EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Ben McAdoo isn’t counting on anyone to help the New York Giants back into the playoffs this weekend.
The rookie coach is upset the Giants (10-5) didn’t stride into the postseason on their own Thursday night in Philadelphia. They played a sub-par game with the end to a four-year postseason drought dangling in front of them, and were beaten by the reeling Eagles 24-19.
There are plenty of ways for New York to get in the playoffs in the next few days.
If Atlanta, Green Bay, Tampa Bay or Detroit loses, New York is in. The Falcons are at Carolina. Green Bay plays host to Minnesota. Tampa Bay is at New Orleans and Detroit is at Dallas. The last one is on Monday night. The other three are on Saturday.
McAdoo is going to know what happens in each of those games, but his intentions are to spend some time with his family and start getting his thoughts together for the season finale against the Redskins in Washington on New Year’s Day. Washington beat New York earlier this season.
If the Giants win their finale, they are in the playoffs.
“We have a big ballgame coming up and we need to put a good plan together to position these guys to be successful,” McAdoo said Friday.
McAdoo refused to say whether his plans for the final game would change if the Giants got some help.
If the Giants do get in, they will get a wild-card team. The loss to the Eagles allowed Dallas to clinch the NFC East, a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the NFC East as long as they keep winning.
McAdoo watched the videotape of Thursday night’s game and it was not pretty. Eli Manning threw three interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown by Malcolm Jenkins. There were dropped passes by the receivers, bad protection by the offensive line, missed tackles by the defense and too many explosive plays allowed, including a 25-yard touchdown run by Darren Sproles and a 40-yard scoring pass from Carson Wentz to Nelson Agholor.
Surprisingly, McAdoo is bringing the team in on Saturday before getting time off for Christmas.
“I think it is important that they get away from it a little bit, refresh their minds and think about the type of football they want to play going forward,” McAdoo said.
That last comment sounds like something McAdoo would have heard from one of his own coaches growing up. It’s almost a challenge to the team for the final week.
“It wasn’t our best football,” McAdoo said. “They know we can play better football and we need to play better football, and better team football. We had a chance to win the game at the end and I expect us to go down and win the game at the end.”
New York moved from its own 15 to the Eagles 34 with 25 seconds to play. Manning threw an incompletion on first down, just missed Odell Beckham Jr. (11 catches for 150 yards) in the end zone on second down and then was intercepted in the waning seconds on a pass he could not throw correctly because a lineman was in his face.
“That’s the most important thing; it’s in our hands,” Beckham said about the Giants’ playoff chances. “We know we had a couple of opportunities in the end to make some plays and we just didn’t come up with it. It’s not the end of the season; we still have another game left to play. We just have to wait and see how things play out this weekend and go take care of business next weekend.”
NOTES: Rookie LB B.J. Goodson is in the concussion protocol. … DT Damon Harrison is sore, McAdoo said, adding he did not have an update on his condition. … McAdoo took the blame for using a walkie-talkie in a game against Dallas Dec. 11 after his sideline communication system failed for five plays early in the fourth quarter. “I made a decision in the heat of the moment and violated the rules,” he said. “I own that decision. I take that responsibility. There are no excuses. I deserve to be held accountable for my actions and I accept the penalty.” The NFL fined McAdoo $50,000 and the team $150,000. New York also had its fourth-draft pick pushed back to the end of the round.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.