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SPORTS OF THE TIMES
Coughlin Teaches, Barber Learns, and the Giants Are the Big Gainers
By DAVE ANDERSON
Published: October 4, 2004
Green Bay, Wis.
HIS yardage was always there, but so were the fumbles. For all of Tiki Barber's gains, he lost the ball too often. And the Giants too often lost the game.
But no longer.
Not since Barber, whose 52-yard touchdown dash sparked yesterday's surprising 14-7 victory over the Packers, accepted what he called the "the philosophy and the technique" that Coach Tom Coughlin "drilled into my head" on how to prevent what had been his flaw as a running back - fumbling the ball.
Over the four previous National Football League seasons, Barber fumbled 35 times, more than any other running back. And the opposing team had recovered 17 of them.
With 182 rushing yards against the Packers as the Giants roared to a 3-1 start going into next Sunday's game against Bill Parcells and the Cowboys at Dallas, Barber has already streaked to 455 yards on 73 carries this season, a dazzling 6.2-yard average.
Even more important, he has not had any fumbles, primarily because Coughlin changed the way he carried the ball.
"I don't want to put my hands out," Barber said, extending each of his arms from his side. "That exposes the ball."
More often than not in past seasons, Barber's extended arms enabled tacklers to knock the ball from his grasp. But as soon as Coughlin arrived early this year as the Giants' coach, he ordered Barber to hold a football across his chest.
Even before the minicamps began, Barber had to walk around holding a football that way.
Over the years, other coaches have had fumblers hold a football as they walked to meals at training camp, even hold a football as they slept. Anything to make a fumbler more aware of holding on to it.
But in Barber's case, every so often as he walked around the Giants' locker room with a football across his chest, an assistant coach would sneak up and try to slap the ball away.
Sometimes they succeeded. Mostly, they didn't.
But day by day, Barber became more and more conscious of holding on to a football the way Coughlin demanded. More conscious of not fumbling.
"You force yourself to change," Barber said. "You know it's his way," meaning Coughlin's, "or the highway."
That's coaching, which is really teaching. That's making a football player, who is really just a football student, a better football player, a better student.
Not that Barber is never going to fumble again. Fumbles happen. But the best backs seldom fumble. And in his eighth season, the 5-foot-10 and 200-pound Barber is a better back than he has ever been.
"I think I'm getting better," he said. "At 29, I think I'm getting a little bit faster."
Barber credited Coughlin and John Hufnagel, the offensive coordinator, for "designing plays to make me more productive."
With his 455 rushing yards in the first quarter of the 16-game season, he's on pace for nearly 2,000 yards, which would be far more than his season high of 1,387 in 2002.
If Barber were to approach 2,000 yards this season, he would set Giants rushing records for a season and a career.
Joe Morris had 1,516 yards for the 1986 Super Bowl XXI champions. With 5,864 yards, Barber is only 1,033 yards from Rodney Hampton's career total of 6,897.
But few of Barber's yards have been as important as the 52 that created a 7-7 tie early in the third quarter, moments after the Packers jumped to a 7-0 lead when Brett Favre, hurrying onto the field in a fourth-and-5 situation despite a concussion, drilled a 28-yard touchdown pass.
Less than a minute later, Barber burst through the middle and sprinted past a gap in the Packers' defense.
"We got the key block," Coughlin said. "Everybody was at linebacker depth. Two plays, it's back even again."
With Favre on the sideline, Doug Pederson could not jump-start the Packers' offense. Kurt Warner's 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jeremy Shockey early in the fourth quarter was the winning score.
It took Shockey off the hook for a 15-yard taunting penalty that interrupted that 73-yard drive. He spiked the ball after a 26-yard catch.
"The official said I looked at the sideline," Shockey said. "I was looking at the crowd, not the sideline."
That was one of eight Giants penalties, including two (false start, holding) on left guard Jason Whittle and two (holding, pass interference) on defensive back Frank Walker. For Coughlin, that's eight too many.
But the Giants continued to maintain their impressive turnover differential.
"That's the No. 1 winning statistic," Coughlin said.
For the season, the Giants have a plus-10 turnover differential, and yesterday they had two interceptions and one fumble recovery against Warner's end-zone interception and no fumbles.
