Did TC do the right thing by benching Bradshaw for the first half?

[MightyGiants]

This game was going to determine the team's chances to make it into the playoffs.  Was TC right to bench Bradshaw for the first half of the game for what appears to have been a curfew violation?   TC when asked if the decision was difficult had a one word answer- "principles".   

Now I can appreciate TC's sticking to the rules.  However if one looks at the bigger picture, the rules are there to help the team win.  So was a punishment that punished the team as much as it did the player, the best option?   Thoughts?  Opinions? 

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[zephirus]

Yes it was absolutely the right decision.  The fact that Coughlin did this, especially in a game of this magnitude shows several things.

1)  He will do the right thing no matter the circumstances or player.
2)  He will do what he thinks is proper, even if the result (a loss) might get him fired at season's end.
3)  It teaches Bradshaw accountability to himself.  He was clearly ready to play and wanted to play.  His actions cost himself.
4)  It teaches Bradshaw accountability to his team-mates.  Our actions almost never have consequences for just ourselves, they affect everyone around us.  This might be the biggest point he was trying to drive home. 

[vette]

Yes it was absolutely the right decision.  The fact that Coughlin did this, especially in a game of this magnitude shows several things.

1)  He will do the right thing no matter the circumstances or player.
2)  He will do what he thinks is proper, even if the result (a loss) might get him fired at season's end.
3)  It teaches Bradshaw accountability to himself.  He was clearly ready to play and wanted to play.  His actions cost himself.
4)  It teaches Bradshaw accountability to his team-mates.  Our actions almost never have consequences for just ourselves, they affect everyone around us.  This might be the biggest point he was trying to drive home. 

Great post Zeph!

[MightyGiants]

Zeph,

Could the players also come away with the lesson that following TC's rules is more important than winning?   

After all this was a night game, not a 1:00 PM game and I would have to think the player could have been fined instead of benched for a half of a critical game.   I could see benching him for a series, so that he wasn't the starter of record, but when you bench a player for an entire half you are punishing everyone that worked so hard to get themselves into a position to compete for a playoff spot as much as you do Bradshaw.

At this point Bradshaw has spent his entire career under TC.  If he was going to learn all the stuff you mentioned, I would think he would have done so by now.

[files58]

He stuck his neck out to adhere to his values. Admirable quality. We don't know if this has happened before with just a reminder being offered to Bradshaw. Maybe it was a third strike situation.

[ps11yat14]

You follow the rules.  You accept the punishment that goes with those rules if you break them.  The inmates do not run the asylum under TC. 

Bill

[jerseyguy]

Zeph,

Could the players also come away with the lesson that following TC's rules is more important than winning?   

After all this was a night game, not a 1:00 PM game and I would have to think the player could have been fined instead of benched for a half of a critical game.   I could see benching him for a series, so that he wasn't the starter of record, but when you bench a player for an entire half you are punishing everyone that worked so hard to get themselves into a position to compete for a playoff spot as much as you do Bradshaw.

At this point Bradshaw has spent his entire career under TC.  If he was going to learn all the stuff you mentioned, I would think he would have done so by now.

agree, it does look to me that TCs rules are more important than winning. I know rules are important and a team has to have structure but I think that where the team is right now and struggling to hold what they have and the possibility that jobs are on the line (his included) rules could have been bent to fit the situation..

[BlueMoshik]

Yeah, it's admirable, principled, upstanding, all-around American. Yet I wonder how we would have answered this question had we lost the game on a DJ Ware fumble or something...

[St Marys]

is there history behind this decision?   That's what I'm thinking.   Rather than making a general point, perhaps Coughlin may have felt it necessary to lay down the law with Bradshaw, even though it meant depriving us of our top RB and risking a key loss.

[babywhales]

Yes it was absolutely the right decision.  The fact that Coughlin did this, especially in a game of this magnitude shows several things.

1)  He will do the right thing no matter the circumstances or player.
2)  He will do what he thinks is proper, even if the result (a loss) might get him fired at season's end.
3)  It teaches Bradshaw accountability to himself.  He was clearly ready to play and wanted to play.  His actions cost himself.
4)  It teaches Bradshaw accountability to his team-mates.  Our actions almost never have consequences for just ourselves, they affect everyone around us.  This might be the biggest point he was trying to drive home. 

