The 2015 season was the New York Giants' 91st in the National Football League (NFL) and their sixth playing home games at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Tom Coughlin returned for his 12th and final season as the team's head coach. The Giants attempted to secure a playoff berth for the first time since their 2011 season, which concluded with their victory in Super Bowl XLVI. To honor the late Frank Gifford and Ann Mara, both of whom died earlier in 2015, the Giants added a number 16 decal on their helmets and special patch for Gifford and Mara respectively.

The Giants began the season 0–2 for the third straight year, and in doing so became the first team in NFL history to go 0–2 while holding double-digit leads in the fourth quarter of both games; however, they rebounded to win their next three games before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles. The Giants' 2015 season was plagued by their poor defense and inability to close out games, as eight of their ten losses were by a touchdown or less, and they lost six games in which they held leads or were tied within the final two minutes. These losses included their opening game against the Dallas Cowboys, their home opener against the Atlanta Falcons, a road loss to the New Orleans Saints, and two home defeats against the New England Patriots and the New York Jets. Had the Giants won these games, they would have finished 11–5 and won the NFC East. After the Washington Redskins defeated the Eagles on December 26 the Redskins clinched the NFC East division, eliminating the Giants from playoff contention for the fourth consecutive season. At the end of the season, Tom Coughlin resigned as head coach, after having made the playoffs five times and won two Super Bowls, both times against the New England Patriots.

Offseason

Free agents signed

DatePositionPlayerFree agent tag2014 TeamNotes C Brett Jones Calgary Stampeders (CFL) WR Kevin Ogletree New York Giants Released May 7, 2015 C Dallas Reynolds New York Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul New York Giants Has not signed franchise tag TE Larry Donnell New York Giants CB Chandler Fenner ERFA New York Giants Waived September 5, 2015 RB Chris Ogbonnaya UFA New York Giants Released May 11, 2015 FB Henry Hynoski UFA New York Giants Released September 5, 2015 OLB Mark Herzlich UFA New York Giants RB Shane Vereen UFA New England Patriots WR/KR Dwayne Harris UFA Dallas Cowboys OT Marshall Newhouse UFA Cincinnati Bengals OLB Jonathan Casillas UFA New England Patriots OLB J.T. Thomas UFA Jacksonville Jaguars OG John Jerry UFA New York Giants CB Chykie Brown UFA New York Giants Released September 5, 2015 DT Kenrick Ellis UFA New York Jets Released September 6, 2015 TE Daniel Fells UFA New York Giants DE George Selvie UFA Dallas Cowboys CB/FS Josh Gordy UFA Indianapolis Colts ILB Ryan Jones FA Baltimore Ravens Waived June 6 S Jeromy Miles FA Baltimore Ravens Released September 5, 2015 WR James Jones FA Oakland Raiders Released September 5, 2015 WR Derrick Johnson FA New England Patriots Released September 1, 2015 SS Brandon Meriweather FA Washington Redskins DT Jimmy Staten FA Seattle Seahawks Released September 1, 2015 OLB Ashlee Palmer FA Detroit Lions Released September 5, 2015 Notable Arrival/Resigning Released prior to resigning

Cuts DatePositionPlayerNotes RB David Wilson DE Mathias Kiwanuka RB Peyton Hillis C J. D. Walton CB Travis Howard OT Rogers Gaines DE Paul Hazel CB Josh Victorian RB Michael Cox MLB Terrell Manning CB Thomas Gordon OLB James Davidson WR Marcus Harris OT Troy Kropog WR Chris Harper K Chris Boswell

Free agents lost

DatePositionPlayerFree agent tag2015 TeamNotes CB Walter Thurmond III UFA Philadelphia Eagles SS Antrel Rolle UFA Chicago Bears OT James Brewer UFA New York Jets OLB Spencer Paysinger UFA Miami Dolphins CB Zack Bowman UFA Miami Dolphins FS Stevie Brown UFA Cut by the Houston Texans on August 28, 2015 FS Quintin Demps UFA Houston Texans Played with Texans from 2010-2012 Notable Departure

Unsigned PositionPlayerFree agent tagNotes OG Adam Snyder UFA DT Mike Patterson UFA OLB Jacquian Williams UFA WR Jerrel Jernigan UFA

Trades

DateAcquiredFromGivenNotes August 26, 2014 2015 seventh-round pick (No. 245) Denver Broncos Kicker Brandon McManus Traded to Titans May 1, 2015 2015 second-round pick (No. 33) Tennessee Titans 2015 second, fourth, and seventh-round picks (No. 40, 108, 245) Used to select Landon Collins

2015 NFL draft

Notes The Giants acquired an additional seventh-round selection (No. 245 overall) in a trade that sent placekicker Brandon McManus to the Denver Broncos. The Giants traded picks No. 108 and No. 245 to receive No. 33 from the Tennessee Titans.

Undrafted free agent signings DatePositionPlayerCollegeNotes OT Sean Donnelly Tulane University SS Justin Currie Western Michigan University Waived July 15, Resigned July 23, Waived August 24 OLB Cole Farrand University of Maryland RB Akeem Hunt Purdue University DE Brad Harrah University of Cincinnati Waived August 1 TE Matt LaCosse University of Illinois Waived August 1 TE Will Tye Stony Brook University DT Carlif Taylor Southern Connecticut State University RB Kenneth Harper Temple University WR Ben Edwards University of Richmond Waived July 31 LB Tony Johnson Louisiana Tech University Waived August 24 DE Brad Bars Pennsylvania State University FS Justin Halley Florida International University FS C.J. Conway Montclair State University Made final 53-man roster

Offseason activities The New York Giants started offseason activities with a rookie minicamp starting on May 9. Organized team activities ran from May 27–29, June 1–2, June 4, June 8–9, June 11–12. Mandatory mini-camp was held June 16–18.

