Giants pay steep penalty for lack of discipline

Kareem McKenzie wasn't baited or fooled. He just lost his cool. "I hurt my team today," the Giants right tackle said. "That's all there is to it."

But the mental mistakes and undisciplined play were not only his doing. The Giants accumulated 11 penalties - six of which were personal-foul calls, including three in the final 18 minutes - during yesterday's 29-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans.

"I can't really explain them," defensive end Osi Umenyiora said of the personal fouls. "That's not really the type of team that we are, but sometimes emotions run hot out there."

McKenzie was flagged for two unnecessary-roughness penalties in the fourth quarter. The first came after Lawrence Tynes missed a 44-yard field goal. The infraction gave the Titans the ball at their 49 and they kicked a 22-yard field goal to go up 22-10.

McKenzie again was flagged after Eli Manning threw an incomplete pass on second-and-10 at the Titans' 31. That penalty pushed the Giants, still trailing by 12, back to the Titans' 46. They failed to convert on fourth down and the Titans went on to score another touchdown.

"You're always taught that [officials] never see the first thing, they always see the retaliation," said McKenzie, who was pulled from the game for the first time in his career. "It's something we're all aware of and for whatever reason, guys just don't get it. And today I didn't."

Safety Antrel Rolle didn't express as much regret about retaliating with a punch to tight end Craig Stevens' helmet.

"I'm a ballplayer. At the end of the day, that means I'm fiery," said Rolle, who also was benched after being flagged for unnecessary roughness with 5:19 left in the game. "He struck me twice and I definitely struck him back . . . When he struck me once, I tried [to keep my cool]. But the second time, it just took me over the edge. In a perfect world, you would definitely keep your composure, but you know, it didn't happen."

Tackle David Diehl, linebacker Clint Sintim and running back Ahmad Bradshaw also were flagged for personal fouls. Coach Tom Coughlin took the blame for the lack of discipline, saying: "We gave a game away that we should have won and I'll take the responsibility for that."

Defensive end Justin Tuck put the blame on the players, not Coughlin. "It comes back to playing smarter," he said.

Tuck added that he not only was surprised by the number of penalties the Giants accrued but by the offenders. Said Tuck, "They're guys who have played a lot of football and understand what this game is about."