New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys: What May Happen After Sunday Night?

So once again the New York Giants, for the second consecutive year, are going into the final game of the regular season with an opportunity to return to the NFL playoffs. The NFL has fittingly moved the New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys game into the Sunday Night Football spot, putting the Giants in the national spotlight as they attempt to wrap up the final playoff spot in the NFC by claiming the NFC East crown.

Both teams have been marred with inconsistency throughout the season but all will be forgotten with a victory. The Giants trail Dallas in the all-time regular-season series 56-41-2, but have won six of the last eight games played since the 2008 season.

The New York Giants franchise plan and outlook for the coming years may very well be directly tied to the result of this game. The one game to rule them all. 

What happens if the New York football Giants win?

Well first and foremost, the most obvious is that they will be back in NFL postseason play for the first time since winning the NFC East with a 12-4 record back in 2008. The Giants will also have a full head of steam entering the playoffs should they be able to emerge victorious at MetLife Stadium on New Year’s Day. 

With a win, Tom Coughlin would most likely secure his job for next season by avoiding another second-half collapse. It is undeniable that Coughlin has had more than his share of trouble in the final eight games of the seasons he has coached with the Giants (26-37 second half record, 47-17 first half).

However, think about most experts’ predictions of how the Giants would finish this season, behind Dallas and the Philadelphia Eagles. It’s quite a feat that Coughlin has even coached the Giants anywhere close to this opportunity of making the playoffs.

Although Eli Manning has stepped up just a little bit this season and the Eagles were too little too late in figuring things out, Coughlin has done a great job of commanding the locker room (per usual).

With a victory, the Giants not only catapult themselves into the postseason, but they will subsequently throw the Cowboys franchise and fanbase into a tizzy. Jerry Jones says Jason Garrett is his coach and Tony Romo is his quarterback, but will he stick to his guns if the Cowboys fall short? 

But what happens if the New York football Giants lose?

Unfamiliar territory is certainly a possibility if the Giants fail to pull through in Week 17 and continue to stumble down the stretch yet again. With this season going as it has, a loss would substantially increase the chances, or all but ensure, that Coughlin gets the axe in the offseason.

A loss would slap the Giants with a third straight year of watching the NFL playoffs from their respective couches and would sting even worse than the past two years as it would come at the hands of a division rival.

New York Giants faithful are already very unhappy with Perry “Futile” and Kevin “Killdrive” (No, I will not be using their real names ever again), and a loss could cost either man his job. 

Coughlin worked with the defensive coordinator back in Jacksonville, but he surely did not expect to encounter this many defensive issues when he brought him to New York.

Gilbride has been the OC since being promoted from the quarterbacks coach in 2007 and has been met with great disdain from fans and analysts alike this season.

Both coordinators have had to deal with injuries to key players but the leash of public approval is very short in New York. The 2007 Super Bowl victory isn’t so fresh in the minds of Giants fans any longer, meaning that many staff and players could see the end of their New York Giants careers following a loss this weekend.

If nothing else, the Giants and Cowboys will provide every NFL fan with an opportunity to see a rare regular season do-or-die game between two teams that have been going at it since 1960. That first game ended in a 31-31 tie and if the Giants can just pull out a tie, they’ll be heading to the NFL playoffs.

So folks, make sure you’re all cured of your New Year's hangovers by Sunday night so you can kick back and start the New Year just as it should be started, with some NFL football.