Tampa Bay and the NFC South.
Tampa Bay is in the same division as the Panthers (7-9), Saints (7-9) and Falcons (4-11). As you can see, none of those teams finished with a winning record, and the Bucs at 9-7 became the Division Champs. The previous season they lost every game to their division rivals and finished at 4-12. If they had been able to win their game last week against Carolina, they would have reversed that and become the first team since the 1999 St. Louis Rams, and the only teams since 1970 to go unbeaten in division play the year after going winless.

Jon Gruden - The Master Plan.
It's been to rest his players. After pulling them and then going on to lose against San Francisco, Gruden said. "It's a decision that we made when we won the division last week. We've had a number of injuries this year. We've been able to overcome them and qualify for the playoffs. ... I wanted to take this as an opportunity to evaluate some of our other players, and we're glad we did that. It'll be a very similar case next week." Gruden said he would, and that's just what he did in the final regular season game at home.

Tom Coughlin - The Master Plan.
Early on, Tom Coughlin had his team thinking 'Talk Is Cheap, Play the Game', and that's just what he did when he was faced with the choice of going full storm against a powerful unbeaten team or resting players. They responded and gave it their all even though they had nothing to gain with a playoff game locked up, while facing a chance to be hurt for that match. The end result was that they gained a lot of confidence and momentum, but had injuries to three starters.

Quarterback Jeff Garcia on The Giants.
"I just really give the Giants a lot of credit for how they played against the Patriots," Tampa Bay's quarterback Jeff Garcia said. "I think they believe - I know they believe - that they could have won the football game. I think that energy is going to carry over into this week. What they were able to do as a team last Saturday night probably gives them a lot of confidence, or a lot more than they already had going into this weekend."

Quarterback Jeff Garcia on Jon Gruden.
He speaks his mind. "I was disappointed about only playing a half in San Francisco in a place where I had played for five years," Garcia had passed for 196 yards and a touchdown against his former team before the head coach pulled him and other key teammates. "I really wanted to battle through that entire game. I feel over-rested in a sense. I feel restless, so to speak. It seems like it has been a while since I have actually played a complete game, and I don't really like that feeling." Garcia said.
Gruden says, "I think we did the right thing in keeping [Garcia] out last week, making sure he had a chance to compete in these playoffs at full strength. But there will be some of the critics that feel differently, I'm sure." Gruden would probably like to remind Garcia that he's 37 years old and as recent as the 12th and 13th games of this season, had to leave with a back injury.

Jeff Garcia.
All head coaches preach to their team about not making mistakes. Garcia is one player who comes real close. He's thrown only four interceptions all season and three of them came in one bad game at Detroit. Garcia has completed 209 of his 327 passes for 2440 yards and 13 touchdowns. At 37 he still scrambles and moves the pocket and that helps out his young offensive line. Garcia is 2-3 in the playoffs with both victories against the Giants. In January 2003, he was San Francisco's quarterback and he led his team back from a 24-point deficit, which included his 14-yard touchdown run. Last year with the Eagles, he beat the Giants 23-20 with a touchdown pass.

Quarterback Eli Manning.
Manning played a strong game in the 38-35 loss to the Patriots, and it's been a while since he has looked as sharp. His 118.6 quarterback rating was his best of the season and even topped Tom Brady (116.8). Manning threw four touchdown passes against one interception to finish the regular season with 529 attempts and 297 completions. Overall he passed for 3336 yards with 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions, and is 0-2 in the playoffs.

Giants Defense vs Tampa Bay Offense.
This will be all about the Giants pass rushing defense going up against the league's youngest offensive line in the league. Tampa Bay uses three second-year players and one rookie along with experienced 10 year center John Wade. Still, quarterback Jeff Garcia was sacked only 19 times in his 13 starts. If pressured he'll toss to the running back out of the backfield. Given time, Garcia will be looking for mistakes in the Giants secondary coverage for big plays to Joey Galloway who averaged 17.8 yards a catch and scored 6 touchdowns this season. Concerning that, last week Giants cornerback Sam Madison suffered an abdominal strain during the game, hurting their chances against New England. Former Giant Ike Hilliard leads the Bucs in receptions with 62, and more than half have resulted in first downs.
The Giants secondary is usually tested and if Sam Madison can't play, that will hurt. Cornerback Kevin Dockery (hip) hasn't practiced and they have untested rookie Geoffrey Pope along with first round draft pick rookie Aaron Ross and Corey Webster. The Bucs lost running back Cadillac Williams early on with a knee injury and Earnest Graham took over. He leads the team with 898 yards and 10 touchdowns on 222 carries, and is good at picking up yards after initial contact.

Giants Offense vs Tampa Bay's Defense.
The Giants hadn't scored any points in the opening quarter in four games leading up to last week's game against new England. Eli Manning threw four touchdown passes for the first time since the season opener with Plaxico Burress catching two. They finished with 35 points, but now they are going up against Tampa Bay. In the offseason they used seven of their ten draft picks on defensive players and are ranked 2nd overall in the NFL, and first against the pass. Their defense pressures quarterbacks with just four guys and their secondary does the rest. It works, because they are the NFL's best with only 170.5 passing yards per game allowed.
Their defense is weaker against the run, ranked just 17th. They have to contend with Brandon Jacobs who is third in the NFL with 91.7 yards per game. He'll have to hang onto the ball. The Bucs plus-15 turnover ratio includes 19 recovered fumbles as well as 16 interceptions. Rookie tight end Kevin Boss, with 9 receptions and two touchdowns, has been effective in replacing Jeremy Shockey. Plaxico Burress will be up against cornerback Ronde Barber who has 11 career touchdowns on interception or punt returns, including two this season.

Any Help?
Last year Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was a defensive assistant with the Eagles. He watched Jeff Garcia in practice and on game days all of last season.

Notes.
Giants finished the season with 53 sacks working under new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
Last year they had 32 sacks.

Michael Strahan lives near Jeff Garcia in California during the offseason and sometimes works out with him at a local gym.

Michael Strahan, a 15-year veteran, hasn't said if he will play in the 2008 season.
The final game of this Giants season might be the last of his career.

Giants are 7-1 on the road this season.

Neither the Giants (2000) nor the Bucs (2002) have won a playoff game since appearing in the Super Bowl
Only seven players from the Super Bowl XXXVII champions remain with the Bucs.

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