Tom Must Go! Tom Must Go!

The Giants management just announced that they're bringing back Head Coach Tom Coughlin for yet another year of misery and mediocrity. Hooray for .500!!!! Tom Must Go. That will be the rallying cry for every Giants fan the world over until it actually comes true at the end of next year when, just like this year, the underachieving Giants quit on their coach. It's hard to give a damn about winning and losing when all you feel is seething contempt. That's human nature. That's the Giants. This season's disappointing record could've almost been justified due to the spate of crucial injuries that rendered the defense average at best. But only if it were apparent that the players actually cared. The absence of discipline, lackadaisical play, and utter lack of urgency are signs of a team that stopped listening around week 9. They'll be turning a deaf ear in 2007 by week 5. If in previous seasons, there was a track record of excellence and success under Tom Coughlin, like Bill Cowher in Pittsburgh, then it could be argued that this current team is merely in need of a bit of luck and an attitude adjustment. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Coach seems to be universally reviled. Tiki Barber recently complained about how he hates being treated like child. It's not the first time he's dumped on TC. This is a situation that's not likely to improve. To make matters worse, the Giants go into 2007 without the now retired Barber, their best player, who despite hating the coach, continued to play at a Superman-like level. Hopefully, Brandon Jacobs will take over full time RB duties, stay healthy and do well enough that fans and management won't be looking toward the 2008 draft for the next great Giants RB. Even if he plays lights out all year, he won't really replace Tiki. No one could. I hope he can handle it the responsibilty. It's not easy to step in for a near-legend. Especially right now and on this team. There's trouble on the horizon. 36 year old Micheal Strahan, recovering from a season-ending injury, will be back. He's currently saying all the right things about his coach, but from what I've read, he has no love lost for ol' Tom, either. I hope he has at least one more year of all-pro play in him as Osi Umeniyora often looked lost without Strahan taking on some of those double teams on the opposite side of the defensive line. At some point, Mathias Kiwanuka will be ready to take over full time but it may take another year. (It should be noted that when that happens, the Giants will have the most unpronounceable pair of defensive ends in NFL history!! I can't wait for some of those empty-head NFL analysts to start screwing that up...). Jeremy Shockey will be back, at least until his annual ankle/shoulder/foot/head/(red)neck/rib/whatever injury. He hates Coughlin, too. hat probably won't affect his play, as Shockey isn't capable of slacking off. But it does influence others who aren't as passionate as he is. Just hold onto the ball, Jeremy, and the fans will love you no matter what nugget of wisdom spews forth from your mouth. Plaxico Burress, the most talented Giants WR since Homer Jones, will be back. Maybe he'll even try on every play. Amazingly, he's gone two years without a major incident with TC. Considering the oil and water nature of their respective personalities, I'd say that's an amazing accomplishment. It seems Plax is more professional than everyone previously thought, or Coughlin is more tolerent. Whichever. I put the odds this year on a there being a major blow-up between them at 3 to 1. It should be a doozy. Lavar Arrington, their big defensive free agent signing will return. Let's hope the achilles tendon he tore is fully healed. They're going to need him to stay healthy if the defense will ever stop opposing offenses in 2007. Problem is he hasn't been healthy in four years. The Giants most important, and frustrating, player, Eli Manning, will be back. I don't know how he feels about TC since he never shows any actual human emotion. The big question is will he progress to the next level or continue his psychedelic journey into the magical world of Dave Brown? Will we see the Eli who led a brilliant 4th quarter comeback in the first Eagles game? Or the clueless boy "wonder" who keeps missing open receivers at the worst possible times. Perhaps some insightful coaching could help him with his maddening inconsistency. He's not progressing under Coughlin, and I don't think he can improve until Tom Terrific is pink slipped sometime after their 9 and 7 2007 season. Here's my prediction for next year's NFC East: Eagles: 11-5 Cowgirls: 10-6 Giants: 9-7 Redskins: 7-9 Sometime before next season, I'll update that, since a lot happens in the offseason, and predict the entire NFL. Should be fun. More fun, at least, than the Giants will be.