Coughlin says put the blame on me, leave the players alone

It was a simple scenario for the Minnesota Vikings to win and go to the postseason. They forced four turnovers and turned them into 17 points. The Vikings got defensive tackle Linval Joseph, linebacker Anthony Barr and safety Harrison Smith back from injury, and they helped spearhead a defensive effort that picked off Eli Manning three times, returned one for a touchdown and took another inside the Giants’ 5-yard line.

Hints have been evenly dispersed in the waters over the past 12 months that the Giants ship was sinking, beginning with co-owner John Mara’s agreement that it was a win-or-else year for many in the organization through Sunday’s Week 16 embarrassment in Minnesota. Therefore, it’s not insane to think he could decide he’s just had enough.

The Giants will likely look much different next season – will head coach Tom Coughlin and general manager Jerry Reese be back? – and the pressure will be on to turn things around.

“I’m looking forward to my guys preparing this week and having the same intensity and same focus next week”, Bridgewater said.

It is the ultimate irony, or frustration, or quintessential summation of the Giants’ 2015 season. The victor of that game will finish in second place; the loser assures itself of a trip to London next season to play the Rams. They finished with a 7-9 record last season when he took over as head coach and now all his players have bought into what he has been teaching and they have sealed up a spot in the playoffs.

“I feel badly that they feel that way”.

“I think that we’ve learned the kind of mentality that we have to have these last four weeks”, said Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer. Minnesota will enter off the heels of two dominating victories, while Green Bay was handed an embarrassing 38-8 loss in Arizona on Sunday. “I will tell the team not to be distracted by it”, Coughlin said. “I mean, I feel embarrassed for ourselves, for myself”. The only way I can see it happening is if the Giants hire within the staff. Manning has been excellent and the Giants could have made the playoffs had they made a few more plays this season. Beckham is one of the league’s premier offensive talents, something the Giants desperately missed against Minnesota. However, given the sloppiness and, at times towards the end, the disinterest shown by his players, it’s become crystal clear that a change is needed.

That might have been true, as Beckham caught the game-tying touchdown pass, but not benching the receiver for just a brief period seemed to go against everything the Giants have stood for since they hired the well-known disciplinarian in 2004.

Backup QB Ryan Nassib tacked on a late score with a pass to White, but Manning was hindered by a handful of drops by his receivers. He fumbled a shotgun snap, too, and through three quarters had only nine completions to three interceptions.

But in the 10-season span between 2005 (the year Culpepper blew out his knee) and 2014, just one Vikings quarterback made it to 3,000 yards: Brett Favre in 2009. With one touchdown and three interceptions Sunday, Manning in his career has five TD passes and 14 interceptions against Minnesota.

Some thought, following his junior year for the Cardinals, he should be the No. 1 overall pick in the draft (remember “Tank for Teddy”?), but he ended up slipping to the last pick in the first round, thanks to, well, whatever it is that teams use to talk themselves into or out of drafting a quarterback.