Approach to the Game – New York Giants at Arizona Cardinals, November 17, 1996: What a difference a week makes in the NFL! Two weeks ago, many were using the words “Giants” and “playoffs” in the same breath. On the other hand, the Cardinals looked like one of the worst teams in the NFL. Now the Giants’ win over the Cards a couple of weeks ago seems like ages ago. But don’t be too depressed Giant fans! The Giants are right where most of us expected them to be. They are a 4-6 squad which looks like they will finish the year at 6-10. One game difference over last year’s 5-11 record may not sound like improvement, but the Giants have gotten better and younger. There is improved play at almost every position this year, most noticeably at linebacker, in the secondary, and at wide receiver. The young offensive line has taken its bumps and bruises but it is getting better. The Giants have the best fullback in the league. Plus, some of their very best players are on injured reserve (Jamal Duff and Amani Toomer). The last six games are important because they will set the tone for next year. They are also extremely important for QB Dave Brown.
Giants on Offense: Too often this year (and last year for that matter), the Giants have taken a lead into the second half only to see the game slip away. Most of the time, it has been inept offense that is largely to blame. Dave Brown showed us a lot last week. He made good reads and got rid of the ball quickly. We see real improvement. However, the true mark of any quarterback is how many games he wins. Of course, Dave’s WR’s have to help him out. There have been too many dropped and tipped balls this year by Thomas Lewis, Chris Calloway, and Howard Cross. What also is hurting the Giants is that their receivers are not fighting for the ball — too many times the defensive back has outhustled or outmuscled the Giants’ wide receivers. This has got to change. It really is unfortunate that the Giants have lost Amani Toomer because we think he would have been a real factor in the second half of this season. It will be interesting to see if rookie free agent Kevin Alexander gets a chance to play this week. Several Giants have recently raved about his quickness and speed, likening many of his moves to Barry Sanders. What hurt Alexander in the draft was his mediocre hands. What the Giants do need to do over the next six games is start answering some questions at the tight end/H-Back position. We like Howard Cross, but he is not the same player he was two years ago in the receiving department. An NFL team severely disadvantages itself if it doesn’t have a receiving threat at TE — a good receiving tight end forces the safeties to play the WHOLE playing field — they can’t cheat and help out the CB’s as much as they would like to outside the hashmarks. Don’t get us wrong, a quality blocking tight end is worth his weight in gold, but that blocking tight end has to be somewhat of a factor in the passing game. For whatever reason, Howard Cross isn’t. Thus, we’d start Brian Saxton over the last six games. Along the same lines, Aaron Pierce is a decent player, but when he is in the contest, Charles Way comes out. Charles Way should never be taken out of the game because he is one of the Giants’ very best players. It might be more prudent of the Giants to abandon the H-Back formation and put Pierce at tight end. While a switch of this magnitude would have to largely be implemented next year during training camp, the Giants could get started this season, since nothing is at stake now. One major switch need not take until training camp and that is the changing of the guard at halfback. Enough is enough. Rodney Hampton is a quality individual and the best RB in Giants’ history, but he is not getting it done at RB. In our opinion, his new role on the team should be a short yardage back, 3rd down back, and back-up halfback. The main man HAS to be Tyrone Wheatley. What point does running Hampton serve when the Giants are 4-6. Give Wheatley the ball 25-30 times a game. We guarantee he will have over 100 yards! The more he runs, the better he will become and not just from play-to-play, but from game-to-game. Remarkably, he has been run so few times by the Giants that he is still not comfortable with his linemen. Lastly, what to do with the offensive line? Since the Giants inserted OG Lance Smith into the line-up, the Giants’ offense has improved markedly. Coincidence? Probably not. However, the 33 year old Smith is not the future at left guard. The future is Rob Zatechka, Scott Davis, Roman Oben, or some soon-to-be-drafted young lineman. We feel that is important that the Giants start to work the 25 year old Zatechka or the 26 year old Davis into the line-up some over the last six games. For some reason, teams have been able to run on the Cards this year. The Cards’ defense is filled with talented players: DT Eric Swann, DT Michael Bankston, DE Simeon Rice, MLB Eric Hill, OLB Jamir Miller, OLB Seth Joyner, and CB Aeneas Williams. Thus, they are a dangerous team; Head Coach Bill Tobin knows what he is doing. As we watched the Skins-Cards game last weekend, we noticed the Skins had great success running at Rice. We recommend the Giants do the same.
