Former Giants running back Tiki Barber has, for approximately the 4,392nd time, made comments that probably won’t sit well in the locker room of his old team.
Barber wrote a column for TheXLog.com in which he discussed what looks like a late-season swoon for the Giants, and he wasn’t particularly complimentary of his former teammates and coaches.
“The last three seasons have been marred by collapse,” Barber wrote. “A once vaunted running game and stingy-aggressive defense have given way to mediocrity and Eli Manning being the only saving grace.
Hopes of dynastic Super Bowl runs have morphed into ‘let’s hope we win more than we lose.’”
To unpack that a little bit, Barber is pointing out that the running game isn’t as good as it was when he was there. That’s true, although it comes across as sour grapes when it’s coming from Barber, who wanted to return to the NFL this year and learned that the Giants (and 31 other teams) were uninterested. Barber’s praise for the Giants’ quarterback is a change, however, as Barber had previously publicly criticized Manning.
The main subject of Barber’s column, however, was Giants coach Tom Coughlin.
“And in the midst of a three game losing streak, after consecutive ugly losses, and potentially on the verge of making it four with the undefeated Green Bay Packers next on the docket, how do we “fairly” evaluate Tom Coughlin?” Barber wrote. “Maybe I’m not qualified to answer that because I’m not in that locker room anymore; However, watching from afar, I get the feeling that things aren’t necessarily “all good” over at MetLife Stadium.”
Barber is correct that things aren’t all good with the Giants right now: Given their losing streak and their future schedule, they look like a long shot to make the playoffs. But as he too often does, Barber comes across like he’s more interested in settling some old score than in offering a coherent analysis of the situation with the Giants.