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Riotmaker
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: South Burlington, Vermont
Posts: 5,717
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Giant Task
Quote:
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Jeff Garcia sent the Giants into a long, cold offseason twice in the previous five seasons.
DE Osi Umenyiora and the rest of the D-Line will have to keep an eye on Bucs' QB Jeff Garcia.
On Sunday, the Giants would like to return the favor.
Garcia is the quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whom the Giants will face Sunday in an NFC Wild Card game in Raymond James Stadium. He and the Giants have become regular Wild Card round adversaries.
Five years ago, Garcia was the San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback when they overcame a 38-14 deficit and defeated the Giants, 39-38, in Candlestick Park. It was the second-biggest comeback in NFL playoff history.
Last season, Garcia completed 17 of 31 passes while leading the Philadelphia Eagles to a 23-20 first-round victory in Lincoln Financial Field.
“I remember they were great games,” Garcia said this week. “They went down to the end. Always tough games against the Giants and fortunately for myself and the teams that I was playing with at the time, we were able to find ways to win the games.”
After last season, Garcia joined the Buccaneers as a free agent. When he takes the first snap on Sunday, Garcia will become the only quarterback in the Super Bowl
era to start vs. the same opponent in the playoffs with three different teams.
Garcia is 4-1 overall against the Giants, whose defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, was with him last season in Philadelphia. Spagnuolo was an Eagles assistant for eight seasons.
“Jeff was there only the one year and certainly I saw him at his best,” Spagnuolo said. “He came on really strong in that latter half of last year (after stepping in for an injured Donovan McNabb) and I have a lot of respect for him. He is a very smart, very intelligent guy, a great competitor. But other than that, I don’t know that I have any real tips on him other than he is a good football player, another good quarterback that we have to play.”
He is all that and more. Garcia started all 13 games in which he played this season. He was limited to four passes against Washington on Nov. 25 because of a back injury, which kept him out of the next two games – vs. New Orleans on Dec. 2 and Houston a week later. Garcia returned to play against Atlanta and San Francisco, but was inactive for last week’s season finale vs. the Panthers, when Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden rested many of his starters.
Garcia threw only 49 passes in the last six weeks of the season, completing 29 of them.
“I feel over-rested in a sense,” Garcia said. “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. I have more of an old school mentality. I like to play until I am basically dragged off of the field. It is just one of those things where I had to deal with coach Gruden’s decision and he is the coach and that is the approach that he took
Garcia’s season-long body of work is impressive. He completed 209 of 327 passes (63.9 percent) for 2,440 yards, 13 touchdowns and only four interceptions. His interception percentage of 1.2 broke the club record of 1.3 set by Brad Johnson in 2002 – the year Johnson led the Bucs to a Super Bowl victory.
“He is playing very well,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “He is very efficient. He has a very high quarterback rating, 94.6, which is seventh in the National Football League. He has played well and he is running, I think, more than he ran a year ago when he was in Philadelphia.”
In Tampa Bay with Gruden, Garcia runs another incarnation of the West Coast offense, which he has played in most of his NFL career. Garcia is comfortable running the attack, he can make adjustments on the fly and connect quickly with his receivers, including former Giant Ike Hilliard, who led the Bucs with 62 catches this season.
“He is very much in tune with the style of offense,” Coughlin said. “He has played in that offense throughout his career. And when he has done well he has been in that type of scheme. He certainly has done an outstanding job for them. He is the guy that you have to try to do something about. You have to get pressure on him, you have to contain him, you have to get up in his face. We definitely know of the strengths of Jeff Garcia, how well he is playing. And we will spend a week trying to do something about it.”
The job of rendering Garcia ineffective will fall to Spagnuolo and his defense.
“He gets the ball out fast, he knows where to go with it, it is a short passing game but he certainly can throw the long ball, he finds 84 (speedster Joey Galloway) a lot now, he is scary that way,” Spagnuolo said. “I think (the offensive scheme) is perfect for him. I think he runs it as good as anybody.”
