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New York Giants Fans Feeling the Blues

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By @AnthonyBeers

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Getty Images

The New York Giants weren’t mathematically eliminated from playoff contention yesterday. But after the San Francisco 49ers handed the team their fifth straight loss, the 2014 season basically went up in smoke. In a painful game for fans that had numerous Giants mistakes, the fact remains that it was easily a game the Giants could have won, making it all the more painful.

Losing becomes a pattern when a team isn’t confident. Last week, the Giants’ defense did not show up. This week, the offense didn’t. If the Giants had a time machine, maybe they could have won the past two games.

All jokes aside, this Giants loss is the most painful, because it officially forces a new train of thought for fans. The season is 99.9 percent unredeemable. How do the Giants look to the future of rebuilding this ball club? Now is when the rumors begin to swirl.

Is Tom Coughlin finished as Giants’ head coach? Would Eli Manning stick around if Coughlin goes? What will Jerry Reese do with Manning? He will be a free agent at the conclusion of the 2015 season. The Giants were just a couple plays away from stealing one from the 49ers. But because they failed to capitalize, this officially becomes the discussion.

Manning is a good quarterback – he just didn’t have a good day. The offense was disrupted on all levels by the pass rush of the 49ers. The return of Aldon Smith from suspension couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Giants. The injury to Giants lineman Justin Pugh altered the flow of the offense as well. Manning made some rushed decisions, but the mistakes were prevalent on all aspects of the offense from the running backs, to the receivers, to the linemen, to the quarterback.

It’s unfortunate that for the first time all season Manning had a tough day in the interception category. But if Giants’ tight end Larry Donnell holds on to a touchdown catch on a jump ball, the headlines read “Manning Grinds One Out,” instead of “Manning Costs Giants the Game.” One individual can never be blamed for a loss in any football game ever. There’s always another play that could have been made.

Giants fans don’t want to hear any of this. The team lost. It’s officially time to look to the future of this club. Ultimately, the Giants’ front office has to make the major decision of whether or not Coughlin and Manning can right the ship like they have in the past. If they go the other direction, there’s no questions teams like the Arizona Cardinals or the St. Louis Rams would be heavily interested in Manning.

The Giants are likely three or four established players away from a better season. An improvement up front on both sides of the ball would mean everything. Are two bad seasons in a row enough to erase the coach-quarterback relationship that provided fans with two super bowls? Times are different, rosters are different, and everything is just that: different. So it’s hard to know for sure.

Time will tell of what owner John Mara feels is best for the team. In the meantime, the poison of a losing season will cause headlines and fans to be wildly eccentric. Every game will reveal more about the team. The current demeanor of the team is an issue, and that’s on Coughlin. And for the first time in a long while, Manning deserves substantial blame for a Giants lost. But that doesn’t mean they should be shoved out the door without as much as a conversation.

There are so many factors involved in a football team winning or losing a game. Fixing problems is not easy. The same Giants fans calling for Coughlin and Manning’s head likely expected a winning season after all of the Giants moves in the offseason. If this really does turn out to be the end do fans even have a right to be mad? Super Bowls XLII and XLVI will forever be a part of Giants folklore. A lot of fans, coaches and players would trade anything for that. The memories that will last a life time.

Alas, football rolls on and stops for no one – not even for two potential Hall of Famers. Time will tell of what happens to big blue in the midst of a season in shambles.

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