NFC Playoff Picture: Giants vs. Cowboys Justified Ground for Firing Losing Coach

The New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys are two organizations that don't accept losing.

On Sunday night, only one of the two teams will advance to the postseason, while the other goes home and starts thinking about next year. 

It should also be the losing head coach's final game.

For largely different reasons, both Tom Coughlin and Jason Garrett are at the end of their leash. Neither organization will say that just yet, but the facts are indisputable.

Coughlin's Giants have been to the postseason only once since their memorable Super Bowl XLII run in 2007, and their problems haven't been fixed.

Since the departure due to retirement of both Michael Strahan and Antonio Pierce, Big Blue has been without a true leader.

Every year since, we've seen this team bust out to a hot start, only to crumble down the stretch. This doesn't all fall on Coughlin, but there are only so many opportunities afforded to anyone, even a coach of his stature and caliber.

The Giants have too much talent and too good a quarterback for inexcusable things like coverage breakdowns and complete lack of focus to cost them seasons. 

Something has to change.

As for Garrett, he's fallen victim to simply making too many mistakes at crucial times. He hasn't been in power long, but Jerry Jones can't ignore the fact that this team could have already locked up a postseason spot if not for some of Garrett's shortcomings.

Dallas has a quarterback with phenomenal statistics on a yearly basis, but they simply seem to falter when the games matter most.

Their coach can't be part of that problem, too; he has to be the solution.

A Cowboys win will send the Giants to the couch for the playoffs for the third straight year. A three-year postseason drought in the midst of Eli Manning's prime is more than justified ground for Coughlin to be fired. 

Coughlin isn't all to blame for it, but something has to change and somebody has to answer for it. The coach is always the first.

And Garrett, well, he has only himself to blame. He knows it, Jones knows it and if they lose to the Giants and miss the playoffs, everyone else knows it too.

Either way, one team is going to chase the Lombardi Trophy for one more week while the other starts chasing a new coach.