HEAD COACH TOM COUGHLIN

(Opening statement)

"We are pleased to win. It was a physical game. We had a couple of objectives coming in here. We had a game in which we didn't play very well against the run, so we knew that we would be tested and we would have to rise up and do a better job there. We also knew we needed to rush the ball better than we had, so we did a pretty good job with that. I think we had some penalties today. I don't know how many, but that was a little bit bothersome to me. But overall we're glad to be able to come in here and glad to be able to win and be 3-0 and have a couple of wins on the road."

(On the offensive line)

"I think we had 40 plays in the first half, which is what we were trying to do. If our defense could help themselves when they did out there maybe they'd go three and out, give the ball back to the offense, let the offense control the ball again. The offensive line did a nice job and we did accrue kind of a Giant physical day which we needed to have."

(On the defense)

"Defense did a nice job. They pointed because of the week before and they listened to all the comments all week long, obviously, and had a nice week of practice and went out and did a very good job, stopped things before they got started. There were a couple of times it looked like Derrick Ward was coming through one time and they closed up. Carnell [Williams] came through one time and they closed up pretty quick, so I thought just to keep that kind of pressure so that the down and distance sequences were a majority of the day in our favor."

(On what he meant by the defense listening to the comments all week long)

"We didn't stop the run, so we heard about it all week which is good. We should have heard about it."

(On the ball control by the offense)

"That was what we thought we had to do. We had some injuries on the defensive side of the ball. We had to be in a position where we thought our offense was controlling and our defense would have a limited number of snaps which I think is what it was. We did a good job with that. We had a couple of key plays for our offensive team. Eli [Manning] to Sinorice [Moss] was a big play, a nice tip ball play to Steve Smith. We didn't knock it in there every time we were down there. The missed field goal upset me before the half but there's always something you have to work on. There are areas still that we need to get better at and we'll have some new objectives for this week and players will focus on that."

(On what RB Ahmad Bradshaw brings to the Giants running game)

"He really did a nice job of that today. I would say yards after contact today he was exceptional. He seemed to really spin and get his pads down and find some area where he could sneak up in there for extra yardage. He was really a force today doing that. I thought he had some real strong runs and he had some runs where he made some nice maneuvers and made people miss. Gartrell [Johnson] was pretty good at the end of the game too I thought. For a young kid coming in hardly knowing the offense, I thought that was pretty good."

(On RT Kareem McKenzie)

"I'm not sure about him. He could not have gone back in."

(On the running backs showing more patience today)

"That hasn't been the word that I've been using, but I think we knew the style of defense and there had to be some patience there. Coming in there had been some cut back runs, so you had to give everything a chance to develop if that was going to be the case today."

RB AHMAD BRADSHAW

(On getting the running game going)

"That was our game plan coming in. [We were] trying to get those linebackers flowing to get a lot of cutbacks. We knew the linebackers would run a little bit and I tried to cut it back as much as I could and it was there."

(On his 38-yard run)

"It was really a misdirection. I actually went towards the play that I wasn't supposed to go [laughter], but it popped open. Mario [Manningham] kept the DB out wide and I was able to squeeze on through and just try to use my ability and my speed to hit it."

RB BRANDON JACOBS

(On his thoughts)

"We got a 'W.' It could have been a little better. We're still trying to get better and better each week. I think we're working towards where we want to be. We've got to keep working."

(On how well they ran the ball)

"Oh definitely. I thought the offensive line blocked well. They moved people out of the way. We made some plays in the running game. I might have had a couple big runs and that's what we needed."

QB ELI MANNING

(On how he is doing)

"I'm doing well. How are you? It was hot out there. It was a little hot but we managed and got off to a fast start. The rain kind of came in and cooled things off a little bit."

