EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Tom Coughlin got heated with Greg Schiano after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' first-year coach told his players to knock Eli Manning to the ground as the franchise quarterback took a knee on the final play of the game.

Coughlin sought out Schiano on the field following the New York Giants' 41-34 victory and yelled at the former Rutgers coach.

"I don't think you do that at this level," Coughlin said after the game. "You don't do that in this league. You don't jeopardize the offensive line, you [don't] jeopardize the quarterback. Thank goodness we didn't get anybody hurt, that I know of, a couple of linemen were late coming in [after end of game]."

With the Giants lined up in their victory formation, Tampa Bay brought pressure on the last play of the game, forcing Manning back and knocking him down. Replays showed that Manning was not expecting the rush with the game all but decided.

"That was a first," Manning said. "Obviously I think it is a little bit of a cheap shot. Going down, we are taking a knee, in a friendly way. They are firing off, and it's a way to get someone hurt."

Schiano said it was a play he'd run before at Rutgers, and he would do it again. He said that he and Coughlin had "some stuff we needed to hash out" after the game. But it did not seem as if the coaches found any common ground before a terse handshake.

"I don't know if that's not something that's not done in the National Football League, but what I do with our football team is we fight until they tell us game over," Schiano said. "There's nothing dirty about it and there's nothing illegal about it.

"We crowd the ball -- it's like a sneak defense and you try to knock it loose. Watch Rutgers, they would know if they watched us that's what we did at the end of the game."

In his Monday morning conference call with reporters, Coughlin said he did not know yet if anyone was hurt on the play, with players still arriving to the facility for treatment.