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Reeling Giants still in driver's seat for playoff spot

Dec 28, 2006 - 1:20 PM NY Giants (7-8) at Washington (5-10) Saturday 8:00 pm EST

LANDOVER, Maryland (Ticker) -- The New York Giants have lost six of their last seven games and coach Tom Coughlin appears to be on the hot seat. Yet the Giants still are in the driver's seat for a playoff spot.

New York can virtually clinch the last wild-card spot with a win over the Washington Redskins on Saturday night.

The Giants are one of five 7-8 teams in the NFC, but hold the tiebreaker advantage over all of them. Only a strength-of-victory tiebreaker with the Green Bay Packers could cost New York a playoff berth.

And the Giants will clinch the strength-of-victory tiebreaker if Detroit or Minnesota loses on Sunday. That will not even come into play if the Giants win and the Packers lose at Chicago on Sunday night.

New York can even make the playoffs with a 7-9 record if Green Bay, Atlanta, Carolina and St. Louis all lose on Sunday.

This is not what the Giants expected when they went 6-2 in the first half of the season. But now the Giants are facing the wrath of the fans for their second-half collapse that somehow may still end in a playoff berth.

"It's amazing," Giants cornerback Sam Madison said. "We had everything in our hands and held our own destiny. Every time we just let it slip away."

Coughlin heard chants of "Fire Coughlin" after last week's 30-7 loss to New Orleans.

So Coughlin reacted by stripping offensive coordinator John Hufnagel of his play-calling duties, handing them over to quarterbacks coach Kevin Gilbride.

"There's no doubt that our offensive team needs a change, needs a spark," Coughlin said.

The Giants looked like anything but a playoff team in last week's loss. New Orleans rushed for 236 yards while holding the Giants to 142 total yards and six first downs. New York did not even take a snap in New Orleans territory for the entire game.

Tiki Barber, the Giants' all-time leading rusher who will retire after the season, accounted for more than half of the offense in his final home game, rushing for 71 yards on 16 carries and catching three passes for 12 yards.

Eli Manning was completely confounded by the Saints' defense, completing just 9-of-25 passes for 74 yards with an interception. He threw for just 19 yards after completing a 55-yard touchdown to Plaxico Burress 2:17 into the game.

Seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Strahan returned for the Giants after missing the last six games with a sprained foot ligament and recorded five tackles and deflected a pass, but was held without a sack.

But Strahan aggravated the injury and will miss this game and the playoffs if the Giants make it.

The Redskins will finish in last place in the NFC East after making the playoffs last season as a wild card under Joe Gibbs, who will return as coach next season with Al Saunders and Gregg Williams remaining as the coordinators.

The Giants posted a 19-3 victory over the Redskins on October 8. But Mark Brunell was the quarterback then for Washington. Gibbs made the switch to Jason Campbell, a first-round pick in 2005, last month.

Washington's Ladell Betts surpassed 1,000 yards rushing for the first time in his five-year career. Since signing a five-year extension, Betts has rushed for 419 yards in three games.