NEW YORK--The New York Giants are heading into their showdown with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers riding a tidal wave of momentum stemming from their loss to the Patriots in the final week of the regular season. The G-Men are feeling so good about themselves, in fact, that many on the team are concerned about becoming overconfident.

“Hey, we played a great game on Saturday,” said coach Tom Coughlin. “We had the New England Patriots on the ropes for a while. We feel like we can beat anybody right now. Who are we playing next week? The Buccaneers? Let’s see, after coming within three points of beating the Patriots, we should expect to win this game by… 21 points. Still, we have to guard against being overconfident.”

There was some debate during the week as to whether the Giants should play their starters or rest them in anticipation of their playoff clash against the Bucs. But after nearly upsetting the Patriots, Coughlin said he has no regrets.

Now the challenge is to get his team focused on next week’s game, but it won’t be easy.

“We’ve spent the past few days celebrating the victory – I mean, loss,” said Coughlin. “We had a little celebration in the locker room after the game and then we gave them the day off on Monday as a reward. Today we start focusing on the postseason. If we keep this momentum going, we could end up meeting the Patriots in the Super Bowl. If we almost win that game, this city is going to go nuts.”

For Giants players, Saturday’s game was all about pride, resilience, and teamwork. But don’t tell them they’ve accomplished anything, because unless they win the Super Bowl, it will be all for naught.

“This is the kind of thing that you look back on after the season is over and say ‘Wow, we really did that,’” said linebacker Antonio Pierce. “But we can’t afford to savor it right now. We have to just remember that our ultimate goal this season was not to lose to the Patriots, but to win the Super Bowl. And the road to the Super Bowl starts next week against the Bucs. What are they 9-7? Wow, that might be a good time to rest our starters.”

Quarterback Eli Manning, who played brilliantly in the first three quarters against the Patriots, feels the near-victory galvanized the Giants and proved that, if they play together, they can match-up with the best the league has to offer.

“For those three quarters, everyone saw what we can do,” said Manning. “We proved to ourselves that when we play as a team we can beat anyone – or almost beat them. Whatever. How many teams can say they took the undefeated Patriots to the wire? One? Two? Three? Okay, probably, like, four, and three of them were so-so teams that just played over their head. And all of those teams suffered terrible letdowns in the following weeks. But that’s not going to happen to us. We’re not a team that's prone to wild emotional swings.”

Copyright 2007, The Brushback - Do not reprint without permission. This article is satire and is not intended as actual news.