Submitted by Andy Barall, Jan 16, 2008 03:24

This column gets the chutzpah award for early 2008. This is the same Michael David Smith who told us on December 19, 2007 that the Giants would be better off not making the playoffs so they could fire the Coach, bring in a new quarterback, and rebuild the team. Now he's telling us how well the Giants draft picks have worked out! He also sagely lectured to us that "the truth is, the Giants aren't going anywhere if they do make the playoffs- they're simply not good enough to beat a division-winning team on the road in the postseason in January." That's not just wrong, it's spectacularly wrong. Tom Coughlin is one of the best coaches in football. He took over a 4-12 team and won the division just two years later at 11-5 with a quarterback in his first full year as a starter. That team scored 422 points, the most points a Giant team had scored in 42 years, more than any year Parcells coached the team (Parcells is the guy the New York media thinks invented football). He's one of four coaches to make the playoffs the last three seasons. He's made the playoffs seven times in twelve years as a head coach. He did one of the most remarkable coaching jobs in NFL history in Jacksonville. He had them in the AFC Championship game in their second year in existance after beating Buffalo and Denver on the road in the 1996 playoffs. Unlike Carolina, he was able to sustain success, going 11-5, 11-5, and 14-2 in the next three years. Here he stands, in another Conference championship game. Mr. Smith also tells us that "the Giants need a coach who can motivate the players without alienating them." Apparently, Tom Coughlin has motivated the Giants into the NFC Championship game.

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