E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer
for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he is one of
only five sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls.
Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

By DAVE KLEIN
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The drama was not only unmistakable, it was a welcome change from the boring tedium the first three quarters of last night's game had produced.

Yes, it was the Giants against the Dallas Cowboys, usually enough to generate bitterness and intensity.

But with both teams suffering through horrendous seasons, it was something less than historic. So when the Cowboys recaptured the lead with 1:49 to play and then cashed in the two-point conversion to make it 24-21, everyone figured the best the Giants could do with make an improbable field goal which would only have given them time to figure out some way to lose in overtime.

Then it happened. Rookie quarterback Eli Manning suddenly became a veteran. The offensive line suddenly became a professional unit. Receivers you never heard of began catching the ball, and downfield went the Giants, into the Dallas defense and into the ticking clock.

But through it all there was running back Tiki Barber, whose gallantry and courage through this entire season stood out in sometimes stark contrast to the ordinary nature of this rebuilding team.

He had entered the game needing 62 yards to surpass Rodney Hampton's career rushing record of 6,897 yards, and he needed 93 to break Joe Morris' single-season (1986) mark of 1,516 yards.

He got Hampton's record in the fourth quarter, and then with the game on the line he needed two more yards to move past Morris.

It was first and goal from the Cowboys' three-yard line and the clock showed 0:16 to play. Dallas still held the 24-21 lead, but it seemed the Giants were finally doing things right. On the first play of the series Manning threw a screen to Barber that ate up 23 yards. Slowly, inexorably, the Giants moved downfield -- and there was the frozen moment.

Just 16 seconds to play, the Giants moving to the line, Eli looking at the Dallas defense and -- honest -- the rookie called an audible. "The safeties were back there in a 'quarters' technique," he said, referring to each safety taking the deep quarter of the end zone with the cornerbacks manning the closer quarters. "We had a pass play called and we said if they're not blitzing or it they are playing that coverage to check to the run. We did it, and I thought it was a little gutsy because if you don't get it you have to get up to the line real quick and try to spike it."

But he went for it anyway. "The offensive line did a great job of blocking," he said.

So he handed the ball to Tiki -- get the drama here, Barber needed two yards for the single-season record and three yards to win the game -- and the little man drove up under the right guard (Jason Whittle). He was in, he had the record and he had the game and the Giants' eight-game losing streak had ended.

"No cheap yardage there," Tiki grinned in the post-game locker room. "First of all, I want to give so much credit to my offensive like. I got guys like (right tackle) David Diehl, who hasn't missed a start in two years, and to (left guard) Jason Whittle, who played with two broken ribs and refused to come out of the game, and (center) Shaun O'Hara, who for the past three weeks has been hobbling on a bad ankle but has always been out there for me and Wayne Lucier, who has had to fill in all over the line.

"These guys have been awesome. This is as much their record as it is mine, and I give them all the credit. Even though I'll get all the glory, I give them the credit."

He said the play on which he scored and won the game had been called before. "We have used that run before, we did it against Minnesota. It's a reverse audible. We change from a pass to a run. Most teams figure you're going to pass, you could see it right off the bat that they [Dallas] checked into something else that was going to make them vulnerable, and it was easy sailing into the end zone."

Well, there he was, little Tiki Barber, in the end zone. The game was over, save for a kickoff and one hopeless pass play by the Cowboys, and head coach Tom Coughlin was actually smiling.

Honest, fellas, he was actually smiling, running down the sideline. Smiling.

"It's been a long time since I was able to stand here with a smile," he said. "It was right down to the wife. We needed a two-minute drive to be successful and I thought it was a great football game. We played this game with heart and spirit and toughness."

They also played it with two guys -- defensive tackles Davern Williams and Damane Duckett -- who had rarely been on the field before. They had players rise up and play above themselves, outside themselves and in the long run the remnants remaining from the team that started the season proved conclusively that these Giants didn't quit.

They didn't win enough games. They lost games that should have been won. But through all the aggravation and forced discipline provided by Coughlin, they didn't quit. Just that should keep them going through the off-season and into the spring and minicamps.

They'll come back with a young quarterback and an older running back, and if they can fill in several other places, who knows that can actually be gained from this excruciating season?

Check out Dave's website at E-GIANTS where you can subscribe to his newsletters which run much more frequently than what is available here.
- Team Giants

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