After giving his players the orders to dive into the line of scrimmage and try to dislodge the ball as Eli Manning knelt down at the end of the Giants' 41-34 win on Sunday, Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Greg Schianio insisted "There's nothing dirty about (the tactic). There's nothing illegal about it."
The play made the Buccaneers seemed to be in violation of the NFL's "code book" as if the final play of the game was very much contention. That got Schiano an earful from Giants head coach Tom Coughlin right after the game, and Coughlin elaborated in his postgame press conference.
"I don't think you do that," Coughlin said. "You don't do that in this league. Not only that, you jeopardize the offensive line, you jeopardize the quarterback. Thank goodness we didn't get anybody hurt - that I know of. A couple of linemen were late getting in."
Schiano defended his approach:
"I don't know if that's not something that's done in the National Football League. What I do with our football team is that we fight until they tell us, 'game over.' And there's nothing dirty about it, there's nothing illegal about it. We crowd the ball like a sneak defense and try to knock it loose.
"If people watched Rutgers, they would know that's what we do at the end of a game. We're not going to quit, that's just the way I coach and teach our players. If some people are upset about it, that's just the way it goes. I don't have any hesitation. That's the way we play. We play clean, hard football until they tell us the game is over."
Now it seems fans of the "old school" have come to the defense of Schiano.
ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Ron Jaworski had a different take than the one Coughlin brought to the table. Jaworski, who played for the Philadelphia Eagles and three other teams in his 15-year NFL career, said that one of the most famous plays in football history was set up by an approach similar to Schiano's.
"There's no doubt that Tom Coughlin owes Greg Schiano an apology for the way he reacted after the game," Jaworski said. "And I will give you a real-life example of why. Remember the 'Miracle at the Meadowlands' with [Giants quarterback] Joe Pisarcik? Very similar play before the Pisarcik-Csonka fumble. The Giants were in victory formation, and Frank LeMaster, our linebacker, fires off [at the snap]. We were taught by [Eagles then-head coach] Dick Vermeil to play until the game is over. All of a sudden, a big shoving match ensues. The only thing the Giants had to do was take a knee, and the game was over. But their coach, Bob Gibson, was on the sideline, angry because of what we did. They called a play to try and get a hit on our defense. Lo and behold, Larry Csonka thought Pisarcik was taking a knee, [Eagles defensive back] Herman Edwards picks up the ball, and we won the football game.
"So, the Eagles win a game, go 9-7 that year, and go to the playoffs, all because of a play that was almost identical to what happened [Sunday]. You play to the end of the game."
Fellow old-schooler Mike Ditka, who appeared on the ESPN Radio Show Mike And Mike had similar comments in regards to Coughlin's actions.
"Tom's wrong about this," Ditka said. "You never go out with the intent to hurt anybody, but you do try to get the ball. As soon as the center snaps the ball, you try to create a fumble. Who knows what can happen, as crazy as the game is today? The game's still going on. Greg Schiano is bringing a different temperament to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and I like what he's doing. I really do. They're going to be a good team, because they do the little things. This is not a popularity contest -- he doesn't care what Tom Coughlin thinks of him."
So in the end, maybe Coughlin's reaction may have been prompted to the fact that Schiano is new to the league, and felt there should have been more "respect" given.
But football is a physical sport, so what should Coughlin?
