• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Giants face Garcia again in playoffs

Jan 6, 2008 - 3:09 PM New York Giants (10-6) at Tampa Bay (9-7) Sunday 1:00 pm EST

TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- The New York Giants can't seem to avoid running into Jeff Garcia in the playoffs.

When the fourth-seeded Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the Giants in a wild card contest on Sunday, Garcia will be looking to beat New York for the third time in the playoffs with his third different team.

Garcia first playoff win over New York was one of the Giants' most horrific defeats in the franchise's history.

In 2002, Garcia engineered the second-biggest comeback in playoff history, rallying the San Francisco 49ers from a 24-point deficit to a 39-38 victory over the Giants.

Last season, Garcia faced the Giants again in the postseason as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. He emerged victorious when David Akers kicked a 38-yard field goal as time expired to give the Eagles a 23-20 win.

Aside from Garcia's playoff history against the Giants, Sunday's contest matches a pair of teams looking to end postseason droughts.

The Giants, the No. 5 seed, have not won a playoff contest since routing the Minnesota Vikings, 41-0, in the 2001 NFC championship game. The Buccaneers' last postseason win came in an 48-21 victory over the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003.

Tampa Bay enjoyed a turnaround season in 2007, capturing the NFC South title after finishing 4-12 last season. The Buccaneers became the fifth straight team to go from last to first in the division.

After clinching the division in Week 15, coach Jon Gruden elected to rest his starters, resulting in a pair of losses to end the season. Garcia played only a half two weeks ago in a 21-19 loss to San Francisco and didn't play at all in last week's 31-23 loss to Carolina.

One of Tampa Bay's main concerns now is limiting Brandon Jacobs, the Giants' bruising 265-pound running back who rushed for 1,009 yards.

"He's not just a big back, he's as big a back as I've ever seen play," Gruden said.

Earnest Graham, who was No. 4 on the depth chart in training camp, led the Buccaneers on the ground with 898 yards. He became the Buccaneers' feature back in midseason following season-ending injuries to Michael Pittman and Carnell "Cadillac" Williams.

Gruden also is worried about the Giants' pass rush as New York led the NFL in sacks with 53. Osi Yumenyiora paced the Giants with 13 sacks, while fellow ends Justin Tuck and Michael Strahan had 10 and 9, respectively.

"They have a great blitz package," Gruden added. "They all hit and they all play hard. It will be a challenge for us."

Still, the Giants experienced a strange season. While they were just 3-5 at Giants Stadium, they finished 7-1 away from home and take a franchise-record seven-game road winning streak into Sunday's contest. In their last four road victories, the Giants rallied for wins after trailing at halftime.

"We like the fact that we play hard, we play for four quarters and we play well on the road," Strahan said.

Tom Coughlin joins Bill Parcells and Allie Sherman as the only Giants' coach to guide the team to three straight playoff appearances. But New York is 0-2 in the postseason under Coughlin.

Embattled Giants quarterback Eli Manning may have gotten a confidence boost after throwing four touchdown passes in last week's 38-35 loss to the New England Patriots.

"It doesn't guarantee anything," Manning said. "The most important thing is that on Sunday, we go out there and play good football."