Few secrets in Giants-Buccaneers matchup
Theoretically, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who will come into MetLife Stadium to face the 0-1 Giants this weekend, should be fairly easy to prepare for.
After all, the Bucs are led by former Rutgers University head coach Greg Schiano, who tabbed a pair of former assistant coaches from Tom Coughlin's staff, Mike Sullivan and Bill Sheridan, to be his offensive and defensive coordinators respectively.
Coughlin said that after watching the tape of the Bucs' preseason games and regular season opener, as well as tape of Rutgers when Schiano was the head coach there, they have a pretty good understanding of what Schiano likes to do.
The question, though, is whether that familiarity will help the Giants or hurt them, as certainly Sullivan, who was with the club as recently as last year, no doubt has as good of an understanding of the Giants' defensive tendencies as any offensive coordinator the Giants will face this year.
"You can draw your own conclusions on that one," Coughlin said when asked if the Bucs were at an advantage. "They've both been here; they've both been in our system. Mike Sullivan of recent date, obviously. He did an outstanding job for us. Good, sharp, young coach. Bill Sheridan was here with our defensive staff. They both know the way we operate; they both know somewhat of our terminology. We're aware of that."
But for any intelligence that Sullivan and Sheridan might be able to share with their new players, Coughlin said that it didn't hurt the Giants that they were going against assistants whose schemes were off-shoots of what they ran when they were with the Giants, especially as they pertain to their weapons.
On offense, the Bucs will line up rookie running back Doug Martin, their first round draft pick from this year, and receiver Vincent Jackson, who came over from the Chargers.
Stopping Martin, who last week ran for 95 yards and who is also a receiving threat out of the backfield, will be one of the keys for the Giants.
"Hard runner," said Coughlin. "He is physical, runs through arm tackles. He and their fullback are right up there in their pass protection area as well, they both do pick up the blitz well, I think."
Meanwhile against the Bucs' front seven, which held Carolina's running game to ten yards last week, Coughlin said it's all about recognizing what they're trying to do.
"Recognition helps a lot being able to adjust on the fly. Meet speed with speed and power with power and so on and so forth. They have a very good front."
When it all comes together, Coughlin's expectations of his team are fairly simple.
"Energy, enthusiasm, pride," he said. "Second game of the season -- didn't like what we saw for the most part in the first game. Execution was not what we expected.
"Renewed vigor, vigilance, unselfishness -- do your job, understand, listen, (and) pay attention to the details," he continued. "Follow the details through in the chaos of the game."
He also expects to see his team fly around out there as they try to make plays.
"Don't want anybody to slow down. We're looking for people to speed up. Just execute the fundaments properly."