(On his performance)

"Yeah, I thought we did a lot of things really well today and obviously one of our main concerns was you know once we got to the red zone getting touchdowns and we did a lot better on that today. We got off to a great start with the first drive getting down there and obviously a goal was to be able to run the ball down there was very important. They were playing a lot of two high and safeties deep so we needed the run. The offensive line and Brandon Jacobs got in and we ran the ball terrific all day and you know we just were sharp for most of the game. The rain came in, it got a little tough to throw on a few things so my ball sailed high but for the most part we protected unbelievable, ran the ball well and our defense did a great job of getting us the ball and we did a good job of having long drives and controlling the clock."

(On the game plan)

"We just had to see what they were going to do. They were playing a lot of two safeties deep and guys were coming down, safeties were coming down late and we ran the ball very effectively and up front just controlled the line of scrimmage and in the passing game we were efficient, kind of throwing underneath for most of the stuff. Guys did a great job when we had to scramble guys making some tough catches. We had some tight throws and receivers did a good job of holding on to the ball and making plays."

(On how running the ball well helps)

"You just stay in rhythm. You stay within your game plan and so you're just in good situations. You got a lot of second and sixes and stuff, second and fives where you can run, you can throw if you don't have a great play then you got a third and manageable situations you don't have to sit there and hold it real long back in the pocket. You can kind of dictate what the defense is doing and not the other way around and so I thought we stayed in rhythm. We didn't have many negative plays and that was good. That was good to come in there and play like we did."

(On Ahmad Bradshaw's performance)

"I thought Ahmad ran hard. I mean I thought all our running backs ran very hard, made the first guy miss a lot up on the safeties, cut things back. We knew it was a fast team. They want to flow to the ball. There was a lot of opportunities to cut things back and I think both Brandon [Jacobs] and Ahmad read the defense well and ran hard. They were lowering their shoulders getting five and six yards and tough yards and played outstanding."

WR MARIO MANNINGHAM

(On what was working well)

"Just executing, going through our plays, just doing what we have to do to convert on third down, to make the big catch and the touchdown."

(On keeping the Buccaneers defense on the field)

"It comes in handy because you don't want your defense out there for a long time. Defense wins games so we wanted them off the field. We wanted to have their defense on the field as long as we could."

LB ANTONIO PIERCE

(On having a good defensive performance)

"[It was] one of the best ones that I've been a part of, obviously. We had a lot of three and outs. We had turnovers. We got after the running back, we got after the quarterback. It was a pretty solid game overall."

(On if he anticipated the physical game based on previous weeks)

"Yes, we needed it. 250 yards rushing the week before you figure a team is going to come out there and challenge you. They have a great offensive line and three good tailbacks but our guys made up our mind all week. We played aggressive, everybody stayed in their gap. It was disciplined and we pretty much didn't give up anything."

WR STEVE SMITH

(On controlling the clock)

"Yeah, I think so. We did a great job of executing the game plan. Defense did a great job of making them go three and out and we just tried to sustain momentum and keep the ball."

(On level of confidence in the passing game)

"As it was before the season. Of course, when you do it in the game I think that builds confidence. We all knew that we can make plays and we just don't want to be satisfied and just keep doing it."

CB TERRELL THOMAS

(On heavy rush on Byron Leftwich)

"Yeah, he gave me a corner post and we just blanketed it with me and C.C. Brown. I was able to make a play."

(On plays like that turning the game)

"Exactly. As a defense we want to get turnovers and that was a big play for us. We just made them go three and out, offense just scored, and we gave the ball right back to them and went up 14-0."

DE OSI UMENYIORA

(On having Leftwich on the run)

"That's what we do. You know sacks come, sometimes they happen, sometimes they don't; but, as long as you are putting pressure on the quarterback I think as a defense you are doing a good job."

(On adjusting from last week to stop the run)

"Well, we are way better than we played last week. Everybody knows that. We knew that. Last week was just an anomaly so I think this week we went out there trying to prove a point and I think we might have done that."

(On Derrick Ward being on the opposing team)

"[Laughing] I was happy to see him but he wasn't going to do anything today."