New York Giants patience runs thin with Eli Manning, Tom Coughlin

New York Giants have two Super Bowl victories under their belt in the Eli Manning - Tom Coughlin era, but have slipped into mediocrity or worse since that time. Some expected the head coach to be fired at the end of the failed 2014 season, but he’s instead been given a reprieve which may only extend one more year. Is there reason to believe that the NY Giants can turn things around in 2015 to the point that Coughlin gets to stick around and the team doesn’t begin looking for Manning’s successor?

It’s helpful to consider that Tom Coughlin was close to being fired before he turned things around and won his first Super Bowl, and that Eli Manning had been considered something of a bust until he found his rhythm in that same fateful postseason run. Looking at the New York Giants roster and lack of momentum now, it’s easy to be pessimistic about the odds of the team suddenly coalescing out of nowhere again - except for the fact that it’s precisely what happened the first time around. And this time they have a not-so-secret weapon.

Odell Beckham Jr may well end up being the top wide receiver in the NFL when it’s all said and done, and there is every reason to expect him to have an even better second season than his first. That makes Eli Manning a better quarterback, and in turn makes Tom Coughlin more effective. And if that isn’t enough to get the New York Giants over the hump in 2015, at least fans will finally get to see a new head coach take the reins.

NY Giants 2015: Odell Beckham Jr and Eli Manning reload for new season

The NY Giants head into the 2015 season with equal parts optimism and trepidation. Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr is among the top young talents in the league, and should only get better in his second year, finally giving veteran quarterback Eli Manning a dynamic target. But with head coach Tom Coughlin returning for one more season which he was likely only given based on past merit, can the team climb above its recent trend of mediocrity?

Coughlin steered Eli Manning and the New York Giants to a pair of Super Bowl victories and established himself as one of the more effective head coaches in the NFL. But whether his methods have lost effectiveness, or Manning has backslid, or the overall roster has declined, the Giants haven’t been a contender in a few years. One of the few bright spots in 2014 was the rise of Odell Beckham Jr, who wowed the football nation with improbable one handed catches and went on to win rookie of the year, proving he was more than just a one trick pony. But NY lost some of the games featured his best performances, suggesting that the offense has to figure out how to use him in more opportune ways.

If nothing else, Manning and Coughlin have all the motivation in the world to try to prove that they’re not washed up. But with the Cowboys on the rise again and the NFC now being largely dominated by the West, the NY Giants will have to figure out some things rather quickly in order to make it back to the playoffs in 2015, Beckham or no Beckham.