It should not have been surprising that when coach Tom Coughlin met with the Giants’ leadership council yesterday, the dozen or so players offered little insight as to why a team with so much to play for Sunday ended its playoff hopes and its era at Giants Stadium with an embarrassing 41-9 loss to the Panthers.
Since so many of the Giants were clueless against Carolina, it stands to reason they were clueless in their sit-down with Coughlin — underscoring the lack of accountability on a team that came up incredibly small in one of the biggest games in franchise history.
Coughlin and quarterback Eli Manning yesterday offered apologies for the Giants’ woeful performance, but those apologies should fall on the deaf ears of Giants fans, most of whom likely saw this debacle coming long before the players and coaching staff did.
Through a season of inconsistency that included a four-game losing streak and a Thanksgiving Day meltdown at Denver, the Giants clung to the foolish notion they would somehow salvage a playoff berth as if it were their birthright.
Playoff appearances in four straight seasons, including a memorable Super Bowl run in 2007, fostered a sense of false security that eventually sapped the urgency and hunger out of the locker room.
The so-called leadership council was praised for its input during the 2007 Super Bowl run, but yesterday offered Coughlin little to explain how a 5-0 start fizzled into disaster.
“Nothing that you could say was a great benefit that I could use, for example in a planning way going forward,” Coughlin said.
Later, he added, “There were a couple of things that were said that might be answers or something that I might be able to dwell on at the right time. That will remain private.”
Then the coach apologized to Giants fans for Sunday’s performance, just as Manning had done in front of his locker a few minutes earlier.
But it’s too late for apologies from a team that has an overrated talent level and clear coaching deficiencies, especially on the defensive side.
Apologies won’t wipe the slate clean, and the honeymoon from winning the Super Bowl is over, too.
It’s up to Coughlin to fix this mess so he won’t wind up apologizing for his team’s performance this time next year, too.
Revamping the offensive line, bringing in another quality running back, and upgrading the depth in the secondary and linebacker crops are priorities. So is a search for a new defensive coordinator to replace the ineffective Bill Sheridan.
When your team doesn’t tackle, isn’t physical and allows a running back to rush for 206 yards in the final game at Giants Stadium, a change must be made.
“We’re going to evaluate everything,” Coughlin promised.
Hall of Famer Harry Carson questioned the Giants’ pride, and the nearly 80,000 people who walked out of Giants Stadium long before the fourth quarter ended probably felt the same way.
I doubt a win at Minnesota in the season finale does anything to change those opinions.
Certainly, it’s too late for apologies.