Giants Bench Eli Manning For Geno Smith

Eli Manning’s streak of 210 consecutive starts will end this weekend, as Giants coach Ben McAdoo announced that Geno Smith will take over at QB against the Raiders. Manning’s streak was the second longest in NFL history, 87 starts behind Brett Favre. Smith started one game for the New York Jets last year, and year before that, he had his jaw broken in a fight with a teammate and played just one game.

Manning apparently chose not to start this weekend of his own volition, as he realized that the Giants’ season is basically cooked, and that not starting would be less sad than starting for a few plays and giving way to Smith:

“Coach McAdoo told me I could continue to start while Geno and Davis are given an opportunity to play,” Manning said. “My feeling is that if you are going to play the other guys, play them. Starting just to keep the streak going and knowing you won’t finish the game and have a chance to win it is pointless to me, and it tarnishes the streak. Like I always have, I will be ready to play if and when I am needed. I will help Geno and Davis prepare to play as well as they possibly can.”

Geno Smith has thrown two passes this year. Both were incomplete.