Giants vs. Cowboys Full Team Grades

7 of 7

Coaching Staff: F

Sep 13, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin (L) talks to back judge Jim Quirk (63) in the game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. The Cowboys won 27-26. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

It was a rough night for the coaching staff. They were unable to push the right buttons offensively, and when it came to make-or-break time defensively, they were unable to get the job done.

Steve Spagnuolo comes out of this group with the best grade. His unit is extremely undermanned, with Jon Beason and Jason Pierre-Paul out and very little depth in the secondary. But, he made it work as the Giants forced three opportunities and put the team in a position to win.

But, at the same time, the defense did allow 436 total yards. The bend but don’t break defense worked for about three and half quarters of the game, but when it came down to getting a stop they couldn’t do it. In reality though, if the Giants are counting on their defense to get them wins week in and week out they could be looking at an 0-16 record at the end of the season.

The real problem tonight came with the offense. Ben McAdoo was unable to get anything going despite the Cowboys not having an intimidating defense. They were unable to get any rhythm going in the game and it resulted in them being unable to put the Cowboys away late in the game. The play call to throw it on third-and-two from the goalline in a time killing the clock was of the utmost importance was a blunder that will be tough to forget and will hurt for weeks.

As the consummate professional, Tom Coughlin will take the blame for all of the questionable decisions made. He is the leader of the coaching staff and will be held responsible to a certain degree. Coughlin was on the short end of some calls from the referees, but better execution from the coaching staff could have overcome those blunders.

Unfortunately, they were unable to do that and they missed out on a great opportunity to steal a win. The Giants gave away a victory in Week 1 on the road against the Cowboys, and the coaching staff is largely responsible for that.

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