EAST RUTHERFORD, N. J. — After reviewing the video tape of his team’s 16-10 loss on Sunday to the 49ers, New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin admitted that he is scratching his head over the failed fourth-quarter series.

Inside the 49ers’ 5-yard line the Giants tried three consecutive fade passes that each fell incomplete. On the fourth-down play, quarterback Eli Manning tossed one of his five interceptions of the game, thus ending any chance the Giants had of making a comeback.

“The ball is on the 4-yard line. You have a chance to win the game. Somebody make a play,” Coughlin said. “Get the ball in the end zone and you win. I will remember that one. As a matter of fact, I thought when (receiver Odell Beckham Jr.) made that spectacular catch, I figured, ‘This is going to be great. We are going to win one of those nail-biters.'”

He figured wrong. That drive was more of a coffin nail. On Monday, he sought to clarify the team’s thinking in the play selection.

“We had to change the first play,” Coughlin said. “There was a run called and we couldn’t continue to keep the run on because of the number of people that were in the box with a three-wide receiver set and one-back running scheme. We did leave that play.

“Then later there was another opportunity to go to a run, but (Manning) felt good about the matchup that he had. Let’s face it, we were ranked in the top-10 in the green zone all year long. It had been one of the things we had done really well.

“We had thrown the ball to, whether it be (tight end) Larry Donnell or (receiver) Rueben (Randle) or whatever, we had done that any number of times, including training camp and including preseason. We felt good about those opportunities. In fact, after looking at the tape, I think two of those balls should have been caught.”

What was interesting about that sequence is that Coughlin, whose team earlier in the game failed to convert on fourth-and-inches, did not actually try to run the ball.

“It doesn’t help, it doesn’t help,” he said when asked if that failed conversion factored into the coach and quarterback’s combined decision to go with the three fade passes.

So why not at least try a quarterback sneak?

“I don’t like them sticking their neck in the pile,” Coughlin said. “I think there are other ways to go about it.”

It’s too late, obviously for the Giants to go back and undo the decisions they made in that game, so in moving forward and in trying to help his offense rebound from its forgettable showing, Coughlin is reaching into his bag of tricks and will use an internal motivating factor to ignite his offense.

That would be his team’s defense, which rebounded from its own nightmarish showing the prior week against Seattle.

“The point that I made with our team today was that a week ago our defense was upset and embarrassed. They hadn’t played well,” Coughlin said.

“They really focused well and practiced well. (They) put their nose to the grindstone. Their pride was on the line and they played better. I am hoping that the offense will respond in the exact same way this week.”

REPORT CARD VS. 49ers

–PASSING OFFENSE: F — It doesn’t matter who takes the blame for the five interceptions. The bottom line is a team that throws that many picks isn’t going to win and it’s totally unacceptable by a quarterback entering his second decade of NFL service to be making some of the poor rookielike throws that were behind at least two of the picks. Also not acceptable was the job done by the pass blockers, who allowed countless pressures including seven hits against quarterback Eli Manning and two sacks.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: D — The return of Rashad Jennings was merely a blip on the radar as he too struggled to find any room behind the poor run-blocking efforts of the offensive line. The Giants finished with just 65 yards on 21 carries and the running game was shut out in the scoring department. This week marked the third in a row and the sixth time this season that the Giants have failed to rush for at least 100 yards as a team. New York is 0-6 in those games.

–PASS DEFENSE: D — Compared to last week, things were improved, but the Giants still gave up a big pass play, a 48-yard touchdown to Michael Crabtree, they only recorded one sack and two hits on quarterback Colin Kaepernick, and they only managed to break up four of Kaepernick’s 29 pass attempts. The Giants’ 22nd ranked pass defense is currently yielding 252.7 yards per game to opposing passing offenses.

–RUSH DEFENSE: C — The Giants continue to have issues defending the edge. While they weren’t gouged to the tune of 350 yards this week, they did allow 148 yards on 37 carries, and gave up two big-play runs of 17 and 16 yards to running back Frank Gore and quarterback Colin Kaepernick respectively. It also didn’t help matters than the linebackers had some early game issues with shedding blocks and with taking poor angles. Eventually things settled down after the first quarter, a quarter in which New York gave up 63 of the 148 yards allowed on the day. When it was all over, the Giants run defense, which is allowing 145.0 yards per game (32nd in the league) kept pace with its season average.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: A — It is rare these days to see the Giants special teams wins the field position battle, but that’s exactly what happened. The decision to put Odell Beckham at punt returner has seen New York get its highest return average from a punt returner since the days of Domenik Hixon (13.0). On kickoff returns, Preston Parker made smart decisions and was pristine with his ball security. The coverage also was solid and how about the Giants successfully executing a rare onside kick?

–COACHING: D — When a team becomes so predictable that opponents and casual spectators anticipate what’s coming, that is not good. A perfect example was the fatal 1st-and-goal series in the fourth quarter when offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo called for three straight fade passes that went nowhere. Yes, the Giants have had success with that play in the past, but when you go to the well one time too many and don’t make the opponent stop and think about what might be coming, that’s when you lose your advantage. Another questionable decision of McAdoo’s was to have a running play on 4th-and-inches go toward the right side of the line, which happened to be the duo of John Jerry at right guard and Charles Brown at right tackle, both of whom had a game to forget. Speaking of advantage, it is a mystery as to why defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, whose unit had nowhere to go but up this week, refuses to start Robert Ayers at defensive end ahead of Mathias Kiwanuka at defensive end — on a run defense that is ranked 32nd in the NFL.