Giants coach Tom Coughlin has received almost universal praise for approaching Saturday night’s game against the New England Patriots as more than a tune-up for the playoffs. Although the Giants lost and the Patriots completed the first 16–0 season in NFL history, the Giants’ spirited performance gave the NFL and its fans a great night of football, and it gave the Giants confidence that they can compete with any NFL team.

But universal praise is only as good as your next game. If the Giants don’t look as fired up in Sunday’s wild card playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as they did against the Patriots, Coughlin can expect universal criticism.

And, if the Giants lose on Sunday, that criticism will be warranted. The Giants team that showed up Saturday night was clearly talented enough to beat Tampa Bay. When a talented team doesn’t win in the playoffs, its coach deserves the blame.

Coughlin still hasn’t won a playoff game with the Giants, and the Tampa Bay game may be his last opportunity. Coughlin received a contract extension through 2008 after the Giants’ playoff loss last year, but if the Giants look unprepared and lose to the Buccaneers, Coughlin may not be back next season.

On the other hand, if the Giants beat the Buccaneers, that might be enough to convince the Giants’ front office to give Coughlin a longterm contract extension that makes him the head coach for several more years. That means that although Coughlin’s coaching career includes two AFC Championship games with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and a historic upset of no. 1 Notre Dame with Boston College, Sunday is as big a game as Coughlin has ever coached.

Coughlin’s approach to the final game of the regular season contrasts with that of Tampa Bay’s coach, Jon Gruden. Knowing his team would host a first-round playoff contest no matter what the result of their last two games, Gruden limited the playing time of many of his top players during the final two weeks of the regular season, and the result is that the Buccaneers will be better-rested than the Giants.

For the most part, though, the Giants escaped the New England game relatively unscathed. Although three starters left the New England game with injuries, all three — center Shaun O’Hara, linebacker Kawika Mitchell, and cornerback Sam Madison — are expected to play against Tampa Bay (one reserve, rookie safety Craig Dahl, suffered a serious knee injury against New England that will take at least six months to rehabilitate.) Some might criticize Coughlin for putting O’Hara, Mitchell, and Madison in a position where they could get hurt. But realistically, even if the Giants had followed the usual path of playoff-bound NFL teams in the final week of the season and rested many of their top players, it’s unlikely that O’Hara, Mitchell, or Madison would have been among those who sat out.

That the Giants will apparently have the same starting lineup against Tampa Bay that they had against New England is good news for Coughlin, but even better news is that his players demonstrated against New England that they’re talented enough to earn the Giants’ first playoff victory in seven years. The Giants’ running game has played well enough all season to move the ball against any defense, but against the Patriots, the Giants finally got enough out of their passing game as well.

Eli Manning had an excellent game Saturday, and what really set Saturday’s game apart from his subpar recent performances is that he spread the ball around effectively to all of his receivers. Rookie wide receiver Steve Smith, who caught three passes, finally looked like he understood his role in the Giants’ offense, and tight end Kevin Boss, who caught four passes, filled in capably for the injured Jeremy Shockey.

Ultimately, having little-used players such as Smith and Boss ready to play is related to coaching. Even though the Giants lost on Saturday at Giants Stadium, they looked like a well-coached team. On Sunday, at Raymond James Stadium, there won’t be any moral victories. Coughlin needs to return from Tampa a winner.

Mr. Smith is a writer for FootballOutsiders.com.