Why isn't there more pride in G-Men's Gilbride?

The New York Giants are the best team in the NFC and one of the two best teams in the NFL, but there is something about them I can't figure out -- and it has nothing to do with Plaxico Burress, Tom Coughlin or PSLs.

Nope, my problem is this: How come we don't hear more about Kevin Gilbride, the club's offensive coordinator?

Sometimes Kevin Gilbride gets lost in coach Tom Coughlin's shadow. (US Presswire)

He called the plays in the Giants' demolition of Dallas last weekend, a 35-14 waxing where they ran over, around and through the overmatched Cowboys, and he called the plays on the game-winning drive in Super Bowl XLII when New York stunned previously unbeaten New England.

More important, he called the plays in the 2006 season finale, a 34-28 defeat of Washington that saved Coughlin's job. Had the Giants lost that evening, they would've missed out on a wild-card spot, and Coughlin, in all likelihood, would have been fired.

But it didn't happen because Coughlin took the necessary steps to prevent it from happening. Days before the game, he promoted Gilbride to offensive coordinator in an act that was as shrewd as it was extraordinary.

Basically, what Coughlin's move told you was that if he had to win one game -- and he did -- he was going to do it with the people he trusted most. So he chose Gilbride.

Result: A critical victory, with Tiki Barber rushing for a franchise-record 234 yards and three touchdowns to send the Giants to the playoffs. Coughlin kept his job, the Giants went on to win a Super Bowl and Eli Manning became the elite quarterback the club envisioned.

In short, everyone lived happily ever after.

You can make the argument that none of that would've been possible without Gilbride ... and I will. Because if Coughlin doesn't make the move to Gilbride prior to the Washington game he and his staff are history -- fired before Coughlin can hire defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo away from Philadelphia; fired before Coughlin can hire quarterbacks coach Chris Palmer to assist in the tutoring of Manning; fired before Coughlin can run the table in the 2007 playoffs.

Basically, if he doesn't go to Gilbride in December 2006, everything you see now doesn't happen. So let me ask this again: Why doesn't Kevin Gilbride get more attention for helping to make it all possible?

"I think a lot of it is because Tom (Coughlin) is such a dominating presence inside and outside the locker room," said Barber, now an analyst for NBC's Football Night in America. "For a long time he didn't allow his coaches to interact with the media, and that's how they become known.

"Should he get more attention? Definitely. He's given the offense a clear direction and balance. We all try to treat football as if it's rocket science, but really it's all about field position and balance. And Kevin understands that."