Tom Coughlin takes the blame for 'chaos' on Coby Fleener's touchdown
Coby Fleener of the Indianapolis Colts scores a touchdown in front of Quintin Demps of the Giants in the second quarter at MetLife Stadium on Nov. 3, 2014 in East Rutherford, N.J. Credit: Mike Stobe
One of the most scrutinized plays of Monday night's Colts-Giants game continues to be the touchdown pass to Coby Fleener with the Giants' defense in disarray. Linebacker Jacquian Williams said the unit was in "chaos" on the scoring play, which occurred right after Fleener caught another long pass that looked as if it might have been incomplete.
Giants coach Tom Coughlin attempted to challenge the first reception but was late throwing the flag as he reached into his sock to get it. The defense, meanwhile, was watching Coughlin and not the Colts. Fleener was uncovered for an easy 32-yard scoring pass from Andrew Luck.
Coughlin said he knew Fleener made the initial catch but was trying to challenge to slow down the Colts. They typically rush to the line of scrimmage after big pass plays to catch the defense off guard. Coughlin said the coaches addressed that tactic as recently as Monday morning.
So why didn't Coughlin call timeout rather than attempt a challenge he knew he would lose and thus cost him a timeout anyway?
"That wasn't the thing that popped in my head at the time," he said. "We have a play for that situation and we were supposed to line up without a timeout. By and large, I'm saving timeouts for the end of the half and the game."
Ultimately, Coughlin took responsibility for the breakdown -- sort of.
"The players have to line up and play," he said. "If there's going to be a challenge, it comes from the sideline, same thing as any other occurrence. It's not an excuse, it should not have happened, it did happen. Blame it on me."
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
