Coughlin not happy, but won't replace Diehl, McKenzie

After watching game video from Sunday night's 38-14 loss to the Colts, particularly the work of the Giants' tackles, David Diehl and Kareem McKenzie, Tom Coughlin can't be faulted for wishing he had some ready-made replacements to work in.

"I could think about it, but whether we do anything about it is another thing," Coughlin said Monday after the team held meetings after their early morning return from Indianapolis.

Diehl wasn't named the starting left tackle until late in the preseason, beating out Will Beatty. With both Beatty (broken foot) and tight end Kevin Boss (concussion) out Sunday night, Diehl and McKenzie were left without much help on passing downs.

Part of it was the Giants' inability to stay out of third-and-long situations, which meant the Colts' defensive ends, Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, were able to fly in at will.

The other part was missed assignments by the tight ends and blocking backs. Travis Beckum, the second-year tight end, completely whiffed on a chip block on Mathis in the second quarter, allowing a sack and a fumble.

"There were a lot of things that happened during the game that we would want to have gone differently," McKenzie said. "It's something that was a wake-up call for all of us."

Few teams have pass-rushing ends like Freeney and Mathis, and few teams have the Colts' high-powered offense, which forces opponents into playing catch-up and playing into Indianapolis' pass-rushing defense.

Coughlin has no plans to supplant Diehl or McKenzie, even with Shawn Andrews working for a second consecutive week at both tackle spots. Against the Titans on Sunday, the Giants will again rely on having an extra lineman and their tight ends to help out the tackles.

"The speed and the jump that the defensive ends got at home was very impressive, to say the least," Coughlin said. "We knew that going in. We studied them, Dave studied them . . . Dave's played there for a number of years. There were some built-in aids that sometimes we weren't able to take advantage of."