Was Coughlin wrong???

[Jack]

The Giants lost center Shaun O'Hara, backup safety Craig Dahl and linebacker Kawika Mitchell, all with knee injuries, and cornerback Sam Madison with an abdominal strain.

Some expected the Giants to sit their starters. They did not! They played their starters and played their asses off!!

The Giants had 4 injuries. It is too early to tell how long these players are injured for but they are injured and were injured in what many call meaningless game.

I think Coughlin was right to play this game with his starters and to play to win! Yes, He lost players but I think he gave his team confidence that they could play against the best and almost win. Who knows what would have happened if Hobbs did not make that interception.

I say Rack Coughlin and Rack the Giants!!

What do you think?

any Giants fans?

[Bobby42]

Agree. Coughlin was right. The Giants made the Patriots earn this piece of history last night.

The Giants are playing for every player on every other NFL team tonite

And, they did. Were it not key plays late in the game the outcome would have been different.

[Bucmonkey]

I have to disagree with Coughlin's decision, his real obligation is to his own team and a championship. There was absolutely zero to be gained from this game and nothing but injury to be lost and we now see the result. Props on an exciting game to watch I suppose.

[smackaholic]

I think you have to suit everybody up. Young Eli definitely needs the experience and if you sit his starting O line, you are risking him getting fukked up.

[BSmack]

I think you have to suit everybody up. Young Eli definitely needs the experience and if you sit his starting O line, you are risking him getting fukked up.

What experience did Eli gain? The experience of throwing another late, game breaking interception?

[Mike the Lab Rat]

Talked to my dad after the game - he's a HUGE Giants fan (my family is originally from downstate NY...and we all have the accent to prove it) - and as a Giants fan he wishes that Coughlin had sat some key players. His attitude is that all Coughlin did was end up giving some footage for the inevitable "Patriots Highlights" DVD while needlessly letting his guys get injured going into the playoffs.

I suppose one could also argue that had the Giants rested some players, that the game would have had less of a significance for the morale of the Pats and their fans ("well, sure, OF COURSE the Pats won...but what would have happened had the Giants actually USED their starters?"). Instead, the Patriots proved that they could come back from a 12-point deficit and still win. That game helped the Pats FAR more than it helped the Giants.

As far as Eli - I agree with Bri. Once again, Eli threw a key interception and his clock management was ATROCIOUS. Peyton's Little Brother wasted a hell of a lot of time needlessly late in the game.

Back to my dad: he told me that despite the 12-point lead, he had this nagging feeling that somehow, someway, that the Giants would find a way to blow it. Being a Bills fan, I laughed, since I know that feeling too damned well.

[Mike the Lab Rat]

Anyone who rests starters at any time except in the waning minutes of a blowout should be shot in the face.

Horseshit. Any coach who insists on allowing his starters to play in a meaningless game (e.g., if they've already wrapped up a playoff berth and aren't looking to make NFL history as a team) and risking serious injury to those starters should be fucking fired.

If your star QB or RB snaps a leg in a end-of-regular-season game that you didn't NEED to win, leaving you without them for the playoffs and/or the SuperBowl, then you were an idiot as a coach. If you supported that coach's move as a fan, then you are retarded and don't get the long view.

I noticed you idiots aren't crying about the Asterisks leaving their starters in.

The "asterisk" bit is tired, bitterman. And the fact is that the Patriots had damned good TEAM reasons for leaving their starters in and taking a shot at NFL history. The Giants, OTOH, were playing for nothing but [cue music] "pride."

You....play...to...win...the...game. Every game.

You play to win the Super Bowl, dimwit. I can tell you that as a fan of a team that was AFC champ four consecutive years, all that most fans and pundits focus on is the fact that the Bills LOST four Super Bowls. Sure, your knowledgable fans and sportsdudes will give the Bills their props for being one of the "greatest teams of the 90's," but most people still refer to the Bills as chokers.

The goal for each team as Week One starts is to win the fucking Lombardi Trophy. Period. You do that by having your players win the games that they have to WHEN they have to and by smart coaching. Risking your key players needlessly to injury is piss-poor strategy and could cost you the ultimate goal - the Super Bowl trophy. Fuck "playing for pride" in a meaningless game if it means that you have no shot of calling yourself world champions at the end of the whole season.

The Patriots gamble was done only because they wanted the extra immortality of a perfect season. And it worked. The Giants gamble was fucking stupid and cost them players they may need in 100% condition against Tampa Bay.

[Jack]

Anyone who rests starters at any time except in the waning minutes of a blowout should be shot in the face.

Horseshit. Any coach who insists on allowing his starters to play in a meaningless game (e.g., if they've already wrapped up a playoff berth and aren't looking to make NFL history as a team) and risking serious injury to those starters should be fucking fired.

Given a choice between "shot in the face" and "fucking fired". I'd rather be "fucking fired!"

There is no RIGHT answer! only opinions!

The Giants should be more "fired up" after playing the Patriots the way they did!
An object in motion tends to stay in motion, an object at rest tends to stay at rest.
Many "Great" teams have difficulty after a bye week. Many players also have the same difficulty.

[Mike the Lab Rat]

The Giants should be more "fired up" after playing the Patriots the way they did!

You mean:
- starting off well...and then choking away a 12 point lead?
- allowing 22 unanswered points?
- stupidly costing them time by "accidentally" kicking the ball out of bounds in the hope of stopping the clock, forgetting that since they had possession, the clock would keep going
- Eli mismanaging the clock in the fourth quarter that resulted in lost time/opportunity?

Bottom line: they fought hard for a bit and got their hopes up, only to get outplayed (and screw up more often), resulting in a loss.

Yeah, THAT'LL help their morale.

On the other side, the Patriots got to see that in a game that the opposing team tried like all hell to win, that they could come back from a huge deficit and win.

[Jack]

THE BIBLE - Because all the works of all the science cannot equal the wisdom of cattle-sacrificing primitives who thought every animal species in the world lived within walking distance of Noah's house.

Now, that's funny!!

****
I didn't expect the Giants to even make the playoffs this year.
At the beginning of the season, New York Giants were a 30-1 shot to win the SuperBowl
while New England's odds were 5-2.

For the Giant's sake, hopefully it told them they were capable as long as they played smart and played for 60 minutes, never letting their guard down.

I expect them to get beat next week by Tampa Bay... but I would have expected it if they rested all of their starters...

Time will tell!

****************************************

http://www.bettorsworld.com/super-bowl-odds.htm

[Bobby42]

The debate is closed.

[Mike the Lab Rat]

The debate is closed.

Yep.

Eli played very well, as did the Giants' defense.

Tampa Bay, OTOH, apparently believed the media hype (way to open your mouth, Ronde...).

Props to Eli & the Giants.

[War Wagon]

Way to show up, Sucs.

[MuchoBulls]

That was a great win today and it was even better watching Eli make Barber eat the crap he was spewing all week. I am sure that made Tiki feel great as well, which is even sweeter to have that blow up in his face as well.

Got to see Kawika Mitchell after the game so that was cool

Hopefully the third time will be the charm for the Giants over Dallas.