PHILADELPHIA — About 45 minutes before kickoff of a divisional-round playoff game that would have seemed impossible for the Giants in August, Coach Brian Daboll and General Manager Joe Schoen met on the sideline. The team’s co-owner, John Mara, soon joined.
Mara and co-owner Steve Tisch hired Daboll and Schoen last January. In their first year, instead of muddling through a rebuild, the Giants won nine games in the regular season and their first playoff game since their Super Bowl victory after the 2011 season.
The Cinderella story of sorts ended Saturday night when the Giants lost to the top-seeded Eagles, 38-7, on a chilly evening in Philadelphia.