Flashback Friday: Giants, Tom Coughlin fall to Jaguars in 2006
The New York Giants (5-1) are heading down to Jacksonville to face the 2-4 Jaguars this Sunday and are hoping to finally win a game in Duval County. They are 0-3 all-time in the River City.
Today’s flashback is an ugly one from 2006 when Tom Coughlin, the inaugural coach of the Jaguars from 1995-2002, led his 6-3 Giants into AllTel Stadium to face the 5-4 Jags, who were now being coached by Jack Del Rio. It was Coughlin’s first time facing his old team and emotions were high.
The Jaguars still had many familiar faces (13 to be exact) from Coughlin’s tenure, most notably running back Fred Taylor, quarterback David Garrard, safety Donovan Darius and defensive tackles John Henderson and Marcus Stroud.
The Giants entered the Monday night contest coming off a flat performance in Week 10 against Chicago which stopped a five-game winning streak. They were without defensive ends Michael Strahan (foot) and Osi Umenyiora (hip), cornerback Sam Madison (quadriceps), linebacker Brandon Short (quad) and offensive tackle Luke Petitgout (leg).
The Giants opened the scoring with a 40-yard field goal from Jay Feely. It would be their only lead of the night. The Jaguars hammered the listless Giants, 26-10, and the game wasn’t really as close as the score indicated.
Eli Manning went 19-of-41 for 230 yards, but most of that came in garbage time. He did find Plaxico Burress for a 25-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter to narrow the Jags’ lead to 13-10 but then the wheels came flying off the wagon. Jacksonville scored 13 unanswered points to close out the game.
“Mainly,” Manning said, “I’ve got to start playing better football.”
He wasn’t alone. Running back Tiki Barber, who had rushed for over 100 yards in five of the previous six games, was held to just 27 yards on the ground.
Coughlin was not pleased with his team’s turkey of a performance three days before Thanksgiving.
“We weren’t successful,” Coughlin said. “It was a very disappointing game for us. There are an awful lot of plays that we’re leaving out on the field. We’re just not making any plays.”
The Giants were in a free fall, losing the next two weeks to even their record at 6-6 after a promising 6-2 start. They ended up 8-8 and in the wildcard round, which they lost 23-20, to the Philadelphia Eagles. The next season, however, they would win the Super Bowl.
Coughlin would face the Jaguars twice more as Giants head coach. In 2010, they beat the Jags, 24-20, at the New Meadowlands Stadium, which was still seeking a naming rights deal.
In 2014, Coughlin’s crew fumbled away a 21-0 lead to lose 25-24 down in Jacksonville.
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