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Tiki carries Giants past Chiefs

Wathcing the Giants have trouble bringing down Larry Johnson was frustrating, but Tiki Barber outplayed the KC running back (who had a great game) with yet another MVP type performance. After Tiki Barber ran 29 times for 220 yards and 2 touchdowns what could the Chiefs say?

"He is a complete player," said Chiefs' safety Sammy Knight. "I think it is his vision and he has gotten a lot stronger than in years past. His cutback ability is probably one of the best in the league. He showed why he is one of the top backs. He did a good job of breaking tackles today, what else can you say."

First, Shaun Powell from Newsday has a lot to say about Tiki. One of the key things to me is that the Giants stuck with the running game even though the Chiefs defense contained Barber early:

In the past, the Giants took this as a cue to start cranking up Manning's arm. Instead, offensive coordinator John Hufnagel, who calls the plays, pulled a mild surprise and kept calling Barber's number.

"We didn't give up," Barber said. "We could've gone pass-happy. But we found something that worked and stuck with it. I knew I would be in the open field at some point."

Now, enjoy some great pictures on kansascity.com. A few show Tiki breaking tackles. Most are actually good for Giants fans. Then read the Mercury News which quotes Vermeil telling his KC players "Hey, you're going to have to tackle that son of a gun (Tiki Barber). "He's a great football player." Barber proved that he is a great one (in my mind the Giants' greatest running back ever) and broke numerous Chief tackles.

USA Today has one of the better articles on the game with bits of information about how Vermeil was so upset he was shaking after the game as he said "When someone sets an NFL or a career rushing record against what we thought was a very sound defense … we weren't worth a damn." And how Seubert came back after all this time and played well: "You kind of forget what it is like until you get out there and start playing again," Seubert said. "It is great to be back, and it is what you do."

Posted by James Trotta at December 18, 2005 5:42 PM