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NFL New York Giants

New York Giants’ Playoff Hopes Gone, Time To Prepare For 2015

By @Bigwoolf5

New York Giants

Noah K. Murray-USA Today Sports

Monday night didn’t go as planned for the New York Giants as they were blown out at home by the Indianapolis Colts after their bye week. They are now 3-5 with a road-trip to Seattle next on the docket. At this point it would take a minor miracle for the Giants to not only make the playoffs but finish above .500. Now is the time for the Giants to evaluate the players they have and whether they will be part of the team next year. There are a lot of future personnel decisions to be made, and at this point nobody, including the coach and the quarterback, is safe for next year.

A major part of the Giants’ 3-5 record so far this year has been season-ending injuries to key players. The secondary was supposed to be a major strength of the Giants, but they lost Walter Thurmond for the season in Week 2. His replacement, Trumaine McBride was lost for the season shortly after that. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie has been less than 100 percent all season long, and Prince Amukamara, possibly the Giants’ best defensive player this season, tore his biceps against the Colts and is done for the season.

Because of these injuries it wouldn’t be a surprise to see defensive coordinator Perry Fewell given a pass to return next year. Tom Coughlin probably will also be back because of his two Super Bowl rings with the organization, and because this is his first season, offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo will also likely be back.

Because the coaching staff will likely remain the same, it comes down to the players. The Giants have some key players they need to make decisions on including their best offensive and best defensive player.

This was a huge year for Eli Manning after leading the league in interceptions a year ago, and while he has come under heavy scrutiny for the offense’s shortcomings, he has actually had a solid year. Manning is ninth in the league in total QBR and only 0.1 points behind Andrew Luck.
He has only thrown five interceptions this year compared to 16 touchdowns. Manning deserves a contract extension for the foreseeable future if he continues to play like he has so far this year.

On the defensive side, Jason Pierre-Paul is in his contract year, and while he hasn’t put up the huge numbers he would have liked, he had a huge impact this year. Pierre-Paul needed to prove this year that he could stay healthy and revert back to dominating form, and he has been dominant at times this year. If he continues to play this way for the rest of the season the Giants will have to reward him with a big contract.

The fact that neither Manning nor Pierre-Paul are guaranteed a contract extension this offseason should light a spark under the healthy players on the Giants, because they know their spot on the team is not guaranteed. Guys like left tackle Will Beatty, who was given a huge contract a couple of years ago, are going to be under the microscope for the last eight games. The Giants can get out of Beatty’s huge contract this offseason by cutting him in June.

The Giants are not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs by any means, but given the injuries and the rough schedule coming up they will more than likely be on the outside looking in. But not making the playoffs doesn’t mean these games don’t have meaning. The Giants have to evaluate everyone on their team to see who will make the team better in 2015 and who is not a fit. This fact should make the Giants a bit more competitive than they have been in recent weeks, but the primary focus now, for management, has to be 2015 not 2014.

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