Coughlin's Corner for Week 16

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Coughlin's Corner for Week 16

Giants head coach talks about preparing for the Redskins, the play of the linebackers and the teams Pro Bowl selections.

December 22, 2005

Each week during the season, Giants.com's Michael Eisen will sit down with head coach Tom Coughlin for an exclusive Q & A session, which you can find only at Giants.com.



Q: You’re preparing to play the Redskins, a team you defeated earlier this season, 36-0. How have you dealt with that game as you talked to the team this week?

Coughlin: “You talk about it in terms of our team having accomplished something and the confidence that goes along with it. But you also try to guard against anyone who has not followed of late exactly how they are playing. And I don’t think you will have to go very far to understand that. You have on the one hand our game earlier in the year with them, but you don’t have to go very far to look back into last year’s game at the same time of the year down there (a 31-7 loss on Dec. 5, 2004), plus their game against Dallas last weekend (a 35-7 Redskins rout). And I think that really balances things off – it puts a whole perspective on how hard they are playing, how intense they are playing, how physical they are playing. What they want to do right now at this time of the year is run the football. And the front four played superb defense, and with the front four playing the way that they did the other day, they didn’t have to blitz. They didn’t even have to bring anybody. You have a guy (Phillip Daniels) who went from two to six sacks in one game. That is a career. You have to be honest with yourself and you have to do the research and you have to dig in there. But there is no question because of what is at stake, what is riding on the game for both teams, the excitement of the game down there will be literally a playoff-like atmosphere.”


Q: In their first 10 games their turnover differential was minus-13. In the last four games it is plus-nine. How much does that account for their recent success?

Coughlin: “That is the style of the game they want to play. They want to be very good in terms of ball security and if you look at time of possession it is the same thing. The time of possession is greater than (their opponent’s). Not wholeheartedly, but greater than. They are able to play to the style of defense they are playing and their special teams make that kind of contribution as well, because they are ranked very high in a number of categories on special teams as well.”


Q: The stadium in Washington will be very noisy. The last time you played in that kind of environment was in Seattle last month. That day, the Giants had 16 penalties. Are you talking to the linemen a lot about noise and learning from the Seattle experience?

“We have done all of that. We have explained all of that. We have also utilized some of the tactics that we used immediately following that Seattle game in terms of us trying to keep as focused as you can, trying to maintain our poise under the noise. Let’s face it, the people across from you are feinting as if they are coming. Your eyes are on the ball. You can’t move on any defensive player’s move. That is just the fact. As long as you don’t do that and yet get off on the snap, you have the advantage. Now what happened last week, some of Dallas’ people were late on the snap. The further you go out, they were late on the snap and that is where the disadvantage comes in.”


Q: So basically you can’t be early but you had better not be late.

Coughlin: “You can’t be late. If you are late, that is when you have given up those circular sack routes these speed people take.


Q: In general, how difficult it is for an offense to work with a silent count?

Coughlin: “It’s tough. If you change something, no matter what it is, if you change the protection, if you change the (middle linebacker) calls, if you change the direction of something, if you re-identify people then it has to be passed from the inside out. In the meantime one of the things that is a factor is that you have got to be in a good solid stance, knowing full well that from this stance comes your explosion. By the same token, you can’t be so edgy and intense that you are going to move the first time one of their guys tightens his bicep or (flinches) with his helmet. There is a rule which states that the defensive lineman cannot do anything which entices the offensive lineman to. But that is kind of like the horse collar rule – I have not seen it called.”


Q: Last week, Nick Greisen practiced all week at middle linebacker, then moved out to the weak side just prior to the game. He called the defensive signals as the weakside backer. Was that difficult?

Coughlin: “He practiced all week. He was able to do that and did it well. You have an athlete who has done it before, and has poise. That was the whole key.”


Q: When you were in Jacksonville, you coached two players now with the Redskins, Mark Brunell and Renaldo Wynn. You were very instrumental in their development as players. Even though they now play for other teams, is it a source of pride for you to see them do well?

Coughlin: “I like to see, really, all players that I have had the opportunity – a chance, if you will - to coach, do well. But not necessarily against our team.”


Q: Much has been made about the injuries to the offensive tackles and the resulting personnel changes on the line. Shaun O’Hara and Chris Snee have been the two linemen who have stayed put through all of this. Could you talk about what they have meant as far as the stability on the line and how they have played?

Coughlin: “That is the key. We have had the ability, with the exception of I think one time this year, to have O’Hara in the middle. Snee has always had O’Hara on his left and he has been able to communicate to his right with, in this case, David Diehl, who he communicated with a year ago. So that has been a stabilizing factor.”


Q: As a general rule, you try to add youth to your roster every year. The two guys you brought in recently, Terrell Buckley and Roman Phifer, are older and have much experience. When you get to this time of year, is it a benefit to have seasoned players in the locker room, even if they haven’t played much?

Coughlin: “It is a benefit to have guys who have been there before, who are experienced players that have been in many big games, who will not be handcuffed by the terminology - who can relate, who can easily qualify, if you will. And I just think that kind of presence right now for us is the key. Were we to find an exceptional younger player that would not have kept us away from him either. But in the situation that we find ourselves in, we felt that a veteran player was the right decision”


Q: The Giants had five players named to the NFC Pro Bowl squad this week, plus eight alternates. Is that an indication that the talent level on this team has improved since you got here?

Coughlin: “As I said to the team, I take this opportunity to reference the following: one, that unselfish commitment to team – team above self. Number two - and this is one of the oldest axioms in football if people can just come to understand it - with team success comes individual recognition. But the only way you get team success is the unselfish commitment to team. Like I always enjoy telling them, take your name off the jersey and play the game.

“So that being in mind, I was pleased to announce (to the team) our Pro Bowlers and our alternates. And anyone who has any distinction in terms of being selected to the Pro Bowl by their peers, that is heck of an accomplishment – I don’t care what alternates they find themselves in. These five players have distinguished themselves on the field; they have distinguished themselves in the locker room with their ability to lead and to very, very quickly make the commitment to the team and team quality of play and understanding that there are an awful lot of things that have to go right for your team to be successful. You have to have a positive flow in your locker room. You have to have a bunch of people who are willing to pay a price, who are willing to work hard and who are willing to make sacrifices in order that the team would be able to accomplish some success. I am very, very hesitant to talk about individual praise and I am very hesitant to talk about our team, because our team has not accomplished what we have set out to accomplish. So it is difficult for me at this time to do that. It is almost as difficult as anything that I do. But I am very, very happy for these five guys and for the alternates as well. I think it is a wonderful acknowledgement and let’s move forward."


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