Change needs to be in order 
MINNESOTA – Two games.
Two thorough beatings.
One worst than the other.
When it was over, finally over, the only thing substantive comment Coach Tom Coughlin could only muster that his team “tried” in his postgame press conference.
If you remember the movie “Any Given Sunday”, a scene was reminiscent to what this Giants team looked like.
In the scene, the team in disintegration shows little effort in being killed in the game and in the shower area of the locker room, both the quarterback Willie Beamen (Jamie Foxx) and running back Julian Washington (LL Cool J) get into a fight that the coach Tony D’Amato (Al Pacino) ends up breaking up.
He screams, “Stop! Stop this now.”
Unfortunately, Coughlin couldn’t do or say anything to prevent his team from if not quitting (he said they didn’t) on Sunday. Aptly put, the veteran team that he put his trust in not only failed, but also lied down like dogs.
“30 years in football, I’ve never seen something that stinks like this.”
In the world of 24-hour news cycles, message board and sports talk radio, had he said what he really thought, the tabloids would be screaming.
Therefore, he couldn’t use the unfiltered terms that he wanted to use thus tried to make everyone act like fools when he would later say that stalled offense and penalties were the reasons for “The Lay Down: Act II”.
“Today out there, D’Amato continued. “ You embarrassed yourselves. Today I’m ashamed to be your coach.”
This edition was worse than what took place at Giants Stadium last week and that is saying a lot considering the utter disgrace that performance was. All week the team tried to promote the good word about wanting to close strong and go out on a positive note to save face on what was a lost season.
It was all a joke.
They came to Minnesota in search of Giants pride and left as a team suddenly infected by a virus of certain players having individual agendas, declining players, and some lacking the ability to compete anymore.
All this came to a head in the final two games of this roller coaster ride of a season. One that started promising and ended with not only missing the playoffs for the first time in five seasons, but also ending in such non-competitive fashion that alarms must go off.
Change was already in order after the loss to Carolina, but this 44-7 demolishing by the Vikings, serious reform needs to take place.
The stench of this season is going to be felt all through the winter. Upheaval needs to happen in order for this team to rebound and get back to being Super Bowl contenders.
Defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan clinched his fate last Sunday, but put the final nails into his coffin with another 30 point half and above 40 point performance by his defense. When asked last week why he should return, he stated because he described himself as “competent” and “diligent”, despite none of that found its way to the field as a combination of his communication skills, defensive schemes and teams overall effort were far below expectations coming into this season.
When given the job, the mandate to him essentially was “don’t screw it up.” This proved to be an epic failure with numerous missed assignments and alleged “miscommunications” all causing enormous breakdowns in coverage and on running plays.
All of this led to the team giving up 427 points on the year, 360 coming after the team’s 5-0 start. Giving up 36 points a game is too much for any offense to overcome. This is all before the atrocious red zone defense that allowed teams into the end zone at a rate of nearly 70 percent.
However, Sheridan is not totally to blame for this mess. These defensive players failed him and did so miserably.
Justin Tuck injured his shoulder in the win at Dallas after Flozell Adams tripped him. Though he did not miss a game, he wore a harness for safety, clearly rendering his effectiveness the rest of the season.
Fred Robbins and Barry Cofield did not provide the interior presence needed to collapse the pocket and establish the line of scrimmage. Coupled with Osi Umenyiora’s either unproductive play or unwillingness to play 100% due to his initial rift with Sheridan before the year ever started potentially sabotaged any real chance the he had.
The average linebackers played below average. This magnified the eventual secondary problems once Kenny Phillips injured his knee and was lost for the season. CC Brown was not a capable back and Michael Johnson regressed. When things got rough, The Giants signed Aaron Rouse off the Packers practice squad to little success.
It’s obvious what the needs are on that side of the ball. A stud defensive tackle either via the draft (think Terrance Cody) or free agency (think Vince Wilfork). Add to the list one more linebacker if not two. In addition, upgrades in the secondary.
The special teams needed an overhaul. Giving teams the ball at the 35 yard because the kicker can’t kick the ball into the end zone is unacceptable and this is before the abominable kick coverage displayed this season. This creates short field for the already porous defense to defend.
The offensive line has seen their better days. David Diehl did an admirable job at left tackle, but he’ll need to be moved. Rich Seubert played through a bad shoulder, but he cannot start anymore. Kareem McKenzie has back and knee issues he dealt with and his replacement Will Beatty waits on the bench.
As the Giants far away?
Not in the NFL. However, it is clear that they to design their team to find a way to beat the Philadelphia Eagles at some point in the near future, and to have a defense capable of slowing down the numerous spread offenses that have begun to permeate the NFC.
In addition, Coughlin is not absolved from criticism too. When asked about his ability to accurately read his team’s psyche, he was not able to. As the breakdowns continued along with the losing, he continued to say that he did not know what was going on.
As Sheridan’s defense was failing miserably, he did nothing to step in and stop the bleeding. In the end, the same players he put his faith in, quit on him. Is his message getting through to the players? Has he lost them?
For one thing, Coughlin has to win next year. Simply making the playoffs is not enough. With one year remaining on his contract after the 2010 season, if the Giants do not win at least one playoff game, he will (and justifiably so) be fired.
MINNESOTA – Two games.
Two thorough beatings.
One worst than the other.
