For the Giants, Signs of Peace Are Gone

Giants Coach Tom Coughlin, upset by a call in Sunday's loss to the Lions, again has a team gripped by tension after he benched linebacker Barrett Green. (Bill Kostroun -- AP)

"I don't know if the timing is right," Haslett said, "but the message is understood. It would have been better if it had been later in the year. I understand this business, and it's just a part of the business."

Belichick Values a Victory

New England Coach Bill Belichick insisted after his team defeated the New York Jets on Sunday to set an NFL record with its 18th straight regular season victory that he had never mentioned that record to the Patriots all week. "I didn't say one word about it," he said.

Still, Belichick couldn't hide his glee after the game. He waved to the crowd, though he insisted he was aiming those waves to his family in the stands. But breaking the previous mark of 17 straight held by the 1933-34 Chicago Bears coached by Hall of Famer George Halas had to make it special for Belichick.

When he was 7, Belichick's father, Steve, longtime football coach at the U.S. Naval Academy, took him to see a Bears game against the Colts in Baltimore. When Belichick was introduced to Halas in the locker room afterward, Halas pulled out a $1 bill, signed it and handed it to the youngster, telling him that because he was the first to congratulate him for the victory, he would be suitably compensated.

Belichick said Sunday he thought he still had that dollar bill somewhere at home but never realized how valuable it was. "I do now, especially after Mike Ditka had that famous quote about [Halas] throwing dollars around like manhole covers," he said. . . .

After the first of his two touchdowns Sunday in Cleveland, Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens threw the ball at a sign that read, "T.O. Has B.O.'' After his second touchdown, he tore down a sign that had pictures of Owens and a rat and the words, "It Takes One To Know One," a reference to Owens insinuating in training camp that Browns quarterback Jeff Garcia, Owens's former teammate in San Francisco, might be gay by saying that if it looks like a rat and smells like a rat, it is a rat. Owens received a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for ripping down the sign, leading to a sideline conversation with Coach Andy Reid.

During his news conference Monday, Reid said: "He's an emotional guy, and he loves to play the game. I love that part of him . . . [but] he's just got to be careful on what he does. . . . Heck, that wasn't a very good sign anyway. . . . Those are nothing compared to the ones hung here at the Vet when I first started."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.