Injuries May 20: During a lifting session, Will Beatty suffered a torn pectoral injury. Beatty will undergo surgery, sidelining him for 5–6 months. July 4: When setting off fireworks, Jason Pierre-Paul blasted off his index finger, part of his thumb and middle finger. He has returned.Jason Pierre-Paul fingers

Staff

Staff changes DateCoachTransactionNotes Perry Fewell (defensive coordinator) Fired Peter Giunta (secondary/cornerbacks) Fired Steve Spagnuolo (defensive coordinator) Hired Tim Walton (secondary/cornerbacks) Hired Tom Coughlin (head coach) Extension Thru 2016

The Giants' most notable staff change involves their defensive coordinator position. Following the 2014 season the team fired Perry Fewell after five seasons. To replace him the Giants brought back Steve Spagnuolo, who had been the team's coordinator for the 2007 and 2008 seasons and who was most recently the secondary coach for the Baltimore Ravens.

Final staff

Final roster

Schedule

Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 at Cincinnati Bengals L 10–23 0–1 Paul Brown Stadium Recap 2 Jacksonville Jaguars W 22–12 1–1 MetLife Stadium Recap 3 New York Jets L 18–28 1–2 MetLife Stadium Recap 4 at New England Patriots W 12–9 2–2 Gillette Stadium Recap

Regular season Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 13 at Dallas Cowboys L 26–27 0–1 AT&T Stadium Recap 2 September 20 Atlanta Falcons L 20–24 0–2 MetLife Stadium Recap 3 Washington Redskins W 32–21 1–2 MetLife Stadium Recap 4 October 4 at Buffalo Bills W 24–10 2–2 Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap 5 October 11 San Francisco 49ers W 30–27 3–2 MetLife Stadium Recap 6 at Philadelphia Eagles L 7–27 3–3 Lincoln Financial Field Recap 7 October 25 Dallas Cowboys W 27–20 4–3 MetLife Stadium Recap 8 November 1 at New Orleans Saints L 49–52 4–4 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap 9 November 8 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 32–18 5–4 Raymond James Stadium Recap 10 November 15 New England Patriots L 26–27 5–5 MetLife Stadium Recap 11Bye 12 November 29 at Washington Redskins L 14–20 5–6 FedExField Recap 13 December 6 New York Jets L 20–23 5–7 MetLife Stadium Recap 14 at Miami Dolphins W 31–24 6–7 Sun Life Stadium Recap 15 December 20 Carolina Panthers L 35–38 6–8 MetLife Stadium Recap 16 December 27 at Minnesota Vikings L 17–49 6–9 TCF Bank Stadium Recap 17 January 3 Philadelphia Eagles L 30–35 6–10 MetLife Stadium Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: at Dallas Cowboys Towards the end of the game, the Cowboys did not have any timeouts, and the Giants were facing 3rd and goal from the Cowboys 1-yard line with 1:43 remaining. However, instead of just kneeing the ball and letting the clock run out, the Giants decided to throw the ball instead. Eli Manning's pass was thrown away, and the clock stopped. Josh Brown would kick a 19-yard field goal to give the Giants a 26-20 lead. The Cowboys marched down the field and got into Giants territory. The drive concluded when Tony Romo threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Jason Witten with 7 seconds left to give the Cowboys the win. Following the game, the Giants were met with heavy criticism from their fans and the media for the throwing play earlier, with most of the criticism being aimed at head coach Tom Coughlin, who later admitted that it was his fault and that the strategy for the game was wrong at the end.

With the loss, the Giants started 0-1.

Week 2: vs. Atlanta Falcons For the second time in two weeks, the Giants blew a fourth quarter lead inside of 2 minutes. The Falcons went down the field to score with 1:14 remaining after Devonta Freeman ran in for a 1-yard touchdown. The Giants tried to go down the field, but the drive failed, and the Giants lost 24-20.

With the loss, the Giants fell to 0-2.

Week 3: vs. Washington Redskins The Giants finally got their first win of the season, beating the Redskins 32-21 on Thursday Night Football. The game began with the safety, making this the first game since Super Bowl XLVIII that the first score of the game was a safety.

With the win, the Giants improved to 1-2. This would be their last win on Thursday Night Football until 2025

Week 4: at Buffalo Bills

Prior to the season, Bills head coach Rex Ryan expressed that he wanted his team to be last in the league in penalties (the Bills had led the league in penalties in 2014). In that respect, this game was notably embarrassing for the Bills as they committed an outrageous 17 penalties for 135 yards. Five of them were either personal fouls or unsportsmanlike conduct, and two of them negated Bills touchdowns.

Week 5: vs. San Francisco 49ers The 49ers went down the field to score with 1:45 remaining. The game appeared over after Tramaine Brock appeared to have an interception. However, the interception was reviewed, and after review, the call was overturned, because replay concluded that the ball had hit the ground before Brock was able to control it. The next play, Kenneth Acker was called for pass interference which gave the Giants the ball on the goal line. Larry Donnell caught the game-winning touchdown with 21 seconds left to give the Giants the win.

With the win, the Giants improved to 3-2.

Week 6: at Philadelphia Eagles The Giants led 7-0 after they scored first on their opening drive. However, the Eagles outscored them 27-0 the rest of the way.

With the loss, the Giants dropped to 3-3.

Week 7: vs. Dallas Cowboys