New York Giants

After their devastating 23-20 overtime loss to the Jets on Sunday, the New York Giants must relieve Tom Coughlin of his head coaching duties.

By Skylar Darel

The New York Giants blew yet another late game lead on Sunday, losing 23-20 to the New York Jets in overtime.

The Giants led 20-10 with over seven minutes remaining, but a red zone interception by Eli Manning and a defensive collapse by Big Blue led to a comeback win for the Jets and a near knockout blow to the Giants playoff hopes.

The Giants have now lost five games when holding a lead inside the final two minutes. They fell apart against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1. They blew another lead against the Atlanta Falcons in Week Two. The defense gave up 52 points and a last second field goal against the New Orleans Saints in Week 8. Landon Collins dropped a game-sealing pick against the New England Patriots, who scored a last second field goal to win in Week 10. And now, against their inter-city rivals, the Giants have lost yet again.

The team’s lack of defensive organization, offensive discipline, as well as their inability to close, stems from the highest level: head coach Tom Coughlin. Yes, Coughlin has won two Super Bowls with the Giants. But ever since New York hoisted the Vince Lombardi trophy in 2011, the Giants have gone 27-33, and have missed the playoffs for the last three seasons. The most recent loss to the Jets drops New York to 5-7, once again severely denting their hopes at the postseason.

Coughlin isn’t responsible for every little mistake the team made. Their inability to guard Eric Decker down the middle, or their inability to stop the run in overtime, or the stupid penalties that cost them on numerous occasions, or Josh Brown’s first field goal miss of the season, cannot be completely put on Coughlin. The momentum-changing fourth down interception, however? That sure can.

As a whole, Coughlin’s playcalling was very questionable, including two Shane Vereen runs with twenty seconds left in overtime that could have resulted in disaster.

In todays sporting world, the head coach or manager is often put to the sword when his team underperforms. Often time, coaching changes are presumptuous and uncalled for. Coaches need time to instill their philosophy on their team, and take control of the locker room.

Tom Coughlin, however, has been the head coach of the New York Giants since 2003. He’s worked with quarterback Eli Manning from the moment he was traded to New York on Draft Day in 2004, he’s worked with several of his players for multiple years, and yet the results continue to stagnate.

The Giants need a change, somehow, someway.

The trajectory of the franchise has been shifting between down and sideways for the last three seasons, and transcendent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. by himself is not enough to force the arrow upwards.

There is some good, quality talent on this team. Manning, Beckham, Prince Amukamara, Landon Collins, Jonathan Hankins, Rueben Randle, and Ereck Flowers represent a solid core, each occupying a key position. But the rest of the roster has been aggresively average, if that, since around 2008, when the Giants went 12-4 and locked down the second seed in the NFC. Even the Super Bowl champions of 2011-12 couldn’t be considered an elite group.

The team needs a new look, a new direction, and a new head coach.

Tom Coughlin has been on the hot seat for around half a decade, but always seems to keep his job, and always seems to get “one more year.” But his time really should be up. In a season where the Dallas Cowboys lost their starting quarterback for all but three games, and a season where the Philadelphia Eagles imploded, and in a season where the Washington Redskins have been nothing above mediocre, the NFC East was handed, on a platter, to the Giants, who took the platter and threw it away.

Realistically, we could be looking at a ten win football team. Instead, the maximum amount of victories this team can record is nine, which seems unlikely when you look at their remaining schedule. The undefeated Carolina Panthers and the 8-4 Minnesota Vikings look like sure losses, and games against the Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles are far from shoe-in victories.

Tom Coughlin is one of the best coaches in NFL history, but his influence on this ballclub is waning.

Unless this team can go out and prove that they can and will play at a high level for four whole quarters over the final fourth of the season, the New York Giants organization should move on from Tom Coughlin as their head coach.

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Staff Writer at Elite Sports New York. Lead Writer at New York Sports Hub and My Weekly Sports. Twitter, instagram: @skylardarel. Avid fan of the Yankees, Knicks, Giants, New York City FC, FC Barcelona, and Arsenal FC. Sophomore at the College of New Jersey, studying Communication. Aspiring play-by-play commentator. Grew up in Manhattan, and proud to know how to work the Subway system.