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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 7, 2008

Sunday's Best
New York Giants DE Michael Strahan contemplated retirement prior to this season. After his performance against Tampa Bay on Sunday, the Bucs probably wish he already was playing golf.

Strahan had nine tackles, three quarterback hurries and one sack in New York's 24-14 NFC wild-card playoff victory.

Galloway's Quickest Move

Tampa Bay WR Joey Galloway stood on the sideline for several minutes in the fourth quarter before walking off with 3:16 remaining.

Afterward, Galloway would not clarify if he left because of a shoulder injury or because of a sideline disagreement with Coach Jon Gruden, but here are three possible reasons he left abruptly:

1. His smoothie shop ran out of vanilla syrup.

2. He had to catch a flight to New Orleans to cheer on Ohio State in the BCS Championship Game.

3. He saw Bruce Gradkowski warming up on the sideline.
Team Stat
Teams that win the turnover battle usually walk away with a victory, and Tampa Bay proved that theory Sunday.

The Bucs had three turnovers (one fumble and two interceptions), plus they were unable to force any Giants turnovers.

By The Numbers

1 - reception by Galloway for 9 yards.

6 - combined rushing yards by Bucs named not named Earnest Graham.

6 - turnovers committed by the Bucs in their past two playoff games - both losses.

11 - tackles each by S Jermaine Phillips and LB Derrick Brooks.

33:31 - time of possession for New York compared to Tampa Bay's 26:29.

34 - rushing yards on 13 attempts by Giants RB Brandon Jacobs.

74 - receiving yards by Giants WR Amani Toomer.

117.1 - Giants QB Eli Manning's passer rating, compared to Jeff Garcia's 60.5.
Casual Friday
This is going to be a tough Friday for Bucs fans around the office because your frustrations will only be magnified by sarcastic remarks from co-workers whose teams are still alive in the playoffs.

The key to pulling off wearing a Bucs jersey during this week's casual Friday is supporting players who have performed well this season:

7 - Garcia: team would not have been in the playoffs without him.

34 - Graham: could be the running back of the future.

20 - Ronde Barber: remains reliable after all these years.

56 - Brooks: showed leadership by adjusting to new role.

90 - Gaines Adams: young kid showed potential down the stretch.

91 - Greg White: Tampa Bay's best pass rusher will be back in '08.

Locker Room Talk

•"It's tough to end on that note. We didn't play very well. We started well, but the rest of the game didn't go our way. We just got flat out beat. There is not much else to say." - Graham

•"It didn't play out the way we wanted. We weren't effective enough as an offense enough times during the day. Too many inconsistencies and when you play like that, you are not going to end up winning the football game." - Garcia

•"I want to watch Dallas. I'm going to watch Dallas tape today, even though we're not playing." - Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin

•"We really didn't have a choice. People can question it. Here I am and I'll answer any more questions. We tried to get Galloway and Arron Sears and a number of guys into the game. The best way to do that was to get them an opportunity to rest and heal. I will be happy to take the criticism. We didn't lose a game because of what occurred last week. We are unhappy to lose, but there are plenty of people that will handle it the same way, I am sure." - Bucs coach Jon Gruden on resting players down the stretch after his team cliched its playoff berth

•"A person is going to be doing what they are doing all year and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time." - Giants CB Corey Webster on his third-quarter interception in the end zone

•"You have to give them a lot of credit. They adjusted, I guess, a little bit faster than we did. In the second half, it was a little different story, but they had two critical drives in the second quarter that ended up being the difference as far as I look at it. On top of that, we couldn't get anything going. I guess we were a little off, we were not on it, they put a lot of pressure on defense and they have a great front four." - Barber

"I preach it every time I have a chance to talk about this football team. You look at the games Saturday and throughout the playoffs and the team that wins the turnover battle is going to win eight out of 10 games. It was no different Sunday. We turned the ball over a couple of times and, defensively, we didn't get one. I think that's more disappointing to me than anything else because I felt that we would have some opportunities to do that today." - Brooks

"Gradually, the loss is starting to sink in. It won't fully sink in until we have to clean out our locker room today." - Bucs DT Jovan Haye

Anwar S. Richardson

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