NFL: Justin Tuck Rips Bucs’ Kneel-Down Ploy; Eli Warned Bucs Before Play

New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck said he would not dive at an opponent’s knees on a victory formation kneel down even if he were ordered to by his coach.

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Tuck won’t forget what the Tampa Bay Buccaneersdid when they tried to rush and cause a turnover as the Giants were kneeling down at the end of their 41-34 win over the Buccaneers on Sunday.

“I am trying to be politically (correct),” Tuck said Tuesday. “I thought it was a classless play. That is how you get guys hurt. I have been in this league for eight years and that is the first time that I’ve ever seen that. There have been guys that’s been in here a lot longer than I have and that is the first time they have seen it.”

“And that is not me being biased because it is my teammates,” Tuck later added. “If (Giants defensive coordinator) Perry Fewell told me to dive at a guy’s knee, when we were losing, I would say no. And that is just a man on man talking.”

Tuck disputed Tampa Bay coach Greg Schiano’s logic that he has his team play hard on every play until the game is over in an effort to win. Schiano also said he had his teams at Rutgers do the same thing.

“I’ll say this: We kneeled down in the first half, and they didn’t fire off,” Tuck said. “They let us score (at the end to get the ball back with time left).

“So how do you play for 60 minutes and you are letting guys score?” Tuck continued. “It is a little lack of class to me but … I am one person with an opinion.”

Coach Tom Coughlin said he has not talked to Schiano since the Giants coach yelled at the Buccaneers coach during the postgame handshake.

Quarterback Eli Manning called the play a “little bit of a cheap shot” as several Bucs went low underneath the Giants’ offensive linemen in an effort to create a turnover. Manning ended up falling backward as his linemen got pushed into him.

The NFL did not hand out any discipline concerning the play.

“There is nothing in the rule books; there’s nothing illegal about it,” Tuck said when asked if he was disappointed that there was no punishment handed out to the Buccaneers. “I am not playing college football so I don’t watch Rutgers tape. I am sure none of us watch Rutgers tape.”

“So if that is how you want to play it, then we will just do that to them and do that to everybody else,” Tuck later added. “And it is not going to be an issue until somebody blows their knee out or you get some prime guy hurt on national TV. Like I said, it is not illegal; no, not at all. But I don’t agree with it.”

The incident has become a hot topic in the league. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was among those to weigh in with an opinion Tuesday.

“I’ve always thought that’s a wasted play for our fans, the kneel-down,” Jones said Tuesday on KRLD-FM. “(Former Kansas City Chiefs owner) Lamar Hunt tried several times to introduce a rule and have it voted on that you couldn’t kneel down. You had to run a play. Unless you were trying to advance the ball, then you got a penalty and time didn’t run off the clock. It’s not a good play.”

WRITTEN BY Ohm Youngmisuk | ESPNNewYork.com ESPNDallas.com’s Tim MacMahon contributed to this report & FULL STORY HERE

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From NESN:

Pretty much everyone watching at home knew New York Giants QB Eli Manning was planning to take a knee on the final play of Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. According to Manning, he informed the Bucs personally that a game-ending knee was in the cards.

Manning joined WFAN in New York with Mike Francesa, and he discussed the controversial ending to Sunday’s game, in which Tampa Bay’s defensive line knocked Manning down to the ground while trying to jar the ball loose.

“I guess certain teams you might say, ‘Hey watch out for a cheap shot.’ That’s what we call it,” Manning said. “A lot of teams will ask in those situations, ‘Are you taking a knee?’ and I will tell them, ‘Hey we’re taking a knee so we’re not firing off.’ We don’t tell our linemen to fire off and hit them on that last play.”

Francesa then asked Manning whether there was an acknowledgment on Sunday that the Giants were going to take a knee in order to run out the clock.

“I said it,” Manning told Francesa. “I said as I walked up, ‘Hey we’re taking a knee’ but obviously they were down and ready and had a feeling they were about to fire off. There’s nothing I can really do about it. I have to make sure I get the snap and the only thing I’m worried about right there is securing the ball and making sure we get the win.”

Manning did secure the ball and the win, but head coach Tom Coughlin had a few words for Bucs coach Greg Schiano as the two met up for their postgame handshake. The frustration then spilled over into the Giants’ locker room, where players expressed their displeasure with the play.