There really is no greater clarity when analyzing what will be the ramifications of another season-ending Giants collapse than to hear from defensive tackle Barry Cofield, one of the wisest of them all.
“The guys who aren’t playing well enough will suffer,” Cofield said.
It is not only the can’t-believe-it’s-happening-again fans who will be made to suffer if the Giants complete the crumble with a loss to the Redskins on Sunday at FedEx Field. With the playoffs at stake, losing in epic fashion to the Eagles, in shameful fashion in Green Bay and in any fashion to the 6-9 Redskins will represent the end for this collection of players and perhaps this assemblage of coaches.
With labor uncertainty, the looming lockout and the possibility of no contact between players and coaches until August, this is not the offseason to make wholesale changes.
But you do what you gotta do.
Going 0-3 in the stretch run with a fairly healthy roster and so much to play for can’t be ignored, not after the way this team embarrassed the franchise a year ago, losing its last two games by a combined 85-16 to complete an 8-8 season that co-owner John Mara said “felt a lot more like 2-14 to me.”
How do you think 9-7 will feel after his Giants were 9-4 and, leading 31-10, eight minutes away from wresting control of the NFC East away from the Eagles?
There is only one pathway for the Giants to extend their season: Beat the Redskins and have the Bears beat the Packers on Sunday in Green Bay. The Bears, however, likely will have nothing to play for. The Eagles’ 24-14 upset loss to the Vikings last night gave the Bears the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye and they likely won’t have a chance for the top seed when the game kicks off. The Giants-Redksins and Bears-Packers games will be played simultaneously, but scoreboard-watching will be unnecessary if the Giants continue to give the ball away on offense and refrain from stopping it on defense. Can you imagine what Mara has to say if the Bears provide the necessary help and the Giants don’t uphold their part of the deal against a last-place opponent that is dysfunctional but owns more victories over playoff contenders (four) than the Giants (two)?
If the Giants finish 10-6 and miss out on the playoffs, at least Mara can sleep knowing the team responded for Coughlin in a time of need. If not, Mara could be enticed by old friend John Fox, who will be the fall guy in Carolina for the Panthers’ horrid season. Mara could also resist upheaval, extend Coughlin’s contract only one year through the 2012 season and there won’t be a groundswell of outrage. After all, Coughlin is a professional, quality coach with all the right values. But he might be asked to recalibrate some aspects of his operation in deference to these late-season swoons.
Maybe his offensive staff headed by coordinator Kevin Gilbride gets altered, with the reasoning that Eli Manning isn’t going anywhere yet his ghastly 24 interceptions are an indication he’s regressing under this regime. Maybe it’s time to break up the Brandon Jacobs/Ahmad Bradshaw backfield. Maybe it’s over for this veteran offensive line. The Giants last year jettisoned a defensive coordinator, Bill Sheridan, after only one season and are pleased with his successor, Perry Fewell, but the defense has unraveled and they may have to re-think their linebacker situation and their toughness up front.
Coaches look clueless when good players go bad. It is not easy for Coughlin to acknowledge the Packers “played harder than we did.” Not easy at all. “It’s a sick feeling in my stomach to be able to say that, considering what we had at stake,” he admitted.
There’s so much at stake this weekend, and not only for Coughlin.
Big Blue home at last
The Giants finally landed at Newark International Airport at 11 a.m yesterday after their longer-than-anticipated stay in Appleton, Wis., because of the blizzard back home.
Normally, the Giants fly out on their team charter as soon as they are ready following a game, but they could not leave Green Bay Sunday night after their 45-17 loss to the Packers. They spent another night at the team hotel, with players mostly hanging out while the coaching staff opened up their laptops and began preparing for the Redskins. After landing, players had their normal day off while the coaching staff continued to put together the game plan for Sunday’s game. Tom Coughlin estimated his staff would be about a half day behind schedule because of the travel delay.
O’Hara at end of line?
After missing six straight games with a mid-foot sprain, center Shaun O’Hara was finally deemed ready to return two weeks ago and was immediately reinserted into the starting lineup, moving Rich Seubert back to his natural left guard spot and sending fill-in starting guard Kevin Boothe to the bench. At the time, there was some speculation whether the Giants should have tampered with a good thing.
Two losses later, a case can be made that the change messed up the chemistry of the offensive line, as O’Hara clearly isn’t fully recovered and not playing up to his usual standard. What seemed as if it was set to be Seubert’s final season could instead be the start of a second career as a center, as the Giants must make some hard decisions and O’Hara, at 33, is the second-oldest player on the team.
Class needs to be out
Tom Coughlin may have been onto something when he lamented the debilitating, season-long turnover plague has messed with the psyche of his team.
“I think it lets the air out of our team a little bit when we turn the ball over and it’s very difficult not to,” he said. “We have a bunch of classy young men and they conduct themselves well, but if you’re a true competitor, this is difficult now.
“Let me tell you, there’s a lot of psychological stuff that goes along with this, too.”
The Giants actually are by and large a roster filled with “classy young men.”
Perhaps they don’t have enough players with snarly attitudes who will grab a teammate by the collar the next time the ball is put on the ground.