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Keidel: Giants Did Coughlin And Themselves Proud Monday Night

By Jason Keidel
» More Columns

One team already tapped out for 2016.

Thankfully, our other local, NFL club has an interest in the rest of the season.

It wasn't a game big on aesthetics, but the New York Football Giants still won and continue to close games, the very games they gagged last year. The kind of games that got Monday night's most honored guest, Tom Coughlin, fired last year.

After beating the Bengals, 21-20, the Giants are 6-3, with four straight wins, the first such streak since 2013. It kept MetLife Stadium from morphing into a football mausoleum. Last year, they blew three double-digit leads in the fourth quarter. On Monday night they overcame a late-game deficit and made a one-point lead stick.

And while the Giants have been largely known for their pyrotechnic passing game, their defense has earned their paychecks over the last few weeks. When they beat the Rams in London, and Cincinnati, Landon Collins and Olivier Vernon and Jason Pierre-Paul were stalking quarterbacks and picking off passes. And as a result, Giants fans can once again say the name Steve Spagnuolo without wincing.

The Giants didn't win the game by running the ball, but they wouldn't have won without running the ball. Big Blue entered the game averaging 68.3 yards on the ground, last in the NFL. On Monday night they cracked triple-digits (118) on the ground.

And, of course, Eli Manning tossed three touchdown passes, adding to a career that doesn't quite match his brother's, but will still end in Canton.

Eli has started 192 straight games, third-most in league history. He's well behind Brett Favre, who posted comic book numbers while starting nearly 300 straight games. But Eli will most likely pass Peyton, who logged 208 consecutive starts.

Tom Coughlin
Former Giants defensive end Michael Strahan, left, puts a coat on 2016 Ring of Honor Inductee Tom Coughlin during the halftime ceremony of the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at MetLife Stadium on Nov. 14, 2016. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Speaking of careers that will end in Canton, you have to wonder when Big Blue's former coach will sport that gold jacket on a hot August in Ohio. Seeing Coughlin on Monday night, both at halftime, when the crowd couldn't stop clapping, and again in the television booth chopping it up with Jon Gruden, it was hard not to be gripped by a sense of nostalgia.

Speaking with his typical knowledge and intensity, Coughlin reminded us why he was so good in the first place, and that the game is just better when he's in it. In fairness, many of us who got the goosebumps on Monday night also called for Coughlin to be canned at the end, including yours truly.

No doubt making the Giants' ring of honor is a humbling and thrilling experience for the 70-year-old coach. But his clear restlessness and passion for the sport speak to his endless energy, and make any of us well below 70 feel silly when we feel the last bit sluggish.

Even after he was fired, Coughlin was still fidgeting around the team's facilities. While he talked about the "right situation" perhaps presenting itself again some day, any sideline with Tom Coughlin on it is a lucky one.

Would Coughlin take a college job? It's hard to imagine the NFL, a league that's always pressing to get younger, taking a flyer on Coughlin, at least as a head coach.

You could see the residual pain on his face while his Giants soldiered on Monday night. Tom Coughlin deserved every second of his time in the limelight. And any team -- except the New York Giants -- would be wise to pick his brain, and hand him a headset.

Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel

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