Immerse yourself in Big Blue culture and you get the impression a loss to mighty New England and a victory over points-starved Tampa Bay makes New York the hottest team in these NFC playoffs.

You're reminded of former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who proudly proclaimed he took a "city that was known for pornography and licked it."

The Giants don't have the NFC licked yet, but there is reason for optimism as they enter today's game against the Cowboys. The team has won eight straight on the road. Tom Coughlin is no longer the cruel taskmaster out of touch with today's players, but is instead a coach with his finger on his team's pulse.

No longer the lost little brother of Peyton, Eli Manning is a maturing quarterback who played one of his smartest games against the Bucs and is coming into his own.

To borrow a phrase from someone who once coached the Giants and Cowboys, it may be time to break out the anointing oil.

All that is great. But these are the facts.

The Cowboys finished three games ahead of the Giants and won both games between them during the regular season, throwing down 76 points.

Lose today, and chances are Manning will be portrayed as an abject failure and Coughlin as an ineffective remnant of a bygone era.

Welcome to New York. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. You might even be able to buy another week or two before you are ridiculed and have your shortcomings exposed.

"I mean, that's what this business is about," Giants receiver Plaxico Burress said. "You've got to take the good with the good and the bad with the bad."

Analysts and fans appear conflicted when it comes to the Giants quarterback.

Manning has led New York to the playoffs for three consecutive seasons. But he had not led his team to a postseason victory until last week.

Manning threw 23 touchdown passes this season. He also had 20 interceptions.

And then there's the name. He's Eli. He's not Peyton.

"Being who he is, the city he plays in, his brother won a championship, of course people are going to try to get him rattled a little bit," Burress said. "I just tell him to relax, go out and be Eli. Don't worry about what anyone else says. Just go out and be yourself.

"He's coming on. He's getting more and more confident each week."

A lot of people have been down on Eli Manning. That's no secret. But receiver Amani Toomer doesn't believe the quarterback has gotten a fair shake.

Toomer points out that some of Manning's worst games have come in dismal weather. But he's always known Manning was a competitor, that he was tough.

"I never saw him crack, if that's what you're trying to ask me," Toomer said. "He's a stand-up guy. If something goes wrong, he's going to admit to it and come back and try harder the next week. You're never going to see him hanging his head. You're never going to see him give up. I think a lot of people in his situation, with all the pressure put on him ever since he could throw a football...

"I think he's handled it very well."

Manning threw for 251 yards and four touchdowns in New York's bid to keep the Patriots from an undefeated season. He followed that by completing 20 of 27 for 185 yards and two touchdowns against Tampa Bay.

He didn't have an interception. He didn't have a completion go for more than 21 yards. He managed the game.

"You can say all you want," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said. "They have won now with Eli. This is three years in a row [in the playoffs]. He's actually played really well against us.

"I don't see some of the things people are saying or have said, because I think he's a really good quarterback."

Manning was peppered with questions this past week about how his confidence level must be higher after these two games than it's ever been.

He said no.

"No, I don't feel any different," Manning said. "No one is ever going to be satisfied.

"If you don't win this one, they [critics] will have something else to say, like, 'You can't win the second playoff game.' "

Coughlin was under fire months before the season ever started. Pro Bowl running back Tiki Barber ripped him on the way out the door, claiming the Giants coach pushed him into an early retirement with his methods and unrelenting approach to practice.

Coughlin's demands and autocratic style became an issue near the end in Jacksonville, and it appeared some of those same cracks were developing in New York. When the Giants opened the season with losses to the Cowboys and Green Bay, speculation about his job security increased.

A six-game winning streak quieted that talk. Stories began to surface about how Coughlin had eased up a bit and given the players more input. Now, there is speculation that he will sign a contract extension.

"He's embraced the leadership on this team and really gotten involved with the players," linebacker Kawika Mitchell said. "The players feed off that sort of thing.

"I know the mood has been good around here. We hold each other accountable. Anytime the coach puts it in the players' hands, I think it benefits the team."

Coughlin noticed something about his team in the loss to New England. A win or loss had no impact on the Giants' playoff position. Yet the players worked hard and seemed to respond to the relaxed atmosphere.

It's the approach Coughlin has taken in the playoffs.

"The thing that surprised me about coach Coughlin is he came up to me last week and he said, 'I just want the guys to remember to have fun,' " defensive end Michael Strahan said.

That's not a word often associated with Coughlin.

"Coughlin? Fun? They don't go together, but in this case it does.

"That shows me a lot. He understands we've been winning and playing well because guys have been loose, because guys are enjoying being around the preparation, the practice. You have to enjoy it. You have to have fun."

Manning. Coughlin. Everyone with the Giants is having fun these days.

The only question is how long it will continue.

And what will be said when it ends.