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Giants' Coughlin Out-Foxed by Panthers' Plan
By JON SARACENO, USA TODAY
Sports Commentary
Tiki Barber had the nerve to put his mouth where his money is, to say what his entire locker room was thinking. After delivering one of the great little-man seasons in NFL history, and after nobly serving as the emotional compass of a team that buried its two owners, Barber had earned the right to declare Tom Coughlin the second-best coach on the Giants Stadium field.
John Fox had just made the New York Giants' decision to let Vince Lombardi leave for Green Bay look brilliant when measured against their choice to bless Fox's jump to Carolina. The Giants' former defensive coordinator had just made Coughlin look like a guy who should spend less time running surveillance in hotel lobbies to nail any player wearing white socks and unlaced Nikes to the gift shop.
"They just had a good scheme," Barber said of the Panthers. "I think in some ways we were out-coached."
Good for him. Maybe this was Barber's first meaningful move on a day when he gained 41 lousy yards in a 23-0 playoff defeat, the only 41 rushing yards the Giants would get. But it was the one cut against the grain that needed to be made. (Related story: Panthers crush Giants)
If Coughlin wants to hold his players to all sorts of silly boot-camp standards, then his players need to hold him accountable, too.
"I don't think Plaxico had a catch," Barber said of the reception-free Burress. "So I think that's just a testament to (the fact) that our game plan wasn't the right one."
Game plan? What game plan? When the Panthers made it clear they had built their Sunday around stopping Barber, Coughlin did nothing to help his running back or overmatched quarterback, Eli Manning, who managed a hat trick's worth of interceptions while committing his usual off-the-back-foot, across-the-body, into-double-coverage sins.
Meanwhile, Fox had no problem making the X's and O's work for his star, Steve Smith, who scored once by air and once by ground - the rushing touchdown coming on a creative reverse. Fox is the one with the defensive background, Coughlin the one with the offensive background. You would've never known it by the stat sheet - 43 minutes of possession to 17, 23 first downs to 9 - or by the toxic quotes drifting away from the losing side.
"You've got to give their coaches credit; they had a great game plan," Burress must've said a dozen times in 15 cathartic minutes at his stall. "They had an answer for everything we did. It seemed like they were one step ahead of us the whole game. When we lined up, they had an answer for every formation. ... They were more prepared than we were."
Burress doesn't pack Barber's cachet, not after one second-chance season with New York. But acknowledging that an opponent showed up more prepared than your team is acknowledging that your head coach failed to honor his responsibilities in an all-or-nothing game.
"You've got to tell the truth," Burress said. "They had a great game plan for us."
Burress and Jeremy Shockey spent the afternoon wearing the body language of defeat, throwing up their hands in disgust. Burress was awed by the draw plays that helped DeShaun Foster gain 151 yards and by the quick passes from Jake Delhomme to Smith that kept the Carolina chains moving toward Chicago and a second-round game with the Bears.
"They were just playing smart," Burress said. "They're a way better football team than we are."
The Giants were awful on offense, defense, special teams. Coughlin shouldn't have had the Jurassic Terrell Buckley within four ZIP codes of Smith, but the wide receiver burned Buckley on a 22-yard touchdown pass that set the ominous tone.
The Giants would be shut out in the playoffs for the first time in 20 years. After Coughlin blazed his drill sergeant path to the postgame podium, he said his team had "started to restore New York Giant pride."
Sorry, tough guy, but it doesn't work that way. You don't get embarrassed by the other head coach, in your own building, and then ask people to see some lush forest beyond the barren trees.
Coughlin now has a 4-5 playoff record to go with four losing seasons in the last five. On a day when Eli made the comparisons to Peyton seem more absurd than those classic Chad Pennington comparisons to Joe Montana, Coughlin was still the most inept Giant in the house.
Fox? "He knows how to get his guys playing at the right level," Barber said. "He was the reason that we shut out Minnesota in 2000 and got to the Super Bowl."
Barber would call Fox "a great defensive coordinator." He meant to say a great head coach, and the only one to be found on the Giants Stadium field.
