Should the Giants go for the throat with an all-out barrage in an attempt to prevent the big, bad Patriots from closing the deal on the first 16-0 regular season in NFL history?
Or, come Saturday night, should the Giants take their feet off the accelerator and simply coast into their NFC wild card playoff game in Tampa the following week?
No matter what happens in the regular-season finale at Giants Stadium, the Giants will open the playoffs on the road as the No. 5 seed, facing the fourth-seeded Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.
Coach Tom Coughlin, as bottom-line as they get, knows Sunday’s 38-21 victory in Buffalo put his club in an enviable position but his competitive juices are difficult to water down. He, of course, wants to derail the Patriots’ inexorable march toward perfection, but also wants to be smart about it.
Coughlin also finds this entire subject as comfortable as wearing a wool sweater in a sauna.
“I really don’t like that type of a scenario even to sit and ponder and think about it,” Coughlin said yesterday. “It’s kind of a difficult thing for me to talk about because we want to win every game, we want our players to be as sharp as they can. That having been said, I’m aware . . . we cannot improve our lot . . . This is the 16th game of the year, it is against a team that’s 15-0; the competitive challenge is great no matter what. We need to play at our very best and that’s where I would start.”
But that’s not the finish. There are reasons for and against the Giants playing this game as if they need it to save their season.
FOR:
* Competitive integrity: The Pats are gunning for NFL history and it’s up to the Giants to make sure the undefeated record is achieved rather than anointed. The 1972 Dolphins no doubt agree with this position.
* Playoff momentum: What better way for the Giants to head to Tampa than with an enormous upset victory over New England to lift the spirits and confidence?
* Posterity: Twenty years from now, fans might not recall if the Giants won or lost their 2007 wild card playoff game, but they’d always remember the upset that prevented the Patriots from going unbeaten.
AGAINST:
* R&R: By virtue of clinching the playoffs after 15 games, the Giants earned the right to create their own bye week, which past results prove is beneficial in the postseason.
* Health concerns: Nearly everyone on the roster has some ache or pain that would benefit from added time to heal. Just imagine the furor if a key Giants player goes down against the Pats and can’t play the following week in Tampa.
* Money matters: Coughlin isn’t thinking of this, you can be sure, but it’s a likely reality that if he wins a playoff game, he’ll receive a new multi-year contract instead of a possible one-year extension. A playoff win could be worth $4 million and an extra year.
Coughlin admitted beating the Pats “certainly would be a great thing, a wonderful thing.” Resting key starters such as Plaxico Burress and Brandon Jacobs (who sprained his left ankle in Buffalo), or severely limiting their playing time, is one of the major decisions for Coughlin.
“If there are some people that are . . . on the fence in terms of the medical people, we’ll take all those things into consideration,” he said.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick did not tip how he’ll approach this game, considering he has the AFC No. 1 seed wrapped up, but this season has proven he desperately wants to brand this team as the best ever.
“I’ll do what’s best for the football team and that’s what I do every week,” Belichick said.
What’s best for the Giants in two weeks might not be what’s best for them this weekend.
“Earned the right is earned the right,” Coughlin said. “We’re in the playoffs, our seed doesn’t change, but from that standpoint we have to do what’s best for our team.”