Good morning, New York Giants fans. Let's look at today's Giants-related news and notes as we turn our attention toward Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Sunday's loss to San Francisco puts Tom Coughlin's second-half of the season record as Giants coach at 24-33. Monday, Coughlin heard those 'why do your teams struggle to finish seasons?' questions, which he will likely continue to hear until or unless this team qualifies for the playoffs.
You have to take each year one at a time. You have to take each game one at a time. This is a game against a team that was 7-1 in the NFC. It's not that we played poorly. We didn't win the game," Coughlin said. "Does it have anything to do with the second half [of the season]? No. It has to do with the ninth game of the year, which I felt we had a great chance to win. With the ball on the 10-yard-line with a minute to play, I felt very good about it. It's been the same scenario that we've won game after game with. So here we are again and this time it didn't happen."
Coughlin struck an upbeat tone Monday regarding the 2011 version of the Giants.
"Despite some errors and so-on and so-forth, our effort is good and we do fight. We do battle. That's the key thing. As long as we continue to do that I think we can correct a lot of these other things," Coughlin said. "I know we can play better because many people who played yesterday didn't play as well as they did the week before."
Giants safety Kenny Phillips was asked Monday if he was annoyed by all of the second-half questions that keep being asked.
"I haven't even thought about it and in our locker room, we haven't even spoken on it. This is a totally different team, we are at a totally different place than we were a year ago. I think we are more mature and knowing the importance of what we have coming up, I think we are ready for this stretch," Phillips said. "You can tell by the morale we have in the locker room and just the way we handle this loss. Us as individuals, I think we are headed in the right direction."
Giants fans, of course, hope that the positive vibe turns into enough victories to end the team's two-year playoff drought.
NFL reinstates Jimmy Kennedy from suspension | New York Daily News
Suspended defensive tackle Jimmy Kennedy has been reinstated by the NFL, following his four-week ban for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
Palladino: Giants: Beware The Cowboys " CBS New York
See what the Cowboys did to the Buffalo Bills yesterday? Beware, Giants fans. While next week’s hated rival Philadelphia continues its 2011 implosion and falls further out of the playoff picture, the Cowboys appear very much alive.