Giants on Defense: This unit did not play well against Carolina, but it has played remarkably well this season. The biggest surprise has been the play of the linebackers. Corey Widmer is improving and Jessie Armstead is becoming one of the better weakside LB’s in the league. The fact that Michael Croel started over Armstead last year was a joke. If one player has disappointed us it has been Corey Miller. Granted, Miller has been given the unceremonious task of taking on blockers so others can make the play, but his lack of speed and quickness has hurt the Giants’ defense this year. The Giants’ can afford one plodding LB (Widmer), but not two (Miller) in a 4-3 defense. Up front, the Giants have one really good player (Strahan) and a bunch of ordinary guys. Bratzke is a nice story and has been making more plays — but he is not the athlete Cedric Jones is. Jones should start receiving more serious playing time. The Giants have been putting some pressure on opposing QB’s with these four, but it has not resulted in enough sacks. Defensive Line Coach Earl Leggett says DT Robert Jones is the most physically-talented lineman he has ever been around (and that includes guys like Howie Long), but when is all this talent going to demonstrate itself on the playing field? Both Jones and Keith Hamilton are better-than-average DT’s, but the Giants do need a “force” in the middle. In the secondary, Sehorn has simply amazed us with his play this year; we hope it continues. Sparks is Pro Bowl material and Hamilton and Randolph provide enviable depth. The Giants are also set at free safety with Tito Wooten (who played what we thought was his best game last week) and Percy Ellsworth. At strong safety, Jesse Campbell is solid, but we would like to see the more athletic Rodney Young to be given some playing time. Don’t be fooled by the Cards-Giants game from a couple of weeks ago, the Cards can be explosive on offense. We watched the Cards’ running and passing game tear through the Skins’ defense last week. LeShon Johnson is the type of running back that can play crappy one week and then dominate a game the next. The Giants must, absolutely must, shut him down first and foremost. FB Larry Centers is the Cards’ version of David Meggett and we would keep Armstead and/or Wooten on him all day long. QB Boomer Esiaison played one of the more impressive games we have seen a QB play last week. The key to his success however, was the lack of a pass rush evinced by the Skins. The Giants must do a better job of rushing the passer with their front four this week. In particular, Strahan and Cedric Jones have to step up their games.
Special Teams: Not only is Thomas Lewis not getting it done as a punt returner, but we would rather not see our starting WR returning punts in the first place. We sincerely hope that Kevin Alexander is given a chance this week to do so. We didn’t think Conrad Hamilton did a bad job returning kick-offs last week, but we can’t imagine that Gary Downs would be good at doing so. We’d rather not have Ty Wheatley returning kicks, but he’s the best the Giants have right now. Kick coverage was pathetic last week as was Daluiso’s kick-offs. We would seriously consider waiving him if he falters over the next few weeks; Olindo Mare is still on the practice squad and he can boom kick-offs.
Outlook: Obviously, we hope the Giants win, but as you can tell from our review, we’re now looking more at improvement than match-ups. The Giants should win this game. The Cards are coming off a physical, emotional overtime game against the Skins and the Giants are coming off of a tough loss and are looking to redeem themselves. The big wild card is the play of Cards’ offensive line. If the line provides Esiaison with enough time and LeShon Johnson with enough running room (like they did against the Skins), then the Giants will be in trouble. However, if their line reverts back to the form of a couple of weeks ago, then the Giants will win. It will be interesting to see how the Giants respond now that they know they are out of the playoff picture. Regardless, let’s get to 5-6! Giants 26 – Cards 13.