A Fan's Reaction to a Big, Blue Season

I have never experienced a season like this. I have never experienced a season like this. For anybody who doesn’t know me personally, I am a Chicago Cubs fan and even liked the Boston Red Sox before personally experiencing Massachusetts in 2004- and yet somehow among all that futility I have never experienced a season like this. Even the Isiah era of the New York Knicks (still not entirely over as our first round draft choice this year is wasted on one Stephon Marbury) didn’t prepare me for the ups and downs of this Giants team. I have never experienced a season like this.
The Giants managed to lose games this season with style. Sure, the team appeared to fold time in and time out and demonstrated more problems with their heart than Dick Cheney, but the Giants found more ways to lose football games than any team with as much talent as they have should lose in three seasons. The season was a disaster.
Looking back on this season, most fans will remember the high expectations and the disaster that was Bill Sheridan’s defense, but the failure to establish a consistent, in-your-face rushing attack made this Giants team weak. Brandon Jacobs regressed from averaging at least 5.0 yards a carry in 6 out of 11 games played in 2007 and 7 out of 13 games played in 2008 to averaging 5.0 yards a carry only in 2 out of 15 games. Jacobs broke two carries for gains of twenty or more yards this season; last year he had twelve. I’m convinced that Jacobs has struggled with injuries all season, but then again Ahmad Bradshaw was the only other running back with more carries than Eli Manning- and he played on two broken feet when he was most needed. Danny Ware only carried the ball in 4 games this season and Andre Brown, the running back best suited for short yardage situations, missed the entire season. Add an injury to Madison Hedgecock: and the Giants’ bread and butter strength becomes a weakness. Much of the success (and failures) running the ball this season came from delayed runs out of the shotgun rather than old fashioned power football. The problems started there, but the bleeding continued all over the team.
For one thing, the Giants lost half their road games in the first quarter. When the Giants traveled to New Orleans, Philadelphia, Denver, and Minnesota, opponents combined for a whopping 90 points before the Giants notched their first points. Let that sink in. That’s an average of each team scoring more than three touchdowns while holding the G-Men scoreless. Remember that Carolina also put up a 31-0 lead, in the Meadowlands. How could that have happened?
A good running game makes everybody’s job on the team easier. The quarterback will inevitably have fewer pass defenders and thus easier coverages. On pass plays, linemen have an extra split second; the opposing defense is collectively characterized as “on their heels.” The advantages don’t end with the offense’s passing game. Defenses love to be resting off the field on long, sustained drives that eat up the clock. In the Week 7 Sunday Night game against Arizona, the Giants’ defense played a stellar first half. Fans were disappointed with the performance in the 2nd half but look at the discrepancy at the Giants’ rushing success. The Giants rushed for 108 yards in the game but only ran for 39 yards on the 17 carries (as well as Ahmad Bradshaw fumbling a 14 yard carry) after Jacobs’s touchdown run 1:28 into the 2nd quarter. No wonder the defense couldn’t hold up against Arizona’s high octane offense with a suddenly effective Beanie Wells.
It’s also hard to stay close when you can’t run the ball. I see the same mistake on Madden all the time. You’re down 10 points in a game where the other guy gets the ball to start the second half; it’s too easy to abandon the run and try to pass your way back into the game. This is why the Giants were out of the game so quickly against New Orleans, Philadelphia, Denver, Carolina, and Minnesota. Given the lack of resilience and character on this team, five games were over after kickoff.
I think 2009 was a year of bad luck for the Giants, especially with injuries. The only position where the Giants had as much healthy depth as necessary was Wide Receiver. I’ve seen great things from Eli Manning this year but not the consistent high-level of play that has made the greats special. Eli had a personal best season but hasn’t lived up to his contract, even considering the lack of production on the ground. Though he wasn’t given much of a cushion in the home game against Philadelphia, Eli’s 2nd half interception gave the Eagles an advantage that the Giants never could gain back. Still, the Giants had much better than an 8-8 roster. The unfathomably bad season put together by the defense also needs no elaboration. Sheridan’s thankfully gone, but he was a very small part of the problem with the coaching staff. The real person to blame for the 2009 season is the Head Coach, Tom Coughlin.
I’ve never been a fan of Coughlin. I disagreed with his hiring and chanted for his firing every year since he was hired. I’ve felt that the Giants had achieved mediocre results (not including the Super Bowl) that did not indicate just how good this team was. The 2007 run dramatically eased my distaste with Coach Coughlin even though I felt he did a mediocre job. The Giants played impeccable football in the 2007 playoffs. Eli Manning threw only one interception while the team stepped up around him. Coughlin, on the other hand, mismanaged the NFC Championship and could only manufacture a last-minute victory out of a game in which his team dominated from start to finish.
This year Coughlin royally screwed up. His ultraconservative game plan squandered leads three games in a row when he mismanaged the Arizona, San Diego, and Atlanta games. I tore Coughlin to pieces after the San Diego game. Refer back to my reflection on the Giants’ season going into the Week 13 Dallas game. The Giants have been plagued by three points I listed in November: injuries, coaching, and attitude. I forgot to mention that a poor head coach makes a team susceptible to problems in all three. In his press conference after laying an egg against Carolina, Coughlin was adamant that the team had a good week of practice and seemed ready to win. A reporter asked Coach Coughlin if he needed to examine how well he could “read the team” and clarified that Coughlin had felt the team had been caught off guard on more than one occasion that season. Of course, Coughlin declined to dignify the question with response, but if he won’t do it- someone has to. The Giants have clearly struggled with injury and attitude problems that have affected their play all season. Isn’t it Coughlin’s job to do something about that?
In his press conference after the Minnesota game concluding the disappointing season, General Manager Jerry Reese struck me when he mentioned that he felt, “the talent was there” when he’d taken over as GM. I’d always agreed with him. This points a lot of evidence to the idea that Coughlin really isn’t a championship caliber coach, an idea I’ve held since Fassel was fired. Coughlin doesn’t take risks, and opponents know it. He’s too conservative in his game plan and with regards to his personnel. Jeff Feagles had a terrible season punting, made some mistakes holding field goal attempts, and provided no reason for the defense to fear a fake; he should’ve been replaced. Bill Sheridan should’ve been fired too, much sooner than he finally was. Sinorice Moss should’ve been given a chance to duplicate his preseason success or otherwise been cut so the Giants could have signed Larry Johnson… or somebody healthy to provide Eli with some balance. The season could’ve been salvaged.
2009 was a waste. The Giants are the most talented team in the history of the league to be blown out as significantly and as dramatically as they were this year. Even the 2007 team that eventually won the Super Bowl was blown out three times at home. Surprisingly, Kevin Gilbride adjusted well this season and made great strides calling the plays. He ran a very successful offense-all things considered-and even sustained drives long enough to mask the defense’s problems, on some weeks. 2010 will be a fresh start, at least in terms of injuries. Big Blue needs a fresh draft class, healthy running backs, and someone who can stop the big play on defense. A rejuvenated Madison Hedgecock will provide a lot of help, but the Giants need a new coach to move forward. Tom Coughlin has worn out his welcome in New York. I’ve heard the cliché, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Coughlin’s accumulated enough shame to make up for three Super Bowls; any more makes the franchise look bad. Coughlin’s gotta go. It’s time.