Giants coach the fall guy

THE New York Giants coach, Tom Coughlin, was forced to accept responsibility for a second bruising defeat in-a-row as the Giants’ NFL season continued to unravel on Sunday.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers returned from a concussion to produce his best display of the season as the Green Bay Packers blew the ‘Big Blue’ away with a 45-17 win at Lambeau Field.

The victory keeps Green Bay on track for a wild card in the play-offs after the Chicago Bears wrapped up the NFC North Division with an exciting home win over the New York Jets.

However, the Giants (9-6) are now clinging to fading post-season hopes and capitulated in Lambeau, still in a daze after the previous week’s collapse against the Philadelphia Eagles who play a rescheduled clash with the Minnesota Vikings tonight, the first NFL game on a Tuesday since 1946.

“There’s no denying what took place,” Giants coach Coughlin said. “Facts are facts. We’re responsible for it. I’m responsible for it. So we have to live with it. And as we say in this game, the only chance you have is to turn around and line up the next week.”

The Giants couldn’t stop Rodgers and couldn’t hold onto the ball, as one of the league’s most turnover-prone teams lost two fumbles and watched Eli Manning throw four interceptions. To make matters worse, they couldn’t even get home from Wisconsin due to the snow storms which shut down the Big Apple.

“I don’t care where we’re at, it’s going to be a long night regardless,” safety Deon Grant said. “If we’d go back to New York, it’d probably be a worse night. I know they’re not going to be happy. I looked up, the Jets lost, we lost, it’s not a good look.”

Green Bay now have a similar 9-6 record to the Giants in the NFC wild card race and host divisional rivals Chicago in their final regular-season game next Sunday.

Greg Jennings caught seven passes for 142 yards for Green Bay, while Jordy Nelson had four catches for 124 yards and a touchdown.

Rodgers was sacked twice, but wasn’t under much pressure otherwise as his offensive line delivered one of its best pass protection efforts of the year.

“Those guys were ready to play,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “They were sick and tired of hearing about how tough the Giants were all week.”

Elsewhere, the Indianapolis Colts beat the Oakland Raiders 31-26 and will advance as AFC South champions if they win again next week.

Mike Singletary was fired by the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night, several hours after San Francisco were eliminated from play-off contention with a 25-17 loss at the St. Louis Rams. .

“I want to thank Mike Singletary for the passion he brought to this organisation,” president and CEO Jed York said. “He is a tremendous person for whom I will always have great respect.”