After losing two straight games to conference rivals in Arizona and Philadelphia, the Giants have a lot to account for, especially given their proximity to the ever voracious New York City media.

But instead of accepting responsibility for their poor play on the field, several Giants defenders have taken it upon themselves to insinuate the mistakes were made thanks to poor communication from the coaching staff during the games, according to Mike Garafalo of the New Jersey Star-Ledger. The players cited in the story as being part of the complaint include DEs Matthias Kiwanuka, Justin Tuck, and LB Antonio Pierce.

“You have to ask them. I don’t know what they’re talking about. They haven’t come to me regarding that.”

- New York defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan

Obviously the team isn’t likely to give any sort of credence to the notion that the defensive signals were relayed incorrectly or were poorly called in the first place, but given the Giants new found propensity to give up big yardage plays, one does have to question whether or not the defense is in the right sets to eliminate those mistakes from happening.

That said, blaming poor individual play on a coaching error is an excuse, nothing more and nothing less. And as a team that been there and done that in the playoffs the past two seasons, there’s really no reason to delve into that kind of petty squabbling, as it is unproductive at best and destructive at its worst.

With the Chargers set to roll into the Big Apple this weekend, the Giants can ill afford to have the same kind of mental lapses that plagued them in their losses to both the Cardinals and the Eagles in successive weeks, and while a win is certainly not guaranteed, I’d be surprised if New York shows the same signs of weakness, as this week is definitely a must win.

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