Eli Manning had a dismal season and now-retired offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride believes he knows the reason why: the offensive line.
According to ESPN, Gilbride named the Giants' woeful offensive line as the reason that the two-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player struggled throughout the season where the Giants missed the playoffs for the second straight season since winning Super Bowl XLVI over the New England Patriots following the 2011 season.
Gilbride retired on Thursday after spending 10 seasons with the Giants and addressed several issues with the team's offense on Tuesday night during an interview with SiriusXM NFL radio.
Playing behind an injury-plagued offensive line, Manning threw a league and career-high 27 interceptions and the Giants offense finished ranked 28th in the league in total offense.
"[The offensive line] made it impossible for [Manning] to function. ... You give him help and he's proven he can win a championship," Gilbride told SiriusXM.
Manning went 317-for-551 (57.5%) for 3,818 yards with 18 touchdowns and the 27 picks. Manning threw for the fewest amount of touchdowns in his career since 2004 where he appeared in just nine games and threw for six scores.
The offensive line was banged up all seasons with veterans Chris Snee, David Diehl and David Baas all struggling through injuries throughout the season while rookie right tackle Justin Pugh emerged in a positive way though left tackle Will Beatty struggled throughout the season.
"We had been concerned about depth in the offensive line for a while now," Gilbride told the program.
The Giants will look to turn things around in 2014, but it will be without Gilbride and under a new offensive coordinator.
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