Sunday wild card info

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New York Giants at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-3, 40)

Momentum

If you believe in the power of momentum in situations like these, then you’re probably favoring the Giants in this spot. Although the G-Men are coming off a loss in Week 17, it was a “moral victory” of sorts as they came within a quarter of spoiling the vaunted Patriots’ perfect season. The previous week, they had their best offensive performance of the season against Buffalo, making for a two-week total of 73 points. Not bad for an offense criticized as much as this one.

The Buccaneers, on the other hand, secured their division back in Week 15 and had it on auto-pilot even before then. They dropped their last two games of the season while most of their key starters took it easy. Jeff Garcia threw only 49 passes over the last six weeks and Earnest Graham, Joey Galloway, Ike Hilliard and a number of defensive starters all got a break over the last couple of games. If the Bucs come into the game rusty, you can bet Jon Gruden will take some heat over the strategy.

Jeff Garcia

A lot has been made over Garcia’s past playoff success against New York. They’re calling him the “Giant Killer” because in his journeyman career the quarterback has twice knocked the Giants out of the playoffs. Whether or not he has the antidote for the Giants’ defense is still up for debate, but there’s no doubt that the Bucs are better off for having the veteran QB leading their offense in the postseason. He’s made six playoff starts in his career and as Gruden said, “Experience is a great asset when you get into these kind of tournaments.”

Eli Manning

The Giants’ quarterback is the other player in this game receiving the majority of the attention. Granted he plays in front of the toughest audience in sports, but the criticism of Manning isn’t completely without justification.

He’s surrounded by one of the best supporting casts a quarterback could want and at times (like last week) he looks almost as dominant as his big brother, but at other times he makes bad decisions and gives up too many turnovers. His 20 interceptions this season are proof of that.

But even though Eli told reporters this week he’s trying not to judge himself by playoff wins, his 0-2 record and 2-4 touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio is a glaring reminder of his failure to step up in the big games. This could be his last chance to change that.

Injuries

Tampa Bay: Cato June missed practice on Wednesday and Thursday with an injured foot and is currently listed as questionable. Coaches don’t sound too hopeful about his chances of playing, so expect to see Ryan Nece in his place. Aaron Sears was also held out of practice on Wednesday but based on the progress of his injured ankle, he’s expected to be ready to go on Sunday.

New York: Kawika Mitchell’s chances of playing aren’t good with a sprained knee he suffered in last week’s (meaningless) game. Also injured in that game were center Shaun O’Hara and cornerback Sam Madison. All three players are listed as questionable.

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Quarterback quandary

If Vince Young plays Sunday, we probably won’t know about it until just before kickoff. He’s still nursing a quad injury and veteran Kerry Collins will step in if Young’s out.

Young participated in Friday’s practice but didn’t go full-out.

"I did say early he's a quick healer," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "He's been that way. He can overcome some difficult things rather quickly, so we're very optimistic at this point."

To make matters worse for the Titans offense, center Kevin Mawae (left calf) and right guard Benji Olson (back) are both doubtful and Roydell Williams, the club’s top receiver, is out with a broken ankle.

Sending him down the river

The Tennessee Titans have every reason to be worried about a Chargers offense that’s putting up almost 35 points a game over its last three, though San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers seems to be an afterthought.

“[Rivers is] all right,” Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck said. “I feel he had a better season last year. I've been in the game long enough to know that if you have a rushing leader for two years, that helps your offense, and if you have a tight end that big, that helps your offense. I just feel that those two are the players you have to watch. It comes down after that to the quarterback.”

Tennessee held Rivers in check for three quarters the last time the two teams met back in December, but he finished strong to lead the Chargers back to a 23-17 overtime win as 1 ½-point favorites.

Hug it out

Tempers have cooled since Shawne Merriman accused the Titans of attempting to injure him in last month’s game. Cooled publicly, at least.

"I think the situation of the things happening before was really blown out of proportion, really" Merriman told reporters Wednesday.

"It's going to be a physical game, and not because of what happened the first time.It's going to be a physical game because whoever loses goes home. I think there's more at stake now than it was four games ago."

"We're going to all give each other hugs before the game starts."

San Diego surge

After starting off the year 1-3, the Chargers head into Sunday’s game on a six-game winning streak, both straight up and against the spread. During that stretch they haven’t allowed more than 17 points in any of their wins. Star running back LaDainian Tomlinson had four 100-yard rushing games and six touchdowns on the ground down the stretch.

Line check

Most books opened with San Diego favored by nine points with the total at 41 points. Since then the betting public has bumped the Chargers up -10 as the total dropped to 39 points at some sportsbooks.



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Eli Manning can't seem to win a playoff game. Jeff Garcia can't seem to lose, escpecially against the Giants. Garcia and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers look to do what the Seattle Seahawks did Saturday, that is defend their home turf and advance, as they host Manning and the G-Men - losers of three consecutive playoff contests. The Bucs are a three-point favorite.

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.

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.

NY Giants:
12-4 ATS in road games
12-3 ATS after scoring 35+ points last game

Tampa Bay:
13-4 Under at home off home loss
26-11 Under vs. NFC East

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