Remember when the Giants were 3-2? It was a more innocent time, fans were optimistic and the sky was the limit for the 2014 New York Football Giants. Flash forward five weeks and four games, with the Giants now 3-6 and on track to miss the playoffs for the fifth time in six years.
Has the head coach of a New York City sports team ever had a more up and down career than Tom Coughlin? When you miss the playoffs in five out of six seasons, the tendency is for you to get fired. But Coughlin has won two Super Bowls, so he has a lot of leeway.
Is it time for the Giants to get a new coach? Well, it’s certainly not encouraging when your star defensive end, Jason Pierre-Paul, says he’s not sure what halftime adjustments the team made against Seattle because he was in the bathroom.
The new game plan that Coughlin shared with players while Pierre-Paul was freshening up was, “OK, I think we have enough points for the day, so take it easy on offense in the second half.”
The troops listened, and the Giants were outscored 24-0 by Seattle in the second half.
Last week, several players including safety Antrel Rolle and Pierre-Paul said the team was playing without passion. That might be true, but they’re also playing without their starting running back (Rashad Jennings) and their No. 1 receiver (Victor Cruz), both of whom are out with injuries.
Jennings, who may play next week, can’t get back soon enough, which is not something I ever would have said about him in the past. But the Giants with Andre Williams (13 carries for 33 yards against Seattle) haven’t been able to muster any kind of ground game.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks dropped 350 yards rushing on New York, with Marshawn Lynch, Russell Wilson, Curt Warner and Shaun Alexander (I think) all getting into the action. That was the most yards rushing allowed by the Giants since 1978, Tom Coughlin’s first year as coach of the G-men.
U.S. & World
OK, Coughlin’s tenure is actually somewhat shorter (11 years), but it sure seems like he’s been coach forever. Have the players stopped listening to him? Maybe. But the organization is unlikely to fire him, at least during the season. He has a contract that runs through next season, and offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo is widely rumored to be the heir apparent.
But that’s a long ways off, and the Giants still have seven games left in this season. Can they finish 10-6 and make the playoffs? Sure. Can they finish 9-7 and sneak in, too? Sure again. But before they reach the creampuff portion of the schedule – Jacksonville, Tennessee. Washington and St. Louis – they have two home games against San Francisco and Dallas.
If they allow either of those teams to run for 350 yards, Coughlin might not make it to the end of his contract.