01/09/2006 07:21
By JON SARACENO, USA TODAY
Sports Commentary
Tiki Barber had the nerve to put his mouth where his money is, to say what his entire locker room was thinking. After delivering one of the great little-man seasons in NFL history, and after nobly serving as the emotional compass of a team that buried its two owners, Barber had earned the right to declare Tom Coughlin the second-best coach on the Giants Stadium field.
John Fox had just made the New York Giants' decision to let Vince Lombardi leave for Green Bay look brilliant when measured against their choice to bless Fox's jump to Carolina. The Giants' former defensive coordinator had just made Coughlin look like a guy who should spend less time running surveillance in hotel lobbies to nail any player wearing white socks and unlaced Nikes to the gift shop.
"They just had a good scheme," Barber said of the Panthers. "I think in some ways we were out-coached."
Good for him. Maybe this was Barber's first meaningful move on a day when he gained 41 lousy yards in a 23-0 playoff defeat, the only 41 rushing yards the Giants would get. But it was the one cut against the grain that needed to be made. (Related story: Panthers crush Giants)
If Coughlin wants to hold his players to all sorts of silly boot-camp standards, then his players need to hold him accountable, too.
"I don't think Plaxico had a catch," Barber said of the reception-free Burress. "So I think that's just a testament to (the fact) that our game plan wasn't the right one."
Game plan? What game plan? When the Panthers made it clear they had built their Sunday around stopping Barber, Coughlin did nothing to help his running back or overmatched quarterback, Eli Manning, who managed a hat trick's worth of interceptions while committing his usual off-the-back-foot, across-the-body, into-double-coverage sins.
Meanwhile, Fox had no problem making the X's and O's work for his star, Steve Smith, who scored once by air and once by ground - the rushing touchdown coming on a creative reverse. Fox is the one with the defensive background, Coughlin the one with the offensive background. You would've never known it by the stat sheet - 43 minutes of possession to 17, 23 first downs to 9 - or by the toxic quotes drifting away from the losing side.
"You've got to give their coaches credit; they had a great game plan," Burress must've said a dozen times in 15 cathartic minutes at his stall. "They had an answer for everything we did. It seemed like they were one step ahead of us the whole game. When we lined up, they had an answer for every formation. ... They were more prepared than we were."
Burress doesn't pack Barber's cachet, not after one second-chance season with New York. But acknowledging that an opponent showed up more prepared than your team is acknowledging that your head coach failed to honor his responsibilities in an all-or-nothing game.
"You've got to tell the truth," Burress said. "They had a great game plan for us."
Burress and Jeremy Shockey spent the afternoon wearing the body language of defeat, throwing up their hands in disgust. Burress was awed by the draw plays that helped DeShaun Foster gain 151 yards and by the quick passes from Jake Delhomme to Smith that kept the Carolina chains moving toward Chicago and a second-round game with the Bears.
"They were just playing smart," Burress said. "They're a way better football team than we are."
The Giants were awful on offense, defense, special teams. Coughlin shouldn't have had the Jurassic Terrell Buckley within four ZIP codes of Smith, but the wide receiver burned Buckley on a 22-yard touchdown pass that set the ominous tone.
The Giants would be shut out in the playoffs for the first time in 20 years. After Coughlin blazed his drill sergeant path to the postgame podium, he said his team had "started to restore New York Giant pride."
Sorry, tough guy, but it doesn't work that way. You don't get embarrassed by the other head coach, in your own building, and then ask people to see some lush forest beyond the barren trees.
Coughlin now has a 4-5 playoff record to go with four losing seasons in the last five. On a day when Eli made the comparisons to Peyton seem more absurd than those classic Chad Pennington comparisons to Joe Montana, Coughlin was still the most inept Giant in the house.
Fox? "He knows how to get his guys playing at the right level," Barber said. "He was the reason that we shut out Minnesota in 2000 and got to the Super Bowl."
Barber would call Fox "a great defensive coordinator." He meant to say a great head coach, and the only one to be found on the Giants Stadium field.
01/09/2006 07:21
Tiki
