NJ.com - In Week 3, Justin Tuck said Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” is his good-luck pregame song. When it’s played, the Giants win, and darnit if he hasn’t been right since he said that. Well, according to a rundown of Saturday night’s team meetings provided by senior vice president of communications Pat Hanlon, the Giants used that song as their backdrop for the Saturday night 5-minute highlight video, which contained plays from the entire season but mostly had an emphasis on the past five games.

Afterward, Coughlin addressed the team for about 5 to 6 minutes, during which he emphasized how teams that win championships “love” one another. “I told them they deserved to win,” he told NBC’s Michelle Tafoya in an interview upon arriving at Lucas Oil Stadium. “I even told them I loved them.” Coughlin’s speech began with the theme of “finish,” which was introduced on the first day of training camp after a few seasons in which this team struggled down the stretch. Coughlin also said how he admired the way the players have endured through adversity and injuries this season. He said the theme of “belief” has inspired millions around the world.

Another point in his speech was that, when a player wins the Super Bowl, he looks for a teammate to hug and then looks up into the crowd for his family because “they are all world champions.” Finally, he hit on that theme of love by saying the late John Wooden (an inspiration for Coughlin) originally placed “competitive greatness” at the top of his noted “Pyramid of Success” but later edited it to put the word love atop it.

Not quite as poetic as Al Pacino talking about “Inches” but its even better because this shit was real. Love, belief, and finish. Just speak from the heart and never give up. Meanwhile the Pats probably had Belichick mumbling about throwing TDs to Mike Vrabel as he sat in the corner cutting the sleeves off of his shirts. Brady sitting next to him with his legs crossed like a chick as he reviewed Brazilian dating websites to find the next guy to fuck Giselle. Guess thats the difference between winning titles and losing like chumps.

And I always wondered what a coach like Coughlin can possibly say to fire up an NFL team with people from all walks of life. You’ve got Osi who is a Nigerian born in England. Tuck is a religious black dude from the Deep South. J.P.P. was born to Haitian immigrants and only started playing football like 5 years ago. And that’s just the D-Line. Can’t be easy to keep a team like this motivated and fired up for a full NFL season – especially when they’re losing to wanksters like Rex Grossman, Tarvaris Jackson, and Vince Young along the way.

But give Old Man Coughlin credit because despite the media and fans and idiot bloggers calling for his head every other week, he always seems to keep his cool and hold his teams together when they’re hanging on by a thread. Almost reminds me of Joe Torre in that sense. Old school guys don’t give two shits what the media or anyone outside the team has to say, and that’s exactly what Coughlin is and that’s exactly why he’s been successful in a city like New York. He did it in 2007 when nobody believed in them. And he did it again 2 days ago. And its the reason he just became the first coach in NFL history to go from the retirement home to the Hall of Fame in the same season. Maybe Rex Ryan should stop talking about slapping dicks and stuffing his face with snacks and toes and start taking notes from the man down the hall who gets it done.

Now do me a favor and cue the motherfuckin music!!!!

PS- I would pay $10,000 for that 5 minute season highlight video.

Double PS- Something about Justin Tuck listening to Phil Collins makes me laugh.

@BarstoolScott