Different Shades of Blue

Are Eli Manning And the Giants The Team That Started 0-2, Or the Team That Is on the Cusp Of Its Third Straight Playoff Appearance?

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Dec. 12 -- It has hovered over the New York Giants all season, this fatalistic notion that things were about to fall apart and it would be proven, once and for all, that Coach Tom Coughlin and quarterback Eli Manning simply couldn't succeed on the New York stage. Maybe it has been there because of the Giants' recent history. Maybe it's just part of being one of the big players in the media capital of the world.

Whatever the reason, it was there when the Giants opened the season with two straight losses, and it was there when they followed a six-game winning streak with two ugly defeats in a three-game span last month. The echoes were heard again: Another disappointing finish would cost Coughlin his job, and Manning never would fulfill the immense expectations created by his last name and the hoops through which the Giants once jumped to obtain him.

But as they prepare to host the Washington Redskins here Sunday night, the Giants again have managed to right their course, at least for now. They have been overrun, like everyone else, by the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East. But with a 9-4 record they're firmly entrenched in the top wild-card spot in the NFC, two games ahead of the Minnesota Vikings and three in front of all other pursuers, and they're poised to make a third straight postseason appearance.

"We're a team that's been together for some time now, and we've been through ups and downs together," left tackle David Diehl said Wednesday. "We've learned from the past and moved forward."

Few expected this from the Giants when the season began. Coughlin barely kept his job after a first-round loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the playoffs last season, which came on the heels of a 2-6 folding act in the second half of the regular season following a 6-2 beginning. Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch gave Coughlin only a one-year contract extension to go with the one season he already had remaining on his deal, a clear signal that more was expected for Coughlin to remain employed. Tailback Tiki Barber retired and took to criticizing Coughlin and Manning from afar as a television analyst and author. The focus of training camp was defensive end Michael Strahan's own retirement ruminations.

The outlook seemed bleak when the Giants opened with losses to the Cowboys and Green Bay Packers, then trailed the Redskins by two touchdowns at halftime at FedEx Field in Week 3. But they rallied to beat the Redskins and followed with five more wins to reach the midway point of the season at 6-2. Still, that brought wariness, given that, even before last season's second-half slide, the Giants had gone 0-8 in the second half of the 2003 season under former coach Jim Fassel and 1-7 in 2004 under Coughlin.

The Giants began the second half of this season by sandwiching home losses to the Cowboys and Vikings around a win in Detroit. Was it time to panic? In New York, the answer to that question usually is yes. But the Giants have steadied themselves with gritty road victories over the Chicago Bears and Eagles the past two weeks, and a playoff spot is virtually ensured. Oddly, they're only 3-3 at home this season, compared with 6-1 on the road.

"We need to play well at home," Coughlin said. "We need to be able to use the home-field advantage, and hopefully we'll do that. . . . For whatever reason we didn't play, especially the last time, as well as we're capable."

The Giants are 0-3 against the NFC's top two teams, the Cowboys and Packers. But most observers regard them as at least the equal of anyone else in the conference. Their defense has a pass rush that makes opposing offenses adjust. The Giants have totaled an NFL-high 47 sacks, including 12 by defensive end Osi Umenyiora and nine apiece by Strahan and Justin Tuck. They rank seventh in the league in total defense, and the offense is doing just enough.

Barber is long gone and tailback Derrick Ward is sidelined for the rest of the season after breaking his leg. But the Giants, with Brandon Jacobs the featured runner, are seventh in the NFL in rushing. Wide receiver Plaxico Burress has been plagued all season by a bad ankle that keeps him from practicing. His production has dipped after a sizzling start, but he is still having a fine season, with 62 catches for 900 yards and 10 touchdowns.

"I wish I was 100 percent," Burress said. "I wish I could go out and practice. Then I could see what I could really get out of myself. [But] it could be a lot worse. I'm just thankful for the position I'm in, that I can go out and play."

Statistically, Manning is having a mediocre season. He is only the league's 23rd-rated passer, putting him just behind Brian Griese and just ahead of Kyle Boller -- not exactly the sort of immediate company that former general manager Ernie Accorsi envisioned when he deemed Manning a once-in-a-generation prospect and paid heavily in the draft-day trade with the San Diego Chargers in 2004 that brought Manning to New York.

It's becoming increasingly clear that Manning might never be the quarterbacking equal of his brother Peyton, and might never justify what Accorsi surrendered to get him. But he hasn't been a bust, either. He earned locker-room respect this year for taking on Barber publicly after Barber mocked Manning's leadership skills during training camp, and for playing through a shoulder injury early in the season amid reports he could be sidelined for a month.

Coughlin, too, has gotten credit this season, in his case for supposedly lightening up a bit in an effort to coexist more peacefully with his players. It probably has helped that the willful Barber, who was unafraid to say what he really thought and to take on the coaching staff publicly, no longer is around.

"We've done a good job this year, the players and everyone, of keeping everything within the locker room, keeping things between the players and coaches," Manning said. "It's easier for everyone to keep their focus on winning games and trying to play our best football at the end of the season. It's been nice for everyone."