Win over Buccaneers means Tom Coughlin will be back with Giants

Up in the press box, John Mara waited for the replay official to rule that cornerback R.W. McQuarters had intercepted a last-ditch bomb from Jeff Garcia along the right sideline. It had been a delicate tip-toe job by McQuarters, but now it set off a fist-pumping, stomping celebration from the usually staid Mara.

Mara had his playoff victory, 24-14, the first playoff win for the Giants in seven long years, the first for Tom Coughlin in eight. Monkeys had been excised from backs, right there inside Raymond James Stadium. And it was time, maybe, to announce what has become inevitable: Coughlin will be back with a contract extension next season. "If I told you, everybody else would be upset," Mara said, smiling, heading to the elevator and the locker room. "You'll just have to wait with the others." Continue