When it was over, finally over, the only thing substantive comment Coach Tom Coughlin could only muster that his team “tried” in his postgame press conference.
If you remember the movie “Any Given Sunday”, a scene was reminiscent to what this Giants team looked like.
In the scene, the team in disintegration shows little effort in being killed in the game and in the shower area of the locker room, both the quarterback Willie Beamen (Jamie Foxx) and running back Julian Washington (LL Cool J) get into a fight that the coach Tony D’Amato (Al Pacino) ends up breaking up.
He screams, “Stop! Stop this now.”
Unfortunately, Coughlin couldn’t do or say anything to prevent his team from if not quitting (he said they didn’t) on Sunday. Aptly put, the veteran team that he put his trust in not only failed, but also lied down like dogs.
“30 years in football, I’ve never seen something that stinks like this.”
In the world of 24-hour news cycles, message board and sports talk radio, had he said what he really thought, the tabloids would be screaming.
Therefore, he couldn’t use the unfiltered terms that he wanted to use thus tried to make everyone act like fools when he would later say that stalled offense and penalties were the reasons for “The Lay Down: Act II”.
“Today out there, D’Amato continued. “ You embarrassed yourselves. Today I’m ashamed to be your coach.”
This edition was worse than what took place at Giants Stadium last week and that is saying a lot considering the utter disgrace that performance was. All week the team tried to promote the good word about wanting to close strong and go out on a positive note to save face on what was a lost season.
It was all a joke.
They came to Minnesota in search of Giants pride and left as a team suddenly infected by a virus of certain players having individual agendas, declining players, and some lacking the ability to compete anymore.
All this came to a head in the final two games of this roller coaster ride of a season. One that started promising and ended with not only missing the playoffs for the first time in five seasons, but also ending in such non-competitive fashion that alarms must go off.
Change was already in order after the loss to Carolina, but this 44-7 demolishing by the Vikings, serious reform needs to take place.
The stench of this season is going to be felt all through the winter. Upheaval needs to happen in order for this team to rebound and get back to being Super Bowl contenders.
Defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan clinched his fate last Sunday, but put the final nails into his coffin with another 30 point half and above 40 point performance by his defense. When asked last week why he should return, he stated because he described himself as “competent” and “diligent”, despite none of that found its way to the field as a combination of his communication skills, defensive schemes and teams overall effort were far below expectations coming into this season.
When given the job, the mandate to him essentially was “don’t screw it up.” This proved to be an epic failure with numerous missed assignments and alleged “miscommunications” all causing enormous breakdowns in coverage and on running plays.
All of this led to the team giving up 427 points on the year, 360 coming after the team’s 5-0 start. Giving up 36 points a game is too much for any offense to overcome. This is all before the atrocious red zone defense that allowed teams into the end zone at a rate of nearly 70 percent.
However, Sheridan is not totally to blame for this mess. These defensive players failed him and did so miserably.
Justin Tuck injured his shoulder in the win at Dallas after Flozell Adams tripped him. Though he did not miss a game, he wore a harness for safety, clearly rendering his effectiveness the rest of the season.
Fred Robbins and Barry Cofield did not provide the interior presence needed to collapse the pocket and establish the line of scrimmage. Coupled with Osi Umenyiora’s either unproductive play or unwillingness to play 100% due to his initial rift with Sheridan before the year ever started potentially sabotaged any real chance the he had.
The average linebackers played below average. This magnified the eventual secondary problems once Kenny Phillips injured his knee and was lost for the season. CC Brown was not a capable back and Michael Johnson regressed. When things got rough, The Giants signed Aaron Rouse off the Packers practice squad to little success.
It’s obvious what the needs are on that side of the ball. A stud defensive tackle either via the draft (think Terrance Cody) or free agency (think Vince Wilfork). Add to the list one more linebacker if not two. In addition, upgrades in the secondary.
The special teams needed an overhaul. Giving teams the ball at the 35 yard because the kicker can’t kick the ball into the end zone is unacceptable and this is before the abominable kick coverage displayed this season. This creates short field for the already porous defense to defend.
The offensive line has seen their better days. David Diehl did an admirable job at left tackle, but he’ll need to be moved. Rich Seubert played through a bad shoulder, but he cannot start anymore. Kareem McKenzie has back and knee issues he dealt with and his replacement Will Beatty waits on the bench.
As the Giants far away?
Not in the NFL. However, it is clear that they to design their team to find a way to beat the Philadelphia Eagles at some point in the near future, and to have a defense capable of slowing down the numerous spread offenses that have begun to permeate the NFC.
In addition, Coughlin is not absolved from criticism too. When asked about his ability to accurately read his team’s psyche, he was not able to. As the breakdowns continued along with the losing, he continued to say that he did not know what was going on.
As Sheridan’s defense was failing miserably, he did nothing to step in and stop the bleeding. In the end, the same players he put his faith in, quit on him. Is his message getting through to the players? Has he lost them?
For one thing, Coughlin has to win next year. Simply making the playoffs is not enough. With one year remaining on his contract after the 2010 season, if the Giants do not win at least one playoff game, he will (and justifiably so) be fired.
Winning the Super Bowl doesn’t give you a lifetime pass no matter how special that moment was in Glendale, Arizona. Changes have to be made swift and decisively.
Otherwise, the change will start with Coughlin and his people.
The off-season awaits.
No comments:
Post a Comment