Coughlin, Beason fourth-coming in endgame failures
If all you heard were Jon Beason’s words the day after, you would have thought one thing: The Giants lost. Again.
There was Beason on Friday, analyzing the ins and outs of GiantsRedskins from the night before, focusing specifically on what went down in the fourth quarter.
“We all realize we all got our hand in this,’’ Beason said, “and it’s bad.’’
Another blown lead, another dispiriting loss? Hardly. The Giants broke into the win column this season with a 3221 victory. But the way they closed out the game, after taking a 256 lead just 81 seconds into the final quarter, did not sit well with Beason, his head coach or a team that was starved to win, but realizes it still has not completely gotten over bad habits late in games.
And so, as he congratulated his players for finally getting off the schneid after two horrific losses, Tom Coughlin, in the next breath, made sure everyone knew the detours on the way to victory were not acceptable.
“I realize we’re under construction, but the patience factor is really — we’re into our third game here,’’ Coughlin said. “We do need to understand how to finish better than we did.’’
The Giants opened up a 19point lead after Eli Manning hit Odell Beckham Jr. with a 30yard touchdown pass with 13:39 remaining, but what could have been a smooth ride the rest of the way instead was filled with turbulence. The Redskins mounted two long drives — one resulting in a lost fumble on the Giants 7yard line, the other in a touchdown — and also scored on a 101yard kickoff return. In the final 13:31, the Redskins ran 33 plays, the Giants only nine.
“That’s not the way it’s supposed to be,’’ Coughlin said.
This was not a repeat of what transpired earlier — the Giants became the first team in NFL history to blow doubledigit leads in their first two games of the season — but if the Giants had so much trouble putting away Kirk Cousins and the Redskins, it does not bode well for what might happen when there’s a rise in the competition.
“This one’s a little shortlived for us,’’ Beason said of celebrating victory No. 1. “That fourth quarter was not indicative of the way the game went. We still for some reason are collectively having this problem with finishing.
“You always want to be a team that’s known to finish strong and I don’t want opposing teams to think, ‘ Hey, we’re playing the Giants, whether they have a big lead or we keep it close we know in the fourth quarter they’re going to give us this and that.’ You don’t want to be that.’’
After so much clockmanagement angst and anarchy in the first two games, the Giants’ inability to seize total control in the fourth quarter nearly led to another misadventure. Leading by 11 points at the twominute warning, they faced thirdand10 on their 44yard line and did not need to throw the ball. The Redskins were out of timeouts, and running the ball and taking time off the clock figured to be more valuable than picking up a first down.
Sure enough, Manning did not connect on a deep throw to Beckham, the clock stopped and the Giants used only four seconds after the twominute warning. They punted the ball back to the Redskins, and there was still 1:43 left to play. It could have been closer to one minute remaining, if the Giants had played it differently.
In painstaking detail, Coughlin explained his rationale for signing off on a pass play.
“We ran the ball twice, we milked as much of the clock as we could,’’ Coughlin said. “I wanted a first down that we might keep the ball even longer. We put the quarterback in as safe as possible position. We ran a very conservative route with Odell Beckham. It just didn’t work out.
“I understand the strategy you’re trying to get at just as much as you do. Believe me, it went through my mind, but we’ve got to get this thing flipped around a little bit.
“I do understand it’s a strategy call, but I don’t bat an eye about what we did, and I would defend our actions to anybody.’’