Tom Coughlin (Charles Wenzelberg)
SLOW-VEMBER: Coach Tom Coughlin (inset) had no explanation yesterday for why his Giants teams are 27-39 in the second half — following Sunday’s takedown by the Bengals (above, Taylor Mays tackles Rueben Randle) — compared to 53-19 in the first. (NY Post: Charles Wenzelberg; Getty Images)
There might not be a more thorough coach in the NFL than Tom Coughlin, whose tireless attention to detail is so intricate it borders on scientific.
Coughlin probably could tell you what the average temperature is on Mars in May or how many hours the sun stays out on Saturn in September if he felt it had any effect on his football team.
This might explain why Coughlin’s inability to determine the reasons why the Giants have always struggled in the second half of seasons under his watch has become such a sore subject for him.
It’s clear Coughlin does not like being reminded of the unmistakable trend, and he’s definitely tired of talking about it. But the numbers illustrating his teams’ first-half success versus second-half struggles are too obvious to ignore or hide from.
What has happened to the Giants in the past two games — accentuated by their abysmal 31-13 loss to the mediocre Bengals on Sunday in Cincinnati — is very much in line with the second halves the eight previous years of Coughlin’s reign as head coach.
If you include their current 0-2 slide after they compiled a 6-2 record in the first half, the Giants have a 27-39 record in the second half of seasons under Coughlin as they enter their bye this week. In the first half of those seasons, the Giants are 53-19.
The trend is curious, but not as confounding as Coughlin making like he has ignored the matter.
When asked yesterday whether he has taken time to research why this keeps happening to his teams, Coughlin said, “I haven’t, no.’’
Asked whether he has an explanation for why it has become a yearly thing, he deflected the question with self-deprecation, saying, “I’m sure it’s me.’’
Coughlin and the Giants can sweep the trend under the carpet as unrelated to what’s happened the past two weeks, but the numbers do not lie. In Coughlin’s eight seasons with the Giants before this year, the team never has had a better record in the second eight games than in the first eight.
The Giants have, of course, gotten away with the second-half slumps twice in the past five years to rally for Super Bowl wins. Last year, for example, the Giants got off to the same 6-2 start they had this year, went 3-5 in the second half — then won the Super Bowl anyway.
“My standard answer for last year was it didn’t come out too bad,’’ Coughlin said. “I’ll stick with that.’’
When it was suggested his players might fall into the trap of knowing because they did it last year they can rally again the same way, Coughlin cringed.
“I’m hoping that’s not the case,’’ he said. “When you look at the six games we have [left], if you can’t get excited about playing this six-game schedule … wow.’’
It begins with the Packers at home a week from Sunday and includes road games in Washington, Atlanta and Baltimore as well as home games against the Saints and Eagles. Of those teams, the division rival Eagles and Redskins likely are the only teams that won’t be in playoff contention.
Eli Manning said it “definitely helps’’ players knowing they’ve been able to rally from the second-half slumps because “it reminds guys that we can’t get down on ourselves.’’
“We’ve lost two in a row,’’ Manning said. “There are a lot of teams in the NFL this year that have lost two games in a row. We’re not going down. We’re not sliding.’’
Suddenly, the Giants running away with the NFC East has turned into a mere one-game lead over the Cowboys in the loss column.
“We’ve got a six-game season, and it’s all going to come down to what happens in those six games,’’ Manning said. “We’re in control of our destiny.’’
The Giants better not wait as long as they did a year ago to seize control of that destiny.
“We’re not doing that,’’ guard Kevin Boothe said. “We can’t expect to follow that blueprint again. You can’t even guarantee you’ll get into the playoffs following that blueprint. We have to perform at a higher level, and it has to start immediately.’’