(Neil Miller/Sportsday Wire)
Apparently these days, the Mets can’t throw away games.
But the Giants sure can.
Yesterday saw the Amazin’s do almost anything to lose the game down in Atlanta, but late inning magic came through again.
And in Arlington, the Giants had a game all but won, but a foolish decision to throw on third and goal gave Dallas enough time to win the game in the last minute and a half.
“It’s my fault at the end of the game,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “There’s nobody else to blame but me. The decision to throw the ball there on third down was not a good decision, and it should have been a run, whether we scored or not.”
Blame also goes to Eli Manning, who threw the third down pass.
“[I] can’t afford to throw it away,” Manning said. “I’ve got to sit in there and take the sack and then run off the 40 seconds.
“I’ve got to know the circumstance and just don’t take a chance and take that sack and go on to the next — get a field goal and leave just a little bit of time left on the clock.”
Sure it’s only one game and the Giants surely can come back from this, but unlike baseball, where the best team in the league loses 60 games, in football, games are too precious to give away.
Coughlin and Manning should know that.
What this mean is that the Giants are again starting their season in a hole. Instead of putting Dallas on the defensive and having a game up on their rivals, the Giants now make their home opener against the Falcons even more important.
And let’s just say Big Blue rebounds and goes on a winning streak. After all, after Atlanta, the Redskins, Bills, and 49ers are on the docket – all very winnable games. Then the October 25 home game against Dallas is even more important.
That’s something else Coughlin knows.
“They played hard, came on the road, they worked their tails off, they put themselves in position to win,” Coughlin said. “We didn’t win. I take full responsibility for it, because the strategy was obviously wrong at the end.”
With 15 more games left to play, the Giants will have more ups and downs. Last night, up to the last minute, they looked pretty good – better than they were in the preseason – which means they have a shot in this division.
Now all they have to do is stop these stupid mistakes.
And don’t give away any more games.
Maybe, Coughlin can ask Terry Collins how to do that.
From one TC to another.
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