2011 New York Giants: The Reason Tom Coughlin Will Not Be Back

The Giants have one of the most talented teams in the NFL, yet week in and week out, they manage to have to fight with teams that they should be beating by double digits. Granted, this team has had to play the Patriots, 49ers, Eagles, Saints, Packers and Cowboys (all in that order), but to play these teams and only win two of these games is unacceptable.

This Giants team has had only one win where they won by double digits (vs. St Louis) and if you watched that game, you know it was not an easy win for the Giants. Besides that game, the Giants have had to come from behind in the fourth quarter in every win.

Since beginning the second half of the season, the Giants are now 1-5, on their way to 1-7, and the front office of this team needs to be changed now.

Tom Coughlin, Kevin Gilbride and Perry Fewell all need to be replaced when the offseason starts. Coughlin, in my opinion, is one of the best coaches there is, but as the oldest coach in the NFL, he might be losing his touch. Gilbride pisses off every Giants fan with his shotgun draws on 3rd-and-7 or more, and outside of JPP, this defense is just unresponsive to Perry Fewell.

I will show you why the front office needs to be shaken up for 2012 by reviewing all eight years of the Coughlin era.

2004: Tom Coughlin's first year as the New York Giants head coach. The Giants started out a fantastic 5-3 after a disastrous 4-12 season the previous year. They ended the season 1-7, which is understandable due a rebuilding year and a new quarterback (Eli) starting in the middle of the year.

2005: Eli's first full year as the starting quarterback. The Giants started 6-2 and ended the season 5-3 after a miserable loss to Minnesota that the Giants dominated in every statistical category except points, and after a mind-blowing loss to Seattle in which Jay Feely missed three field goals.

One of the best seasons in NYG history under Coughlin. They went into the playoffs vs. the No. 6 seed Panthers and got dismantled 23-0. Eli threw three interceptions. Again, a great season that ended in a way that you could chalk it up to young Eli's mistakes. But it gave hope to a fantastic Giant future.

2006: They make a huge offseason acquisition in LaVar Arrington. It is another one of those years where in the middle of the season they look like Super Bowl contenders. They start the season 6-2 and finish 2-6.

In Coughlin's defense, 2006 was one of the most injury-plagued seasons I have ever witnessed. Half the offensive line was on IR and they were pulling guys off the street to play tackle and guard. Arrington went down midseason and was cut in the offseason.

Yet through all of this, they still managed to make the playoffs as a No. 6 seed and played one hell of a game against the Eagles that ended on a field goal as time expired. Overall, a pretty horrible season that saw the Giants led the league in unsportsmanlike penalties and overall penalties. A bad season that started at the curve of the second half of the season.

2007: The Super Bowl year. We all know this story. What a lot of fans do not know is the fact that it almost never was. The Giants, for the third straight year, started the season with at least five wins and for the second straight year, they started 6-2.

They finished the season 4-4, made the playoffs and won it all. Yes, it was a fantastic season when they won the big one, but again, their second-half woes almost cost them a playoff birth. A birth which they could not claim until a Week 16 win over the Bills, where they had to overcome a 14-point deficit and five Eli turnovers. 

2008: In my opinion, one of the best years to be a Giants fan ever. This was the only season where the Giants played to their full potential under Tom Coughlin.

They started 7-1 and finished 5-3, they dominated opponents and were the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. However, they finished the last four games of the season 1-3 and were the first No. 1 seed in NFL history to lose to the No. 6 seed. They lost in their first playoff game for the third time, and the second time to the Eagles.

2009: A year where they looked literally unstoppable. They started out of the gate on fire, going 5-0 and by the time the second half of the season hit, they were 5-3. However, they forgot they had eight more games to play and finished 3-5 and missed the playoffs for the first time in four years.

You could definitely chalk this epic fail up to Bill Sheridan and his awful defensive schemes that got him fired after only one season. However, it was the Giants as a whole that went 8-8, not just the defense.

2010: A season that, overall, was not that bad. They finished 10-6 and second in the NFC East. However, once again, they failed in the second half of the season when it mattered most. They started 6-2 and finished 4-4.

They had two opportunities to make the playoffs at the end of the season: first against the Eagles in Week 15, where they surrendered 28 points in less than eight minutes in what will live on forever as the "Miracle in the Meadowlands II," and the following week where they were dominated 45-17 by the eventual Super Bowl winners, the Packers. In Both weeks they could have clinched a playoff birth. And both weeks they failed.

2011: And here we are. A season filled with Eli Manning miracle comebacks and fantastic overall performances in the first eight eight games and complete and utter failure in the next six. There is no need to explain this season, as we are all well aware of what is going on. I see the Giants dropping the next two games to the Jets and Cowboys, finishing 7-9. 

If the aforementioned scenario happens, I do not see how Tom Coughlin, Kevin Gilbride and Perry Fewell keep their jobs with the New York Giants. 

I hope this does not happen and the Giants do not go 1-6 after starting 6-2. I hope the Giants make me eat my words and make a deep run into the playoffs. But history, and their game against the Redskins today, show that that situation is highly unlikely and that the Giants will complete their total collapse.

Let me know what you thought. If you loved it or hated it. If you agree or disagree. Leave a comment.

I attend Coastal Carolina University and I am a diehard Giants fan.

Follow me on Twitter: @TheAwesomeMattJ