Tiki Barber has seen it before, when a little pebble of a season starts rolling, slowly at first, then picking up speed, gaining and accelerating and building boulder-sized momentum that seemingly cannot be stopped.
Barber saw it back in 2000, when what was perceived to be a middling team began feeling that something special, subtly at first, creating some late-season magic that kept careening and pushing forward until the Giants found themselves with not only an NFC East division title, but also a first-round playoff bye and home-field advantage throughout the postseason.
As the ascendant star of this year’s Giants, that scenario was stuck in Barber’s mind as he basked in the afterglow of his own transcendent moment and his team’s 27-17 victory over the Chiefs.
“Everyone said, ‘You can lose this game and still make it,’ that’s not the way to go into the playoffs,” Barber said. “I know from experience, and from my brother’s [Buccaneers cornerback Ronde’s] experience. The teams that win going in are the ones that usually win coming out. That’s where the urgency comes in.”
Going in is where the Giants appeared headed, into the playoffs, as they got a jump on the weekend action by riding Barber’s franchise-record 220 rushing yards to win their third straight game and take greater command of the division. At 10-4, all the Giants need to do is win one of their last two road games (at Washington or at Oakland) to secure their first NFC East title since that 2000 season.
The Giants are after a greater prize, as they are in position to attain a precious home playoff game and perhaps even a first-round bye if they can finish as the No. 2 team in the NFC, behind the Seahawks.
“We can’t celebrate all week because we still got work to do,” center Shaun O’Hara said. “Our goal wasn’t to win 10 games and just to get Tiki the record; we’ve got a lot of unfinished business. [Beating the Chiefs] really set the bar for what kind of team we can be.”
Some victories resonate more forcefully than others and this one bounced around the locker room like a pingpong ball, touching the young and old, stars and first-time starters. Barber was clearly the shining star, but never before this season has one win been influenced by so many disparate individuals.
When a kid like Chase Blackburn lines up at middle linebacker and a 14-year vet like Bob Whitfield dusts himself off, when the inspiring Rich Seubert comes back from a career-threatening shattered right leg to start for the first time in more than two years, when Nick Greisen makes two position changes in a matter of hours and calls the defensive signals, when all of this mixes together and spits out triumph, it creates uncommon vibes.
“This team just shows that no matter who you put in there, we have guys in this locker room that will fight,” receiver Amani Toomer said. “It’s great to be on a team like this – young guys, old guys, it doesn’t matter who they are putting in, guys are going to fight.”
Barber heaped praise on coach Tom Coughlin for staying the course amid the myriad of injuries that started last week in Philadelphia and did not abate until 90 minutes before kicking off against the Chiefs, when linebacker Carlos Emmons’ sudden re-aggravation of a torn pectoral problem caused last-minute lineup juggling.
“I think we showed perseverance throughout this season,” Barber said. “With the injuries, it’s easy for teams to just kind of feel sorry for themselves and kind of shut it down when your stars go out. It’s also a testament to our coaching. I’ve been here when we’ve had backups who didn’t know what they were doing. [Coughlin] had the antidote. It wasn’t ideal, obviously. We had some guys out, but the guys here felt that urgency and played to a high level.”