Garcia gives a defense further fits because of his mobility and elusiveness. This season, he ran the ball 35 times for 116 yards, including a 21-yarder and a touchdown. In the 2002 Wild Card game, he led the 49ers with 60 rushing yards – in addition to completing 27 of 44 passes for 331 yards and three touchdowns.
“He is even more difficult knowing that he wants to use his legs to run,” middle linebacker Antonio Pierce said. “When we played him last year in Philly he stayed in the pocket a little bit more and ran when he really needed to (four rushes for 14 yards). This year he is making plays with his legs and his arm. When a quarterback starts running he is unaccounted for. We are not going to put a spy on him just for that purpose, but we have to make sure we cage-rush him. We have to make sure our guys don’t leave open lanes for him to see and be able to run through.”
“He’s the same guy that was in Philly,” safety Gibril Wilson said. “He doesn’t put them in a bad situation. He’s always running for a first down on third-and-three, third-and-four, always getting that extra yard. He’s a guy that we have to watch closely and make sure he doesn’t beat us with his legs or his arm.”
If they can contain Garcia, the Giants have a chance to finally send him home a loser in the playoffs.
NOTES
*Four Giants did not practice today: cornerback Sam Madison (stomach), linebacker Kawika Mitchell (knee), center Shaun O’Hara (knee) and cornerback Kevin Dockery (hip flexor).
“I think they are making progress,” Coughlin said of the three starters. “They didn’t practice today - O’Hara didn’t practice, Mitchell didn’t practice today. Madison didn’t practice today. They are making progress but…
“We’ll see. I’m just day to day with whatever the medical people tell me.”
Mitchell is hopeful he will be able to play in Tampa, where he was a star at the University of South Florida.
“Yesterday I had a little workout and it was encouraging,” Mitchell said. “Right now we’re just day-to-day. If I get one good day of work in, I think I’ll be alright.”
Mitchell believes he can be productive even if he plays without practicing.
“It would be fine with me,” he said. “It’s late in the season. I’ve had my experience. Physically, I feel like I’m in shape. I’m still working out in the weight room. I think it would be fine.”
Coughlin sounded encouraged by Dockery's work on the side. Dockery, who has missed the last two games, practiced on a limited basis yesterday before sitting out today's workout. “He did not do anything except work on the side, but what he did on the side was fairly impressive,” Coughlin said. “So I’ll have to see tomorrow morning.”
*Wide receiver Plaxico Burress (ankle) and defensive end Dave Toffefson (concussion) were limited. Running back Ahmad Bradshaw (leg) and wide receiver Sinorice Moss (back) practiced fully.
*Mathias Kiwanuka was in the locker room. The second-year linebacker’s season ended when he suffered a fractured fibula at Detroit on Nov. 18.
“Right now, we’re in a waiting period – I have to get better,” said Kiwanuka, who had surgery to repair the broken bone. “You have to do what the doctors tell you.” Kiwanuka said he is certain he will be ready for next season. “I feel good where I am in my recovery,” he said.
In the meantime, he watches every Giants game on television.
“It’s frustrating watching on TV,” he said. “I’m used to watching the (coaches’) tape, which shows every play from different angles, which the TV doesn’t show. But I’m proud of the way these guys have stepped up. That’s what makes you feel good when you’re out.”
One thing he didn’t watch was the play on which he was hurt.
“I can’t do that,” Kiwanuka said. “I can’t watch when other people get hurt. Even if I don’t know someone, I don’t like to see injuries like that. I have no intention of watching it.”
*Two Buccaneers are listed on the team's injury report: linebacker Cato June (foot) did not practice for the second straight day and guard Arron Sears (ankle), who did not practice yesterday, returned to work on a limited basis today.
*Two Giants are celebrating birthdays today. Today Eli Manning turned 27 and David Tyree is 28.
*The Giants are 4-4 in Wild Card games, while Tampa Bay is 1-4.
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http://giants.com/news/eisen/story.asp?story_id=26496
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