Head Coach Tom Coughlin
Postgame vs. Philadelphia, January 3, 2016
Played hard, we did an awful lot of things that were good, we didn’t win the game so that’s kind’ve been the way this has gone. We didn’t stop them on third down, but offensively we rushed for 200 yards, we had 54 percent on third down ourselves, had a lot of numbers. About to go into the end zone for a score that would give us a two-score lead and we throw a pick that is not only an interception, but it ends up in the other end zone.
The frustration continues. You’ve got your questions prepared for what direction I’m going in. I’m not going to answer anything about that. The season just ended, there will be time for that. We will get into that discussion. But, again, we practiced well, we prepared well, I don’t think the players were distracted about all that was going on in the outside world. They came in, they wanted to win, we talked about what are goals were, how it was going to be accomplished, etcetera. We got a couple of turnovers, we made the one major mistake. They put the ball in the end zone because of it, and that, unfortunately, leaves us exactly the way the game ended.
Q: Given the way you had a hard time stopping them on third down, what was your thought in going for the field goal at the end?
A: Third and seven, take the points. Four and a half minutes in the game, kick the ball off, stop them, come on back down, score a touchdown and win the game. That’s exactly what it was and I would do it again. If I knew what the outcome was going to be in the game, of course, I would. Punted the ball earlier a couple of times when it was fourth and two or whatever and it started them out inside the five, which we statistically had studied and found that if you forced them to start inside their own 10-yard line, they had 16 drives they had been given the ball, turned the ball over twice, punted 11 times and scored twice. So the percentages were with us going into the game to try and put them back in poor field position. We created that, they moved the ball out of there, unfortunately, but we did get a turnover based on one of those situations, a fumble.
Q: What about the safety position? You came into the game with only two.
A: Yeah, going in, we had two safeties. We had six corners, two of those people were ready to go back and play at safety if they had to, and of course they both ended up and McBride got hurt and then Wade had to go back, Hosley went to the nickel. We were prepared for it, we didn’t want it to happen. The two safeties, you wanted the two safeties to be on the field. At the end of the game, Meriweather was hurt and, of course, even Landon was limping around, but they did the job that they had to do. Now probably the one change right after McBride was hurt didn’t get communicated real well, the coverage in the end zone, we gave up a touchdown that we didn’t have to give up right there, at least on that play.
Q: I know you said you’re not going to talk about which direction you’re going in, but have you made a decision or is that something you have to discuss with…
A: I’m going to give myself a little bit of time. I’m sure we’ll talk with ownership and then we’ll go from there.
Q: When you came in and described this game as “it’s kind of the way this season has gone…”
A: The frustration.
Q: Do you think you’ll ever decipher that theme this season? Do you think you’ll always look back at this season and just be confused as to what went wrong or do you think there’s an answer?
A: I can tell you what went wrong with five—what, going into this game. Five games that ended up in the final 30 seconds either one way or the other and this is probably the exact same circumstance. Finishing has been very difficult for us, for this team and you see it here. They line up, they throw the ball when the game is on the line, they didn’t even go into a normal four-minute mode and run the ball. They made first downs getting the ball in the hands of the tight ends, etcetera, etcetera, and had we been able to stop them earlier, we would’ve had more time on the clock even though my timeouts were going to be gone. But finishing the game has been an issue all year for us, and we’ve talked about it, we’ve worked on it, I switched the two-minute drills around in practice to try and make it more of an emphasis, and we’re still working on it.
Q: Did today have any different feel for you at all with everything that surrounds it?
A: No, no, you can say that…
Q: There were reports that your family was on the sideline. Was that something you chose to do?
A: What happens is fortunately we play at home and the family gets together not on Christmas because people have to visit relatives and in-laws and things like that, and so this is the weekend that our group collects. But it was really neat to see it. The kids were all dressed up in a sweatshirt with their name on the back, and I don’t know, it was neat.
Q: Did you know they were making those?
A: I didn’t know the sweatshirts were. I knew everybody was coming to the game.
Q: First half, you’re down 21-19 and score the touchdown, did you think about going for the two points?
A: Too early. Too early for me. If you followed me at all, it’s too early for me.
Q: You talked about the last minute—has any of this wounded you as a coach and made you think I could’ve done something different or question yourself?
A: No. If I could play, I would play, but I can’t play.
Q: The conversation with the officials when they punted the ball to you and they put two seconds back on, was it about putting time on or were you looking for a penalty?
A: Yes. I don’t know if you noticed it, but I noticed it. It was 1:43 when the ball hit in the end zone. Thank goodness the officials put the two seconds back up there for us.
Q: You talk about finishing, does a lot of it go to the inability of the defense this year?
A: If the defense ends up on the field in the end, yeah, but it happened on offense as well.
Q: On Thursday you were asked if you wanted to come back and you didn’t answer…
A: No, I’m not answering any more questions, thank you very much. I said that I would think about it, and I will certainly let you know.
Q: There were reports that said you had decided to step aside…
A: By who?
Q: That’s not true?
A: No one has decided anything. Where do the reports come from? Did you get initials? Did you get some initials?
Love me some TC but I think it's time for a change. One of the All-Time Great Giants coaches.
HERE, HERE!Not much more to add other than I had the great fortune of being at Lambeau with my brother for the 2007 NFC championship. One of the greatest days of my life. Thank you, Coach.
Like the golfer who said he hit it good on the range before he played
42? Top moment ever as a sports fan. Seriously, I doubt anything will ever even come close. This was the coach who delivered that. Crazy thing is another magical run came just four years later. Great stuff.
To me, even at the bitter end, the man is still putting the team and org ahead of himself....by ducking the question, this can still be spun as a retirement.
If he were digging in, he'd say he wants to coach and the owners would have to fire him.
Best of luck coach.
Don't think so.
He's going to force the Giant's hand. If they want him out, I think they'll have to fire him...or a back room deal "You retire, we'll pay you"
42? Top moment ever as a sports fan. Seriously, I doubt anything will ever even come close. This was the coach who delivered that. Crazy thing is another magical run came just four years later. Great stuff.
Its one of the greatest playoff runs in all of sports history. I don't think we'll get to see that again with this team in our life. Sports might not see something like that in our lifetime either.
What an honor it is to call him our Coach
It's a big mistake based on what? We're hamstrung by personnel, but we're not the only team dealing with injuries. We've been using the same excuses for quite a while now. KG took the fall, then Fewell, and now it's Tom. The indignant bitching from your ilk is nauseating. You bring nothing to back up any of your claims, you just throw an opinion out like it's fact, when intact, you're one of the biggest morons on this site. Let's rehash your wonderful theory that Reese was a Rooney hire. You were a moron for saying it then, and you still have an axe to grind after getting undressed on this board for it.
Dave, Nobody knows what this means.