THE TOM IS NOW!
This season is Giant for Coughlin
ARLINGTON, Tex. — Eli Manning knows how this works. The Giants have missed the playoffs three straight years, turned collapsing into an art form in the last two. One more year like that and Tom Coughlin, the only coach Manning has ever known, might be out of a job. And Manning doesn’t want that. “I think we all want to play for the coach and hope he keeps coaching here,” Manning told The News. “(Coughlin and I), we’ve been together a long time and won championships. I have great respect for him and want him to have all the success in the world.”
That’s one of the many reasons why Manning and the Giants would love nothing more than to win the first game of what might be Tom Coughlin’s Last Stand. On Sunday night, the maelstrom of uncertainty that is these Giants will face the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium, a season-opening game so important that several players have already dubbed it a “must-win.”
It’s the perfect place to jump-start a season of Coughlin redemption, the very same venue that marked the start of Big Blue’s dramatic fall from the NFL elite two years ago. It was then that the Giants walked into AT&T a year removed from a Super Bowl title and walked out after coughing up six turnovers in a 36-31 loss, the first of six straight losses to start the year.
Last year’s follow-up: A 6-10 campaign that included a seven-game midseason losing streak.
Neither nightmare year was solely Coughlin’s fault, even if the oldest coach in the NFL went through great pains to shoulder the blame. Injuries have ravaged the Giants the last two seasons, and Manning, despite last week’s contract extension, remains as hot and cold as any QB.
But players know that their on-field rollercoaster is a reflection of Coughlin, that, on some level, they may be playing for his job in 2015.
“When things don’t go good, people always want to point fingers here and there,” said veteran defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins. “The head coach always takes some type of criticism from people when the team’s not winning. We need to go out there and win so we can keep the criticism off of him . . . He’s a great coach.” Jenkins went on. “The losing streaks the last two years . . . it’s showing that we’re not able to get things turned around,” he said. “We’re not facing adversity well. So when things get bad, they keep getting bad.”
Things are already bad for this team. The Giants opened training camp playing “Where’s Waldo” with Jason Pierre-Paul, and they learned just last week that their finest pass-rusher was still at least a month away from game shape after having his right index finger amputated. Their most veteran receiver, Victor Cruz, is exiled to pool training as he rehabs a calf strain.
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is warning everyone that his unit will endure “growing pains.” The offensive line, with rookie Ereck Flowers manning left tackle, and Justin Pugh and Weston Richburg at new positions, seems destined for the same thing.
Coughlin sees this wreckage, but ever the optimist and battler, insists that the Giants have a chance.
“We have a few things, obviously, that need to be ironed out and need to be clarified,” the coach said. “Hopefully that’s what will happen right here.”
On Sunday, it has to happen, and the Giants’ veterans are going to do everything they can to will themselves to victory. On paper, Dallas seems the more complete team, with the offensive line the Giants lack, the linebacking corps Big Blue has never bothered with, and a playoff berth last year.
But the Giants will arrive with desire and hunger, desperate to change their recent history.
“Collectively, you get sick of losing,” said linebacker Mark Herzlich. “The franchise is sick of losing. Coach Coughlin is more sick of losing than anyone. This franchise’s reputation, it’s New York Giants football and we want to live up to that reputation.” They haven’t done that in too long, and they’ve let down their coach.
“We don’t settle for mediocrity,” said long-snapper Zak DeOssie. “There’s a sense of urgency here because of the last few years. And it’s being heard loud and clear. “Coach shows us the way. And we’re all behind him.”