Coughlin has big problems
TOM COUGHLIN peered at the tapes Saturday in East Rutherford and it was no better than looking at the Giants from the sideline Friday in Cincinnati. After one preseason game, he sounded like a teacher who had walked into the first day of class only to discover this new batch of students was a lot like last year’s bunch. These guys were going to be a much tougher grind than he had hoped.
There were no silver linings from Coughlin, only reports of misplays and injuries on a team that finished last season dropping eight of its last 11 games. Give the coach credit for this much: After all these years, after all his successes and failures, Coughlin is not delusional. He knows what he’s up against.
“We didn’t play well early on, with our 1s,” he said. “The first group gave up an easy touchdown. Our offensive team, with Eli, did not make it on thirdand-one. There was a pass in there that was dropped. Three-and-out … three-andout … three-and-out ...
“I’m not pleased with that,” Coughlin said. “I expected much more. I just think as a group we did not execute together in any capacity to allow us to have total success with a play.”
Even the Giants’ great strength, their receiving corps, appeared lost or limping out there.
“Their execution left a lot to be desired,” Coughlin said. “Details and route work were not good.”
And so it begins, an uphill battle for a coach who deserves at least one more winning season before retiring gracefully. A 23-10 defeat in a first preseason game is of course meaningless, in itself. But there were warning signs that even Coughlin had to admit were disturbing.
First and foremost, there are the losses at safety. Mykkele Thompson is gone for the season with an Achilles injury and Landon Collins has an MCL sprain. The Giants were already shorthanded at that position, and this, more or less, assures they’ll be scrambling for reinforcements much of the year.
“You can count as well as I can,” Coughlin said. “You can’t have enough of those guys.”
There were no fewer than four injuries in this game, which unfortunately has become something of a trademark for this team. About the only player who remains remarkably healthy is Eli Manning, and Manning looked badly out of sync in his first appearance. His only effective pass was a short screen, which is something the Giants rarely employ when it counts.
To recap: There are questions about the defensive secondary and the offensive line. There are questions about the running game. And, yes, there are questions about whether Manning, at age 34, can play at a championship level this season. While Ryan Nassib showed considerable spark against the Bengals, nobody is kidding himself on that subject. Nassib will only get a real shot at this if Manning gets hurt.
There is a lot of stuff to solve over the next four weeks, before the Giants open in Dallas on Sept. 13. Coughlin is well aware he has only three more preseason games to tighten things up, which means that the game Saturday at MetLife against Jacksonville takes on slightly greater meaning than a second preseason game usually deserves. At the very least, the Giants’ first team on offense will need to demonstrate some rhythm in the first half.
Coughlin tried very hard Saturday to think of something — anything — nice to say about his team’s performance on Friday. He came up with one item. “We were able to get everybody dressed into the football game, which was good,” he said.
If this were a rec league game, all the parents would have been happy their kids got some playing time. It won’t work that way in Dallas.