Art Stapleton | NFL writer

Art Stapleton, Staff Writer, @art_stapleton

EAST RUTHERFORD – Pat Shurmur stood there in the New York Giants' field house following Thursday's practice talking with certainty about next year and what he believes will be the unveiling of a foundation created by playing so many young players in a lost season.

The uncertainty is whether Shurmur will be around to see this rebuild bring success.

Same goes for general manager Dave Gettleman, whose fingerprints are all over the good, the bad and the ugly that has transpired over the past two seasons when the Giants rebooted their front office and coaching staff in the aftermath of the firings of Ben McAdoo as coach and Jerry Reese as general manager in December 2017.

Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com

Many around the league believe Sunday's regular-season finale at MetLife Stadium against the Philadelphia Eagles will come with a goodbye to Shurmur and quite possibly Gettleman, although the latter's status is a bit more unsure.

Here is where everything stands as we know it with the Giants seeking a third consecutive victory, one that would spoil the Eagles' chances to win the NFC East if the Dallas Cowboys are able to defeat the Washington Redskins to claim the division title.

The big picture

If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right. Seinfeld, “The Opposite” (1994)

It's difficult to remember that the Giants are the only New York/New Jersey team to actually win a championship this decade, and part of that is because of their exploits following their unexpected exploits in Super Bowl XLVI back in February 2012.

The record in the eight seasons that have followed: 51-77.

This is the sixth losing season since the franchise won its fourth Vince Lombardi trophy spanning three different head coaches – Tom Coughlin, McAdoo and Shurmur – and that's not including a four-game interim stint as head coach for Steve Spagnuolo.

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There's one thing to stick with The Giants Way; there's another to acknowledge the football end of things need drastic tweaks, if nothing is going right.

That's where the great philosopher George Costanza comes in.

During one of the most famous episodes of the TV show "Seinfeld", George decides to stop following his instincts and do the opposite of what he’s always done.

Soon after, George finds himself on the right side of every decision and enjoys the unfamiliar feeling of success. The most telling scene comes when he is ordering lunch, and the server is about to bring his standard: tuna on toast.

"Nothing's ever worked out for me with tuna on toast," George quips. "I want the complete opposite of on toast: chicken salad, on rye, untoasted, and a cup of tea."

The Giants have been ordering tuna on toast since Super Bowl XLVI. They did so in their last two coaching searches, and behind the scenes, as much as ownership promised "wholesale changes" in the wake of McAdoo and Reese departures, there are new faces with similar philosophical agendas.

When you win, that's great.

When you lose the way the Giants have, it might just be time for chicken salad on rye.

The case for and against Shurmur

It's not necessarily a popular opinion, but Shurmur should get an opportunity in front of co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch to state his case. Of course, the product on the field is a significant part of that case, which is not good for the current head coach.

That being said, let's remember why Shurmur was hired – he was an "adult," according to Gettleman and echoed by Mara. He was brought in as McAdoo's successor to stabilize things off the field while being the right coach to pick Manning's successor at quarterback.

From that perspective, Shurmur has done his job. The Giants are far more settled than they were two years ago. Now, that does not make them winners – the scoreboard does – and for that, Shurmur needs to be held accountable with context.

His in-game rationale with planning and decision-making has been suspect, mostly due to the inconsistency with which he has operated.

His 9-22 record is what it is – let's not bring up his two years in Cleveland, because the Giants hired him despite that – and there is a real question as to whether Shurmur was the right coach for the post-McAdoo fallout, but not the one to move the Giants forward from this to another level.

A triumph over the Eagles on Sunday would not trump everything else – Shurmur still has to answer for the nine-game losing streak that matched the 1976 team for the longest skid in franchise history. There are a lot of issues with the coaching staff, specifically the deficiencies within the offensive line, and assistant Hal Hunter takes a hit for that.

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The strongest case to keep Shurmur is the development of Jones. You can't crush him for some of the things he does, yet give him zero credit for being there every step of the way in getting Jones to this point as a rookie.

"Yeah, I think obviously that’s a little above my pay grade," Jones said when asked Thursday if Shurmur should be retained. "But I’ve really enjoyed working with Coach Shurmur and I think he’s done a whole lot for my development and my growth. Yeah, he’s been great for me."

Is that reason enough to keep Shurmur? Probably not, but we're going to find out.

The case for and against Gettleman

The greatest concern over Gettleman's fate has to do with what's to come. He's had some hits and some misses, and there is plenty of debate over decisions he has made with regard to his declaration of changing the culture and building the roster.

Winning changes the culture. Period. So that's a bunch of hog wash. Were there issues that needed to be fixed? Absolutely. Shurmur's presence would have taken care of that.

There are two significant factors in determining Gettleman's viability as GM.

The first has to do with his ability to adjust to the modern NFL. You can't joke about analytics and deal draft assets away like they don't matter.

Any new head coaching candidate would now have to work with Gettleman and adapt to his style, his philosophy, etc., and not the other way around. That could create a disconnect and set up factions within the organization, the new school and old school.

Not really a productiv way to do business.

His eye for talent in the draft deserves praise. While the Class of 2018 may have lost some luster this season, overall he has done a better job than Reese and Marc Ross did with the draft.

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That said, Gettleman's ability to identify free agents and players on other teams to acquire is borderline scary, especially when the Giants will have at minimum $60 million to spend for 2020 and likely more.

Nate Solder, Patrick Omameh, Jonathan Stewart, Alec Ogletree and Antoine Bethea have all disappointed. Markus Golden was a find this year and made the most of his prove-it deal. The exchange of a third and fifth-round draft pick that becomes a fourth with the Jets if the Giants resign Leonard Williams looks really bad.

The second is accountability. Gettleman stripped the roster of veterans, and Shurmur needed to make the most of it. They came in together, and the marriage is one built on one specific ideal: this was going to be the pair that would dig the Giants out of a hole.

If Shurmur goes and Gettleman stays, that's essentially a cop-out.

What will ownership do? Remains to be seen, but we're going to find out soon enough.

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