Completely agree.


I would add, as GMO has commented on in other posts, the benching put Jacobs on the field in the first half and got him in a rythem. Thankfully there was enough blocking and Jacobs emotional rollar coaster  both allowed for a productive day. 

[St Marys]

Yeah, it's admirable, principled, upstanding, all-around American. Yet I wonder how we would have answered this question had we lost the game on a DJ Ware fumble or something...

Good point.

[Fladan]

Zeph,

Could the players also come away with the lesson that following TC's rules is more important than winning?   

After all this was a night game, not a 1:00 PM game and I would have to think the player could have been fined instead of benched for a half of a critical game.   I could see benching him for a series, so that he wasn't the starter of record, but when you bench a player for an entire half you are punishing everyone that worked so hard to get themselves into a position to compete for a playoff spot as much as you do Bradshaw.

At this point Bradshaw has spent his entire career under TC.  If he was going to learn all the stuff you mentioned, I would think he would have done so by now.

agree, it does look to me that TCs rules are more important than winning. I know rules are important and a team has to have structure but I think that where the team is right now and struggling to hold what they have and the possibility that jobs are on the line (his included) rules could have been bent to fit the situation..

I disagree--In TC's world rules are not more important that winning--they contribute to winning--I'm OK with that

And as to the question--how would we answer the question if a Ware fumble cost us the game--I would have been pissed at Bradshaw (not TC) for not being out there

Fladan

[Iamboo]

I don't think TC sees "following rules" and "winning" as mutually exclusive events.  To Tom Coughlin, winning is a function of many things, including following rules.  In his view, if you start bending the rules to favor certain players (like starting running backs), others see this...it creates some chaos...which leads to further chaos (what happens when the next person breaks curfew?)...which leads to a breakdown of the system, the inmates running the asylum, and the team becomes like the Dallas Cowboys under Wade Phillips...

Also, we don't know if this was a first violation.  If memory serves me correctly, I believe Plaxico Burress was benched (back in the season he shot himself), and it was due to multiple violations...I think.  So, it's possible this was not Bradshaw's first violation.  Also, with someone like Bradshaw, who has a history (albeit small history) of trouble, Coughlin might have wanted to get on top of this before it became a larger problem.

When watching the game, and it was first reported, I thought Coughlin did the right thing...and I admired the fact that he would stick to his principles even though it might cost him his career.  Of course, I thought he might hold Bradshaw out only for the first series or (at worst) the first quarter.  I wonder if, had Jacobs not been running with such authority, if the punishment would have been less severe.  Somehow, with Coughlin, I doubt it.

[vette]

is there history behind this decision?   That's what I'm thinking.   Rather than making a general point, perhaps Coughlin may have felt it necessary to lay down the law with Bradshaw, even though it meant depriving us of our top RB and risking a key loss.

Good point.

[vette]

I don't think TC sees "following rules" and "winning" as mutually exclusive events.  To Tom Coughlin, winning is a function of many things, including following rules.  In his view, if you start bending the rules to favor certain players (like starting running backs), others see this...it creates some chaos...which leads to further chaos (what happens when the next person breaks curfew?)...which leads to a breakdown of the system, the inmates running the asylum, and the team becomes like the Dallas Cowboys under Wade Phillips...

Also, we don't know if this was a first violation.  If memory serves me correctly, I believe Plaxico Burress was benched (back in the season he shot himself), and it was due to multiple violations...I think.  So, it's possible this was not Bradshaw's first violation.  Also, with someone like Bradshaw, who has a history (albeit small history) of trouble, Coughlin might have wanted to get on top of this before it became a larger problem.

When watching the game, and it was first reported, I thought Coughlin did the right thing...and I admired the fact that he would stick to his principles even though it might cost him his career.  Of course, I thought he might hold Bradshaw out only for the first series or (at worst) the first quarter.  I wonder if, had Jacobs not been running with such authority, if the punishment would have been less severe.  Somehow, with Coughlin, I doubt it.

Good post!