Did the Giants overlook the 1-3 Browns or did they just get beat?
Either way, the Giants will need to put together a better performance moving forward, and that doesn’t start two weeks from now when the Giants begin a brutal three-week stretch when they play the Steelers, Cowboys and Eagles.
The lowly 49ers come into the Meadowlands on Sunday and Tom Coughlin will not accept another sub-standard performance, win or lose.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff to correct. It begins right away unfortunately,” Coughlin said. “It’s a short week for us, but we have a lot of things that we have to deal with and I think we’ll be about the business of correcting.
“We do have to focus on a lot of things. Our formula for winning kind of went by the wayside, in terms of we haven’t turned the ball over [and] we did turn it over and that’s not a good thing. We didn’t really effectively stop the run and that hurt us.”
Eli Manning will look to bounce back from his first bad game of the season. He threw three interceptions against the Browns, after tossing one in the Giants’ first four games. In past seasons, Manning would have several poor efforts that would hurt his team, but he is hopeful history is not repeated.
“That is just part of playing quarterback, playing football,” Manning said. “From play to play, game to game, you can’t think about what previously happened. Whether it is a good play or bad play, you have to move on and think about this next play or this next game and what you have to do to prepare.
“Sometimes it is harder than just saying it, but I think over the years I have learned to do that and do it well. I have put it behind us, try to learn from it, learn why those mistakes occurred and what to do next time, and I think you learn some good lessons and you never stop learning lessons at this league and whatever level, just reminders of what to do under certain situations. I think I have learned that and I am ready to play this week.”
The 49ers are coming into this game on a three-game losing streak, but do possess offensive weapons that concern Coughlin. They include the NFL’s fourth-leading rusher (Frank Gore) and a dangerous young quarterback (J.T. O’Sullivan). The 49ers are going against a Giants defense that showed signs on weakness in giving up 35 points to the Browns.
“They certainly do have outstanding personnel,” Coughlin said. “They’ve been very competitive to a point in each of these last three losses. They’ve gone head-to-head with some good football teams, too.”