Eli Manning Reaction in Super Bowl 50 Was Because His Defense Was So Bad in 2015

The Eli Manning reaction to his brother Peyton’s team going up 22-10 in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl 50 has drawn overreaction from just about everyone. Most thought he was stoic or emotionless because he secretly wanted his big bro to lose in the biggest game of this past season and most likely last game of his career. Turns out he was doing math.

I can see that. You can see as soon as his friends, family, and fellow spectators begin cheering that he starts to run the numbers on whether or not the Broncos should kick the extra point or go for two. I had people asking me for my reaction. It was simple, Eli’s not an emotional guy. I’ve seen him really wild out once, maybe twice. He’s been bummed, but never visually devastated like Josh Norman was after the clock hit all zeroes Sunday night. I also pointed out that he shakes Olivia’s hand in a celebratory fashion. Did no one see that?

But, the bigger reason why Eli is doing the math is because he had a defense that blew multiple double digit leads in the fourth quarter in 2015. It’s a Pavlovian response; something bad happens to you enough times, you’re gonna have a knee jerk reaction. “Okay, we scored, we’re up by 12, our defense will most likely give up two touchdowns, plus two extra points, that’s 14 points, Denver should go for two”.

Hopefully, Eli won’t have to do much math in the 2016 regular season as his squad has around $45 million in salary cap space to sign top free agents in a few “need” positions.