Pride. Honor. Dignity. … Elimination.
Tom Coughlin wanted to see the attributes that forged a Super Bowl title last season come to the surface, even for one last time, knowing he and his players controlled almost nothing about the minuscule chances they all had to slip into the playoffs.
Coughlin saw what he desired in yesterday’s 42-7 rout of the moribund Eagles, after which the Giants acknowledged a lopsided victory could not undo all the ills that brought 2012 to an unceremonious end.
“The first thing is you never rely on anyone else in this business,’’ Coughlin said. “You have to take care of your own business. And we certainly had our chances.’’
The Giants needed to win and have three other games go their way, not an inviting scenario after losing in Weeks 15 and 16 to the Falcons and Ravens by a combined score of 67-14. They held up their end, and for a while were teased as the Lions came back on the Bears. But a few minutes after the Giants walked off the field at MetLife Stadium the stinging finality of Bears 26, Lions 24 meant they were eliminated.
“There’s no shoulda, coulda, wouldas or what might have been,’’ Antrel Rolle said. “Our season ends today. Earlier in the week, I said if we had pride and we cared about our profession, we cared about being Giants, it would show on Sunday and I think it definitely showed up today.’’
VOTE: WHO SHOULD THE GIANTS BRING BACK IN 2013?
How different one season is from the next. The 2011 Giants won the NFC East at 9-7 and never stopped amazing their fans and the league until they hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in Indianapolis. This 9-7 record doesn’t get the Giants anything other than remorse and confusion.
“There is no enjoyment in not going to the playoffs,’’ Eli Manning said. “Obviously I know we’re not playing football next week, and it’s slowly kicking in.’’
Coughlin said he is anxious to ask his players, “What in the world were the last two weeks all about?’’ As the head coach, he doesn’t have any answers. Rolle says he has some ideas he wants to run by Coughlin. Others are admittedly clueless.
“If he asks me, I will tell him I don’t know,’’ guard Chris Snee said.
The game was no contest as the Eagles (4-12) clearly were unwilling and unable to give Andy Reid, who reportedly will be fired today, a respectful going-away present after 14 years of mostly successful football. The Birds mailed in this one, standing aside as Manning threw five touchdown passes in a game for the first time in his career, three in the first quarter — two to rookie Rueben Randle — for a greatest-of-ease 21-0 lead.
Ahmad Bradshaw (16 carries, 107 yards) and David Wilson (15 carries, 75 yards) ravaged the Eagles on the ground. Michael Vick provided no spark, getting intercepted by Stevie Brown in the first quarter to set an immediate trend. It was 35-7 by halftime, and the Eagles looked as if they were already on vacation.
“Today we performed like we were supposed to,’’ said Osi Umenyiora after what likely was the final game of his 10-year Giants career. “Today we performed like world champions.’’
There were loud cheers midway through the third quarter when the jumbo screens posted that the Lions had pulled within 20-17 of the Bears and even a few chants of “Let’s Go Lions!’’ Justin Tuck said he was “absolutely’’ watching the scoreboard.
“We got the word in the locker room that it wasn’t going to work out the way we wanted it to,’’ Manning said.
The Giants know they blew their playoff hopes in Atlanta and Baltimore. The Lions merely made it official.
“We can’t be mad at anyone but ourselves,’’ Rolle said. “You can be disappointed, knowing what kind of team we are. Unfortunately our season ends today. But we had several chances to close it out and not leave it in the hands of other opponents. We didn’t do that.’’
Mathias Kiwanuka called the afternoon “a good end to a disappointing season.’’
Coughlin said he knew when he got home and put on last night’s Cowboys-Redskins game for the NFC East title he would be wondering why the Giants were not playing for the division crown.
“It’s frustrating, and it will be for quite some time,’’ Snee said. “I believe we’re a better team than 9-7. I have no ground to stand on, though — that’s our record. The way we played the prior two weeks, we don’t deserve to be in the playoffs.’’
And because of the way they played the last two weeks, they’re not.
paul.schwartz@nypost.com