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. -- Since yesterday was the day after the Giants' playoff disaster, it also was "baggie" day.

That, traditionally, is when players on a team that has just been eliminated from the playoffs -- or teams that have simply played their final games of the regular season -- show up, meet with the coach, collect off-season telephone numbers and say their goodbyes. Then they throw all their junk into a black plastic bag (hence, baggie day) and head out.

Huge waste basket containers are filled with game gloves, mail, hangars and hundreds of pairs of football shoes (hey, they get them for free anyway), the laundry machines are humming incessantly and the harsh reality is that the season is over.

For Tiki Barber, it was somewhat more than just baggie day. He had a meeting with head coach Tom Coughlin, and while neither side had must to say about specifics, the reason for the encounter was simply enough -- Tiki broke an unwritten rule and criticized the coaching staff after the 23-0 horror that sent the Carolina Panthers to Chicago and sent the Giants home.

"What Tiki said did upset me," said Coughlin. "I talked with him. We watched some tape of the game. I told him that no one individual wins or loses, that the concept of 'team' includes everyone. We talked, exchanged viewpoints and in the end it was the way it should have been. We shook hands. Tiki always has the right attitude and he was just highly frustrated and highly competitive."

It should be noted that nothing is less expected than for a head coach and his star running back to sit down and watch film together the morning after such a devastating (Coughlin's word) loss. One might guess that the only things missing were candles, a bottle of good wine and a hunk of Brie.

What Tiki said immediately after the game was an indictment of the coaching staff, although one wondered whether he meant Coughlin or offensive coordinator John Hufnagel or the entire collection of coaches. "I think in some ways we were out-coached," was his pronouncement.

Yesterday morning, after his little tete-à-tete with Coughlin, Tiki visited with the media. Charming as ever, articulate as ever, smiling as ever, he enlarged on his previous night's statement.

"When I said out coached or out-played," he said, "it was not an indictment of our staff but more of a compliment to the other team. Coach Coughlin and I had a good conversation, and what I said shouldn't have been an issue, but we were just out-everything-ed yesterday. If anybody feels it's OK, that what we accomplished during the season was enough, that's just wrong. We got our butts kicked and nobody should feel good about that."

None of that was wrong.

Coughlin wore a drained and haggard look, admitted the night wasn't very peaceful and that the way the Giants played, in a playoff game and a home game, was "extremely unacceptable." He cited the lack of blocking, lack of tackling, lack of everything.

"I told the team that the loss was devastating," he said. "I told them in our team meeting this morning that they should start to count the days until we begin workouts again [likely to start March 20, that optional-mandatory team workout and conditioning program].

"It is a very difficult thing, the day after a game like that," he continued. "The finality of it starts to sink in. We lost a playoff game. There is no game next Sunday. It was gut-wrenching. But at the same time, I tried to get the team to understand that they should appreciate the entire season and all the achievements we made. We won six games last year, and if anyone out there [the media] thought we'd win 11 games this year, raise your hand."

No one did, of course, whether or not they believed it.

"This disappointment," he said, "will stay with me for a long time."

Coughlin was asked what points of optimism he will keep with him, as he prepares to burrow deep underground and plan and plot for next season. "We did a lot of things well," he said. "We won 11 games. We won our division. We made progress with Eli Manning, who for all intents and purposes was a rookie quarterback. We had two great defensive ends [Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora] who had great seasons, and our offensive line played well and will be back. The wide receivers [Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer] and tight end [Jeremy Shockey] will be back. The placekicker [Jay Feely] did a great job."

Areas of concern? "I would think that the linebackers and the secondary would be my chief areas of concern," he said, and at the same time he mentioned that right cornerback Will Allen will become a free agent. He didn't mention that linebacker Nick Greisen will reach that same plateau.

The Giants cannot afford to lose Greisen.

Other subjects of interest included the on-going pursuit of defensive coordinator Tim Lewis by several teams searching for a new head coach. "He is certainly well qualified for that kind of job," Coughlin said. "He is well prepared and I will do everything I can to help him in his quest to become a head coach in this league. He has done well under adversity and he has taken on all the aspects of his job successfully."

Should Lewis be named a head coach, chances are likely that he'll be replaced by the recently fired head coach of the Houston Texans, Dom Capers, who was his defensive coordinator when he coached the Jacksonville Jaguars.

And, finally, Eli.

"He is a young kid who had his first full season and a playoff game," he said. "The quality of that experience will be a great asset to him. The first thing he needs to do is rest. It has been a grueling season. He needs to rest. Then he'll get into film study, first the cut-ups [various clips of the same act, such as throwing a deep pass or a screen pass, etc.]. He needs to become more comfortable and confident with various things, like the third down area, the red zone area. But I think he did very well, and I am confident that he will continue to improve."

That said, head coach Thomas Richard Coughlin headed off into the cave, not to appear, for all intents and purposes, until the March workouts.

What is? "The Super Bowl," he said."The Super Bowl and that ring."

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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