Certainly not any by Tiki Barber.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/04/sports/football/04anderson.html?oref=login
Coughlin Teaches, Barber Learns, and the Giants Are the Big Gainers
By DAVE ANDERSON
Published: October 4, 2004
Green Bay, Wis.
HIS yardage was always there, but so were the fumbles. For all of Tiki Barber's gains, he lost the ball too often. And the Giants too often lost the game.
But no longer.
Not since Barber, whose 52-yard touchdown dash sparked yesterday's surprising 14-7 victory over the Packers, accepted what he called the "the philosophy and the technique" that Coach Tom Coughlin "drilled into my head" on how to prevent what had been his flaw as a running back - fumbling the ball.
Over the four previous National Football League seasons, Barber fumbled 35 times, more than any other running back. And the opposing team had recovered 17 of them.
With 182 rushing yards against the Packers as the Giants roared to a 3-1 start going into next Sunday's game against Bill Parcells and the Cowboys at Dallas, Barber has already streaked to 455 yards on 73 carries this season, a dazzling 6.2-yard average.
Even more important, he has not had any fumbles, primarily because Coughlin changed the way he carried the ball.
"I don't want to put my hands out," Barber said, extending each of his arms from his side. "That exposes the ball."
More often than not in past seasons, Barber's extended arms enabled tacklers to knock the ball from his grasp. But as soon as Coughlin arrived early this year as the Giants' coach, he ordered Barber to hold a football across his chest.
Even before the minicamps began, Barber had to walk around holding a football that way.
Over the years, other coaches have had fumblers hold a football as they walked to meals at training camp, even hold a football as they slept. Anything to make a fumbler more aware of holding on to it.
But in Barber's case, every so often as he walked around the Giants' locker room with a football across his chest, an assistant coach would sneak up and try to slap the ball away.
Sometimes they succeeded. Mostly, they didn't.
But day by day, Barber became more and more conscious of holding on to a football the way Coughlin demanded. More conscious of not fumbling.
"You force yourself to change," Barber said. "You know it's his way," meaning Coughlin's, "or the highway."
That's coaching, which is really teaching. That's making a football player, who is really just a football student, a better football player, a better student.
Not that Barber is never going to fumble again. Fumbles happen. But the best backs seldom fumble. And in his eighth season, the 5-foot-10 and 200-pound Barber is a better back than he has ever been.
"I think I'm getting better," he said. "At 29, I think I'm getting a little bit faster."
Barber credited Coughlin and John Hufnagel, the offensive coordinator, for "designing plays to make me more productive."
With his 455 rushing yards in the first quarter of the 16-game season, he's on pace for nearly 2,000 yards, which would be far more than his season high of 1,387 in 2002.
If Barber were to approach 2,000 yards this season, he would set Giants rushing records for a season and a career.
Joe Morris had 1,516 yards for the 1986 Super Bowl XXI champions. With 5,864 yards, Barber is only 1,033 yards from Rodney Hampton's career total of 6,897.
But few of Barber's yards have been as important as the 52 that created a 7-7 tie early in the third quarter, moments after the Packers jumped to a 7-0 lead when Brett Favre, hurrying onto the field in a fourth-and-5 situation despite a concussion, drilled a 28-yard touchdown pass.
Less than a minute later, Barber burst through the middle and sprinted past a gap in the Packers' defense.
"We got the key block," Coughlin said. "Everybody was at linebacker depth. Two plays, it's back even again."
With Favre on the sideline, Doug Pederson could not jump-start the Packers' offense. Kurt Warner's 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jeremy Shockey early in the fourth quarter was the winning score.
It took Shockey off the hook for a 15-yard taunting penalty that interrupted that 73-yard drive. He spiked the ball after a 26-yard catch.
"The official said I looked at the sideline," Shockey said. "I was looking at the crowd, not the sideline."
That was one of eight Giants penalties, including two (false start, holding) on left guard Jason Whittle and two (holding, pass interference) on defensive back Frank Walker. For Coughlin, that's eight too many.
But the Giants continued to maintain their impressive turnover differential.
"That's the No. 1 winning statistic," Coughlin said.
For the season, the Giants have a plus-10 turnover differential, and yesterday they had two interceptions and one fumble recovery against Warner's end-zone interception and no fumbles.
Certainly not any by Tiki Barber.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/04/sports/football/04anderson.html?oref=login