EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Eli Manning cares not at all about individual statistics, but almost every week he reaches an impressive milestone. He will do so again Monday night, when the Giants resume action following their bye with a home game against the Indianapolis Colts.
The Giants' 11-year veteran will start his 159th regular-season game, tying the franchise record for quarterbacks set by Phil Simms from 1979-93.
These are the quarterbacks with the most starts in a Giants uniform since the 1970 merger:
Phil Simms - 159
Eli Manning - 158*
Kerry Collins - 68
Dave Brown - 53
Craig Morton - 33
*Active
Manning's 158 starts place him fourth among active quarterbacks in the NFL, behind Peyton Manning (247), Tom Brady (199) and Drew Brees (192).
The closest active quarterback to Manning is Indianapolis' Matt Hasselbeck, with 152 starts. But Hasselbeck is now Andrew Luck's seldom-used backup. The two current starters nearest Manning are the other quarterbacks who were chosen among the first 11 selections in the 2004 NFL Draft: Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger (150) and San Diego's Philip Rivers (136).
Manning, of course, has made his 158 starts consecutively. That is the third-longest streak among quarterbacks in history (Brett Favre, 297; Peyton Manning, 208) and the longest among all active players, regardless of position. It also obliterates the former Giants record for consecutive starts by a quarterback: 69 by Fran Tarkenton from 1967-71. Collins started 67 games in a row from 1999-2003. Simms' longest streak of consecutive starts was 50 games, from Sept. 2, 1984 to Sept. 20, 1987. It ended not because of an injury, but due to the 1987 players strike.
Simms was 95-64 (.597) in his 159 career starts. Manning is 88-70 (.557)
- Tennessee rookie Zach Mettenberger made his NFL starting debut Sunday vs. Houston. He was the 160th different quarterback to make at least one regular-season start since Manning took the controls of the Giants' offense on Nov. 21, 2004.
When the Giants last played, on Oct. 19 in Dallas, Manning threw three touchdown passes, did not throw an interception and was not sacked. Yet the Giants lost, 31-21. The defeat defied the norms in all three of those statistical categories. The Giants are 17-5 when Manning passes for three scores, 39-14 when the opposing team does not intercept one of his passes and 22-9 when he is not sacked.
- Manning had 33 pass attempts vs. the Cowboys, the 10th time in his career he has thrown at least 33 passes without being sacked.
- Manning's three touchdown passes in Dallas increased his career total to 243. That moved him past Pro Football Hall of Famer – and former Giant – Y.A. Tittle (242) and into 18th place on the NFL's career list, one behind John Hadl and four in back of Boomer Esiason. Rivers is just behind Manning with 241 and Roethlisberger, who threw six touchdown passes against the Colts on Sunday, is inching closer with 235.
While Manning was throwing three touchdown passes vs. the Cowboys, Dallas' Tony Romo was tossing four. It was the first Giants game in which each starting quarterback had at least three scoring throws since Dec. 4, 2011, when Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers threw four and Manning had three.
- The Giants rushed for 104 yards in Dallas. It was the 100th time in 167 regular-season games under Tom Coughlin in which they ran for at least 100 yards. The Giants are 70-30 in those games.
- This season, the Giants are 3-0 when they score first, 0-4 when they don't.
- In their two most recent games, losses at Philadelphia and Dallas, the Giants allowed 448 and 423 yards. It is the first time their opponents gained at least 423 yards in back-to-back games since Oct. 21-28, 2012, when Washington (480) and Dallas (434) did it. But the Giants won both of those games.
- Giants opponents gained at least 400 yards four times in the first seven games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that last happened in 1948.
- In those games against the Eagles and Cowboys, the Giants gave up 203 and then 156 rushing yards. They had last allowed that many yards on the ground in consecutive games on Sept. 25-Oct. 2, 2011, at Philadelphia (177) and at Arizona (156). The Giants also won both of those games.
- The Giants have not scored an opening-possession touchdown in 18 consecutive games, the NFL's longest streak. They last scored a touchdown on their first drive on Oct. 6, 2013, on David Wilson's five-yard run vs. Philadelphia.
- Larry Donnell and Daniel Fells each have four touchdown receptions this season, the first time the Giants have had two tight ends with at least that many since 1994, when Howard Cross and Aaron Pierce each finished the season with four. Donnell and Fells have nine more games to add to their totals.
- The loss in Dallas evened the Giants' all-time franchise road record at 295-295-17.
