. He leads the NFL with 197 pass attempts and is second with 131 completions, three fewer than San Diego's Philip Rivers, the quarterback for whom he was traded during the 2004 NFL Draft.
No Giants quarterback has led the league in pass attempts for a full season since Ed Danowski in 1935 (when he threw 113 passes in 12 games, or 84 less than Manning has thrown in five). Danowski was also the last Giant to lead the NFL in completions, with 70 in 11 games in 1938. This year, Manning had completed exactly 70 passes after three games.
Because 69 percent of the schedule is still to be played, the projected statistics can change significantly over the next 2½ months. But Manning is on pace to post huge numbers this year:
Current | Projected (16 games) | Career High | |
Passes |
197 | 630 | 601 (2014) |
Completions | 131 | 419 | 379 (2014) |
Yards | 1,417 | 4,534 | 4,933 (2011) |
Percentage | 66.5 | 66.5 | 63.1 (2014) |
Touchdowns | 10 | 32 | 31 (2010) |
Rating | 100.2 | 100.2 | 92.9 (2011) |
Franchise Record* |
In addition, Manning has thrown only two interceptions, which projects to six over a 16-game season. His career-low over a full season is 10, in 2008.
*Manning threw a regular-season career-high 54 passes in the Giants' dramatic 30-27 victory over San Francisco Sunday night. It was the 23rd time in Giants history the team threw at least 50 passes in a game – and just the second time they won. Their other victory was on Sept. 16, 2012, when they defeated Tampa Bay, 41-34.
But while the Giants are 2-21 in regular-season 50-pass games (2-19 when one quarterback throws all the passes), they are 1-0 in the postseason. Manning threw 58 passes in the Giants' overtime victory in the 2011 NFC Championship Game San Francisco.
*Manning was not sacked Sunday night. The 54 pass attempts are the most the Giants have ever had in a game without allowing a sack. The old record of 53 was set in the 2014 season finale against Philadelphia.
*The Giants are 16-18 when Manning throws for at least 300 yards, and 4-4 when he passes for 400 or more yards.
*Manning's team-record 41 completions on Sunday increased his career total to 3,439. That moved him past Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Montana (3,409) and into 12th place on the NFL's career list. Former Giants quarterback Kerry Collins is 11th with 3,487.
*Manning's 441 yards vs. the 49ers increased his career total to 41,172. That vaulted him over Collins (40,922) and into 12th place on the all-time list. Hall of Famer Dan Fouts is 11th with 43,040.
*On Sunday night, Will Tye and Geremy Davis became the 66th and 67th different players to catch a regular-season Manning pass. Shane Vereen became the 41st player to catch a Manning touchdown pass.
*The Giants trailed, 27-23, when Manning led the offense on an eight-play, 82-yard drive that ended with the game-winning 12-yard touchdown pass to Larry Donnell with 21 seconds remaining. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the 27th time Manning has led the Giants from a fourth-quarter deficit or tie to a victory. That is the seventh-highest total among active quarterbacks:
                                          Â
**Quarterback** | **Game-Winning Drives** |
Peyton Manning | 52 |
Tom Brady | 37 |
Drew Brees   | 34 |
Ben Roethlisberger | 32 |
Matt Ryan   | 29 |
Tony Romo   | 28 |
Eli Manning | 27 |
Carson Palmer | 26 |
Philip Rivers | 24 |
*The 82-yard drive was the Giants' longest of the season. The second-longest was the 81-yard touchdown march in the second quarter.
*Manning and Tom Coughlin can each reach statistical milestones Monday night, when the Giants face the Eagles in Philadelphia. Manning has 94 regular-season victories, one shy of Phil Simms' franchise record. And Coughlin has 99 victories as the Giants' head coach. He needs one more to join Hall of Famer Steve Owen as the only coaches with 100 victories in the 91-year history of the Giants franchise. Owen had 153 victories from 1930-53.
*Leftover from last week: With his three touchdown passes in Buffalo, Manning has thrown for at least one score against every other NFL team (he's thrown for at least two touchdowns vs. every team but Cincinnati).
*None of the Giants' last three opponents – Washington, Buffalo, and San Francisco – scored a first-half touchdown. It's the first time the Giants have held three consecutive opponents without a touchdown in the first two quarters since Dec. 5-19, 2010 (Washington, Minnesota, Philadelphia).
*The Giants ended a long streak Sunday night by winning without forcing a turnover. They had lost their previous 15 regular-season games in which they did not have a takeaway. Their last such victory was on Dec. 21, 2008, in overtime against Carolina. The Giants did defeat Atlanta in the 2011 NFC Wild Card Game without an interception or fumble recovery.
*The Giants have rushed for fewer than 100 yards in five consecutive games, their longest such streak since they opened the 2013 season with five games in which they ran for no more than 98 yards.
*The Giants' 525 yards on Sunday represent the third-highest total by a Coughlin-coached team (328 games, including 309 in the regular season). The Giants gained 604 yards vs. Tampa Bay on Sept. 16, 2012, and Coughlin's Jacksonville Jaguars gained 538 yards at St. Louis on Oct. 20, 1996.
*Earlier Sunday, Philadelphia totaled 519 yards in a victory over New Orleans. The Giants-Eagles game on Monday night will be the NFL's first involving two teams that produced 500+ yards the previous week since Oct. 14, 2012, when the Giants (502 yards vs. Cleveland) faced the 49ers (621 vs. Buffalo). The Giants won that game in San Francisco, 26-3.
*Josh Brown kicked three field goals against San Francisco and is 13-for-13 this season. The 13 field goals lead the NFL. Brown has made 17 consecutive field goal attempts, tying the Giants record he set from Oct. 6-Dec. 29, 2013. Brown last missed on Dec. 21, 2014, when his 29-yard attempt in St. Louis was blocked.
In three seasons with the Giants, Brown has made 60 of 65 field goal attempts, a franchise-record 92.3 success rate. Since the start of the 2013 season, Brown ranks second in field goal percentage among kickers with 40 or more attempts. He trails only New England's Stephen Gostkowski (83-for-88, 94.3%).
*Brown leads the NFL with 50 points (three more than Gostkowski, who has played one less game, and Denver's Brandon McManus, who was Brown's training camp competition in 2014). No Giants player has led the NFL in scoring since Don Chandler in 1963 when he kicked 18 field goals and 52 extra points for 106 points. Lawrence Tynes, Brown's predecessor, led the NFC in 2012 with 145 points (33 field goals, 46 extra points).
Gameday photo timeline from Giants Week 5 matchup vs. 49ers