Coaches are programmed to be optimists. No matter how dire a situation might be, their nature is to focus on the positives that can be gained, not the negatives that have transpired.
Tom Coughlin did that in part yesterday, pointing out to his Giants that despite their dreadful 34-0 loss at Atlanta Sunday, making the playoffs remained in their grasp with victories over the Ravens and Eagles.
“If we win two games, we’re going to be in the playoffs,” the Giants coach said, repeating a statement his players had echoed around the locker room minutes earlier.
Yet, it sounded more like wishful thinking than a battle cry. Maybe that changes tomorrow after the shock of Sunday’s stunning loss wears off. But yesterday Coughlin admitted he was puzzled by his team’s inconsistency over the last five games where they’ve lost to the Bengals, Redskins and Falcons while blowing out the Packers and Saints.
“It’s baffling to me in a way that we are not transferring from the practice field to the game field,” Coughlin said.
Despite good practices last week, the Giants were embarrassed in Atlanta, suffering their first regular-season shutout in 16 years.
“Game day is not looking the same [as practice] and that’s a concern,” Coughlin said.
Earlier in the year, the Giants pointed to last season as evidence they could rally themselves when things got critical. From 7-7, they won a Super Bowl. But that security blanket was missing yesterday. Good practices are not equating to good performances. Confidence has turned to doubt.
One week they score 52 points; zero the next. They create four turnovers against the Saints, zero against the Falcons.
“We preach, preach, preach and we turn it over three times and don’t get any against [Atlanta],” Coughlin said. “From four [turnovers collected] the week before to zero and from 52 points to zero, there’s a pretty good argument for consistency.”
You can’t blame Coughlin if he isn’t sure which team will show up in Baltimore; the one that drilled the Saints or the one that never showed up in Atlanta. He had warned his Giants the Falcons were “an exceptional team,” that would be motivated by their playoff loss at MetLife Stadium a year ago, and wanted to maintain momentum toward the playoffs. His words must have fallen on deaf ears.
“If what we really want is right there for us, there’s only one way to get it and it’s not playing like we did [Sunday],” Coughlin said.
At least Coughlin goes into this week without a guillotine over his neck. Had the Giants not beaten the Jets and the Cowboys in the final two games last season to make the playoffs, surely Coughlin’s job would be in jeopardy now with his team stumbling from 6-2 to 8-6. But winning the Super Bowl last season, and the difficultly defending Super Bowl champions have repeating has kept vultures from circling.
We’ve also learned not to count the Giants out until they are officially eliminated. Otherwise, you might not be invited to the parade.
“If we’re going to have an opportunity to get into the playoffs, we have to win the next two games,” Coughlin said. “That’s sort of the way it was a year ago.”
It took an emotional Christmas Eve showdown with the Jets to get the Giants going last season. There will be no Rex Ryan talking about taking over the city this year and another “All in” speech might not have the same impact.
There is still “hope” as Coughlin pointed out. That’s what will drive the Giants this week and against the Eagles, if they can win in Baltimore. Hope will have to be enough for now.
“Getting in is the important thing,” Coughlin said. “But you’d like to be playing your best football and getting in. We’ve got to go some to accomplish that.”