There was a new and palpable uneasiness in the Giants’ locker room late Sunday after the team’s humiliating rout in Minnesota. It was the recognition among the players that they might have sealed the fate of Coach Tom Coughlin.
No one game will do that alone, not for a team that has been 19-28 in the last three seasons. But on Sunday night against the Vikings, less than 24 hours after being eliminated from the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year, the Giants were more than defeated. They were lost.
It is true that this year’s Giants are undertalented and outgunned, but failing to be even remotely competitive will almost always doom the head coach.