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Keeping Ball A Giant Part Of Game Plan

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By IRA KAUFMAN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 28, 2008

Updated: 01/27/2008 11:35 pm

TAMPA - Giants coach Tom Coughlin doesn't have to look far to concoct a game plan for toppling an offensive powerhouse in the Super Bowl.

His mentor did it 17 years ago.

When the Giants arrived in Tampa for Super Bowl XXV in 1991, the AFC champion Bills had just scored 95 points while humbling the Raiders and Dolphins in the playoffs.

New York coach Bill Parcells shortened the game by milking the clock and relying on Ottis Anderson, who ran for 102 yards en route to MVP honors in a 20-19 triumph.

The Bills, led by Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly and Hall of Fame back Thurman Thomas, had possession for less than 20 minutes as Buffalo suffered the first of four consecutive Super Bowl defeats.

And for one of the few times in Super Bowl annals, the more talented team walked out a loser.

With a poised Eli Manning under center, Coughlin hopes to employ that same formula in shocking the unbeaten Patriots on Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

"It will be our job as an offense to try to hold the ball as long as we can," said Manning, who has thrown eight touchdowns and one interception in the past four games. "You can't afford to have three-and-outs and get their offense back on the field. We have to move the ball, control the clock and when you get close to the end zone, you have to score touchdowns."

Red-zone failures proved crippling for San Diego in last week's AFC Championship Game as the Chargers settled for four field goals in a 21-12 setback at New England.

Manning came of age against the Patriots during a 38-35 loss at Giants Stadium in Week 17. He had thrown eight picks and four scoring passes in his previous five games.

He threw for four touchdowns and was intercepted only once as his confidence grew throughout a riveting nationally televised matchup that capped New England's perfect regular season.

While upsetting the Bucs, Cowboys and Packers on the postseason road, the Giants have streamlined their offense.

Manning is averaging five fewer pass attempts per game, routes have been shortened and backs Brandon Jacobs and rookie Ahmad Bradshaw are establishing ball control behind a physical line led by Coughlin's son-in-law, right guard Chris Snee.

"What the Giants are doing now is reminiscent of the way we conducted games when we won it in 1986," said CBS analyst Phil Simms, who completed 22 of 25 passes in New York's Super Bowl XXI win against Denver 21 years ago. "We ran the ball a lot and we had a great defense."

The Giants (13-6) don't expect to win a shootout against the most prolific attack in the NFL's 88-year history, but New England's defense has shown some deficiencies and Manning exploited their secondary a month ago.

"As his brother, obviously I am proud," Peyton Manning of the Colts said of his younger sibling. "But as a quarterback, I just can't tell you how much I appreciate the way Eli played in those conditions in Green Bay and coming back from deficits in Dallas and Tampa. I just think he has what it takes to lead his team to championships."

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