Blue Christmas
Working holiday for Tom, Giants
TOM COUGHLIN commended his team for its effort, focus and resiliency in rallying to level the Lions in Detroit, 23-20, in overtime on Sunday. But his holiday cheer only extended so far the day after the victory.
“Doggone it,” Coughlin said. “We shouldn’t have had two of the turnovers we had.”
The Giants won the turnover battle, 3-2, against the Lions despite one more late interception from Eli Manning and improved to 6-9 as they ready to host Washington Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
Coughlin continued to harp on the fight for pride that his team bought into for the most recent win. In the postgame locker room, Coughlin called the win “classic Giants football.” He maintained that the opportunity to close out the uneven campaign with a divisional win now stands as motivation for his team to work through the midweek holiday.
“There’s no quit in these guys,” offensive lineman Justin Pugh said. “No one’s given up.”
Coughlin acknowledged the need to be “extremely critical” when reviewing the season’s first six games — all losses — following the Washington game, but he lauded the game-to-game focus his players have kept in righting the ship down the back stretch. He liked Manning’s competitiveness, lauding some of his key throws against the Lions. Manning, playing without Victor Cruz, done for the season after having arthroscopic knee surgery and suffering a concussion in last week’s loss, stepped up in the pocket and connected with Jerrel Jernigan for a touchdown and 80 yards passing.
“Obviously last night wasn’t perfect,” Pugh said. “We didn’t do everything we wanted to do up front. But we fought.”
Coughlin and his offensive coaches will have to adapt once again with their plans for the running game. Tailback Andre Brown suffered a concussion in overtime, leaving the Giants with one running back. That was rookie Michael Cox. After the victory, Brown maintained on Twitter that he was fine, but if he doesn’t pass the NFL’s mandatory concussion tests, the Giants could be shorthanded Sunday. Running back Peyton Hillis missed the game due to a concussion, as well. Cox is likely going to assume most of the snaps.
“Well, he’s had games where he’s shared the role on first and second down, and he certainly will have to again,” Coughlin said.
Washington carries its own concerns into the game. The Redskins will offer the Giants a new look Sunday. Despite the familiarity as a divisional rival, Washington shut down Robert Griffin III two weeks ago and quarterback Kirk Cousins now runs the show. Coughlin noted that he knew little about Cousins heading into his preparations, and had yet to see film of Cousins as a starter before Monday afternoon. Coughlin and his crew have six more days of studying, then they know the final examination will be held.
“I think all you can do is focus one week at a time," Coughlin said. “When a season’s over we’ll evaluate everything.”