(Are you listening, Kansas basketball team?)
“I hope it’s not a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Coughlin said after presenting President Bush with a Giants jersey.
Three months after New York stunned the football world by winning three straight road games in the playoffs and shocking the unbeaten New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, the Giants have been basking in the glow of the championship.
They’ve made the obligatory appearances with Letterman, Regis and Kelly, and even Ellen DeGeneres. Coughlin, whose job was in jeopardy in December, signed a rich new contract.
They’ve replayed the pivotal play in the Super Bowl, when quarterback Eli Manning made an amazing escape from the rush before wide receiver David Tyree made a remarkable catch with the ball pinned against his helmet, setting up the game-winning touchdown.
They’ve relived the incredible feat of marching through Tampa, Dallas and Green Bay in the playoffs as part of winning 11 straight road games (including one in London and the Super Bowl).
And they’ve remembered what it was like to start the season 0-2 and see their coach and quarterback skewered in New York, particularly as Manning tied for the lead league with 20 interceptions.
But as difficult as it was to get there, the Giants realize how much tougher it is to repeat. The Patriots, in 2004 and 2005, and the Denver Broncos, in 1998 and 1999, are the only teams to repeat as Super Bowl champions since the salary cap/free agent era began in 1993.
“That’s always the question,” Coughlin said. “The one thing that came out of last year … the players believed in themselves and the idea of team and the sharing of the team concept gave them greater confidence.
“There were people who counted on each other and relied on each other. Our approach will be the same. One meeting, one practice, one day at a time. You do the best you can, try the hardest you can and surround yourself with people with a singleness of purpose.”
The club’s biggest leap of faith was to believe in Manning, even though his play was inconsistent during the regular season and his passer rating was a pedestrian 73.9.
But Manning, in his third full year as the starter, was brilliant in the regular-season-ending loss to New England, completing 22 of 32 passes and throwing four touchdowns. And he lit it up in the playoffs, completing 72 of 119 passes for 854 yards, six touchdowns, one interception and a 95.7 rating.
“Most quarterbacks, it takes three to four years to produce the kind of numbers he started producing in the playoffs,” said Giants middle linebacker Antonio Pierce. “It came down to his being comfortable, putting his blinders on, not really focusing on what the outside world was thinking, really focusing on what the 53 guys, the coaches and the organization were really believing in him, and that’s what we did.
“We believed in him. We had nobody else. Who else were we going to believe in? This is who our franchise quarterback is, and he started believing that we were believing in him, and he played lights out.”
Coughlin is convinced Manning is only going to get better.
“The way he played in the playoffs, his decision-making, the releasing the ball on time, all of those things, the view of the field, they were things he did very well,” Coughlin said. “He’s now had the reinforcement of having done that, and I think that he’ll continue to grow and go from there.
Join the discussion
Share your observations and experiences about news. Lively, open debate is the goal, but please refrain from personal attacks or comments that are racist, vulgar or otherwise inappropriate. If you see an inappropriate comment, please click the "Report as violation" link to notify a KansasCity.com editor. Thanks for your feedback.