My self-imposed, sanity saving Christmas break ended at midnight, so I’m back to tending to everyone’s favorite website. For those who are curious, I had a great Christmas, thanks for asking. What did I get? A lot of money. Plus some clothes including some MMA gear, like my new Dethrone sweatshirt, which is now the most comfortable thing I own.

While I was gone, there were good feelings about the Giants. They were coming off a whooping of the Redskins where Eli had played out of his skull, the defense played well for the first time in weeks, and they looked like a playoff team. There was guarded optimism coming from my camp. I still thought they would miss the playoffs, but I was open to the idea of them making a run for the first time since the debacle against Denver. Alliteration Rules.

I sat down to watch the game today with some friends who haven’t seen me during a Giants game before. See, I’m not a normal fan. I’m not even the annoying guy who screams at the TV. Instead, I have a complete nervous breakdown 4-to-12 hours before every game. Knowing the game as I do, I think of every single way that the team could lose. Some thoughts are far fetched, like the time I imagined Eli getting shot in the leg by a sniper somewhere in the first half. Sometimes they are slightly more, I thought that Steve Spagnuolo would forsake his aggressive blitz scheme in favor of the Cover-2.

And that brings us to yesterday’s game against the Panthers. You could ask anyone who was in the room. I never once got angry. Okay, there was once where I called Sheridan a name which can’t be repeated here. However, for most of the game I wasn’t angry. Instead, I was comatose. I was a zombie. If you checked for a heartbeat, you probably wouldn’t have found one. It was like my crazy thoughts from my nervous breakdown had come true. Sheridan went back to the cover-2 on almost every 3rd down, and the Panthers picked up almost every single one of ‘em. Sure, the offense didn’t help, but let’s be honest. If you allow that many points to Matt Moore, you’ve got problems.

So, the Giants are eliminated, and things are kind of in flux. Let’s start at the top. There are a bunch of people on the Interweb that are suggesting that Tom Coughlin needs to be fired. My response? Stop it. Coughlin is two years separated from a Super Bowl and one year separated from a 13-3 season. He’s going to head coach of the team unless Daniel Snyder suddenly buys them in the offseason.

As for Sheridan, he does need to be replaced. I don’t have a list of coordinator replacements yet, because we have to see who gets fired and such in the off-season. However, there is no doubt that a change is necessary. It’s clear that the players don’t believe in the defense that he has installed, and it really doesn’t fit the personnel they currently have. Jerry Reese has spent so much money on pass rushers, only to use a conventional, conservative scheme? I don’t think so.

However, the damage Sheridan has done will not just be to the Giants’ playoff hopes. One of those star pass rushers, Osi Umeniyora, is officially annoyed with the team. He was benched a few weeks ago due to performance, and he was told it was his run defense that was the problem. Today, he estimated that he played just five snaps in the post-game press conference.

“What did I play, five snaps today?” said Umenyiora, who was demoted from a starter to a pass-rush specialist after the Thanksgiving loss to the Broncos. “I don’t know, I don’t know what happened. I thought I was the problem.

“It’s an unbelievable situation, man. Last game at Giants Stadium, probably as a Giant, just the way everything has unfolded has been unbelievable.”

Oy Vey. Let’s hope this isn’t Osi’s last game as a Giant. If firing Sheridan and giving him his starting job back is enough for him to come back to our side, I’m okay with that. If not, then let’s at least ship him to St. Louis where he could be reunited with Spags and make that defense a hell of a lot better. I just don’t want this to turn into another Jeremy Shockey situation where Jerry Reese is fighting him in the locker room.

So, Bill Sheridan destroyed a season. Sure, the decline and injuries along the offensive line didn’t help. Sure, Kenny Phillips got hurt and that completely screwed the defense. Things like that happen to every team. Bad defensive coaches don’t.

Fret not Giant fans; only 115 days, 13 hours, 21 minutes, 22 seconds until the draft.