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Tom Coughlin Reaches Career Milestone With New York Giants

By Kenneth Teape

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Tom Coughlin and the New York Giants had to be all smiles after their victory Sunday over the Dallas Cowboys. The Giants had been owned by their NFC East rival in recent history, but were able to break through to snap a five-game losing streak to the Cowboys. The Cowboys also saw their seven-game road winning streak in division games snapped, as the Giants reclaimed first place in the division while the Cowboys slipped into last.

While a victory over the Cowboys is always sweet for Coughlin and the Giants, as they have had their struggles with them during his tenure with the team, this one was a little sweeter. It was not because the Giants won a hard fought game following Coughlin’s commandments about not turning the ball over, running the play and coming up big on special teams and defense. No, it was because he reached an impressive milestone as head coach of the Giants, winning his 165th career game and 100th with the Giants.

This makes Coughlin the second coach in Giants history to reach the 100 win plateau leading the team. Allie Sherman, Bill Parcells and Jim Fassel have over 100 wins in their coaching careers, but only Coughlin and Steve Owen were able to reach that mark with the Giants alone; Owen had 153 career victories while coaching the Giants from 1930-1953, while Coughlin is now second with 100, starting in 2004 and still going strong.

It is an impressive mark for Coughlin to reach, as he has looked close to being out the door a number of times. In 2007, before an improbable run to the Super Bowl and victory over the previous undefeated New England Patriots, Coughlin looked like he would be could be fired at any time after a rough 0-2 start. But he rallied the troops and they got behind him, saving his job and placing him in Giants lore with the franchise’s third Super Bowl victory.

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They did it again in 2011, as rumors began surfacing once again about Coughlin’s job security. Once again, Coughlin led the Giants to an improbable Super Bowl victory over the Patriots, using an an impressive catch from Mario Manningham this time to follow up David Tyree’s circus catch from the first Super Bowl victory.

No one is sure what this year’s Giants team will bring, but with the possibility of a coaching change looming, Coughlin once again has his team playing strong football. While their 4-3 record could easily be 6-1, the Giants are still sitting in first place in the NFC East almost halfway through the season.

While no one will predict a Super Bowl victory for the Giants currently, this is arguably the best job Coughlin has done as the head coach of the Giants. The Giants are once again battling injuries to an already limited roster talent and depth wise, but Coughlin and his staff have gotten the most out of the players they have at their disposal.

There is some desperation here, given the talk of upheaval in the Giants organization if they were to have a third consecutive losing season, and fourth without a postseason appearance. But once again, like he always does when the pressure is on, Coughlin has rallied the troops and got them playing good football.

Next: New York Giants Full Team Grades vs. Cowboys

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While he may not admit it, this one will be special to him, especially given that it was against the Cowboys. But if he took one day or night to celebrate, could anyone blame him? But Tom Coughlin knows as well as anyone that this job is far from over, and there is still plenty of work to be done in the 2015 season, starting with the New Orleans Saints in Week 8.

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