On Tuesday November 28th the New York Giants announced that on Sunday Geno Smith will be starting at quarterback against the Raiders. For the first time in 13 years, it won’t be Eli Manning taking the snaps. His streak of 210 games started will be over on Sunday. It’s the 2nd longest streak by a QB, behind only Brett Favre.

The Giants are 2-9 and have had a season full of injuries and disappointments. This move at QB was the right move, but done wrong.

Backups Geno Smith and rookie Davis Webb will both see playing time over the last 5 games of the year. The only problem with that, Webb isn’t ready. He hasn’t suited up all year and that’s a mistake on the part of the Giants coaching staff.

The Giants want to see what they have in the younger QBs knowing Eli, at 36, only has a short time left, and they need to see that fast because they’ll have a top pick in the 2018 draft and need to know if they need to draft a quarterback.

The Giants have suffered some blowout losses this year and have left Manning in all games. If Ben McAdoo had any clue what he was doing, he would’ve had Webb and Smith ready to go, and got them reps at the end of blowout games, but he didn’t and now this is how Manning gets replaced.

“I have a lot of confidence in Eli as a player, as a quarterback,” McAdoo told reporters. “At this point it’s my responsibility for the organization to make sure we take a look at Geno and at Davis.”

If he had Webb on the gameday roster he could’ve gotten a look at him already, but instead it’s done this way, and Eli’s streak will come to an end.

Current and retired NFL players also expressed their disapproval of Eli’s benching.

“Damn! Bench Eli? Man showed up every week for 14 years.” former NFL receiver Plaxico Burress via twitter.

“I honestly thought it was pathetic, really,” Chargers QB Philip Rivers said to reporters in Costa Mesa, Calif., after LA’s practice on Wednesday. “The guy, he’s been out there 210 straight games with no telling how many bumps and bruises and injuries for his team. Won two Super Bowls, MVPs, the respect he’s had in the locker room over the years, really the respect he’s gained throughout the league. You feel like the guy’s earned the opportunity — if in fact they are deciding in fact to go in another direction — you feel like he’s earned the opportunity to finish it off, finish off these last five weeks.”

McAdoo did offer Eli the start to keep the streak alive, but Manning declined.

“To go out there knowing you’re coming out, I just didn’t think — how do you prepare?” Manning said to reporters at his locker on Tuesday. “I thought I was just starting and playing to keep a streak alive and I didn’t think that’s the right thing. … That’s not how you play. You play to win.”

Eli was fighting back tears during the interview. The two time super bowl MVP was a true professional and deserves much more respect than the Giants coaching staff gave him.

“It’s hard,” said an emotional Eli, “It’s been a hard day to handle this. But hang in there and figure it out.”

This move has brought up a lot of questions about Eli’s future in New York. When he was asked about if he has played his last game as a Giant he simply said, “I don’t know.”