It will be interesting to see which coach did the right thing down the stretch between Jon Gruden and Tom Coughlin.  Gruden rested his starters the last couple of weeks (the Bucs lost both games) while Coughlin played his regulars last week as he tried to beat the Patriots despite having nothing to gain.

When the Giants have the football they will likely try to bully the Bucs small but fast defense with the running game.  Look for Brandon Jacobs and rookie Ahmad Bradshaw to pound on the Bucs defense which is allowing 107.9 yards rushing per game.  If the Giants are effective running the football it will set up play action passes which is one thing Eli Manning is good at.  The Bucs safeties (Tanard Jackson and Jermaine Phillips) will be the key for the defense against the Giants because they will have to take the tight end (Kevin Boss) out of the Giants offense because Manning loves throwing the short pass over the middle.  The safeties also will need to help Ronde Barber with Plaxico Burress who has a huge height advantage and Manning is good at throwing the jump ball.

The Buccaneers must keep the ball on the ground in this football game.  Ernest Graham and Michael Pittman must carry the load against a Giants defense that is allowing 97.7 yards rushing per game.  The reason the Bucs need to be effective running the ball is to slow the Giants pass rush.  The Giants had 53 sacks this season and will no doubt be bringing the heat against the young offensive line of the Bucs.  Osi Umenyiora (13 sacks), Justin Tuck (10 sacks) and Michael Strahan (9 sacks) will likely put a lot of pressure on Jeff Garcia who will make mistakes if rushed.  But, if the Bucs line can give Garcia time to throw the ball he should be effective against a Giants defense that is allowing 207.3 yards passing per game.

PREDICTION:  NEW YORK GIANTS 24, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 13