Green Bay Packers 22 – New York Giants 17
Overview: The good news was that the game was a tightly-fought contest and there were no serious injuries. The second team front seven on defense finally came to life and there were some very good individual performances. The bad news is that the Giants found another way lose a ball game and the constant losing of the past few years combined with a 1-3 performance in the preseason must be creating some self-doubt in the ball players. The Giants need to get off to a quick start in 1997 in order to build their own confidence and start some momentum. Right now, we’re not sure these young players actually believe in themselves. Head Coach Jim Fassel and his staff have a difficult road ahead of them.
Quarterbacks: It’s good that Dave Brown didn’t play long because he was not sharp. This had to do in part with the play-calling as Fassel had Brown throw deep three times on the first drive. Brown has improved his deep throwing somewhat this preseason, but it is still a weakness in his game. It’s not that he doesn’t have the arm, but he still lacks accuracy and touch on the deep ball. Dave is getting a little better at disguising the screen (the Giants ran a lot of screen passes against Green Bay — our favorite play) and he did hit a receiver for a clutch third down, but he threw a terrible pass to an open Tiki Barber and just wasn’t as sharp as his previous three games. The good news is that Dave Brown stood tough in the pocket and wasn’t phased by the rush. Brown finished going 3-for-8 for 32 yards with no interceptions and no touchdowns.
Danny Kanell had another disappointing outing. He started off very poorly, but settled down a bit later in the contest and did throw a beauty of a TD pass to Ike Hilliard and a very nice deep ball to Toomer. However, he birddogged his receivers far too much — leading the Packer defensive backs right to the receiver he was throwing to on numerous occasions. He also made some poor decisions by throwing into double (and once triple) coverage. At times, he was jumpy in the pocket, but at other times he stood tall and stepped up into the pocket. He should have had another TD pass to Hilliard, but the ball was thrown slightly too late. Kanell went 15-for-30 with one interception and one touchdown.
Offensive Line: A positive overall performance by the first unit, which didn’t give up any sacks. Granted the Packer first team wasn’t fired up for the ball game, but Scott Gragg did a good job on Reggie White and we even saw Derek Engler handle Gilbert Brown one-on-one on one play. Roman Oben had some problems with outside quickness, but did not give up a sack and is improving. Greg Bishop played the first quarter at left guard and Lance Smith played there in the second quarter. The run blocking was again inconsistent. The Giants are currently struggling to get their outside running game going — something that requires a great deal of coordination and cooperation between the linemen, tight ends, receivers, and running backs. The second team line had Bishop at right tackle, Zatechka at right guard, Reynolds at center, Castro at left guard, and Thorp at left tackle. This group really struggled in run blocking as it was obvious their wasn’t a great deal of familiarity between the players.
Running Backs: Tiki Barber (11 carries for 55 yards, 4 catches for 39 yards) played the first half while Tyrone Wheatley (13 carries for 37 yards) played the second half. Tiki just isn’t big enough to consistently pick up yardage on his own when the blocking isn’t there. However, give him a hole and he can squirt through and pick up decent yardage with his quickness, vision, and moves. Tiki did fumble again and this is becoming a concern. He also dropped another good throw on a short pass. Tyrone Wheatley didn’t have much help from his blockers, especially on outside runs. He did look good in short yardage this week as he easily scored from a couple of yards out on a run right up the middle. Interestingly, the Fassel only had Kanell throw to Wheatley once, but the pass was very poor and well off the mark. Wheatley also had two very nice runs off right tackle, one where he really turned on the jets. Charles Way again didn’t see the ball very much (again, we think this is deliberate).
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends: Hooray! The Giants threw to Amani Toomer (5 catches for 77 yards) this week and he didn’t disappoint. Toomer was well covered on a deep fly pattern down the left side line, but a combination of an excellent throw from Danny Kanell (his best of the night) and superb concentration on the part of Toomer, Amani came down with the ball for big yardage. We hope that Fassel doesn’t forget about Toomer — especially on slant patterns and on the deep stuff where he can use his height and leaping ability to a great advantage over shorter CB’s. Both Chris Calloway (3 catches for 27 yards) and Ike Hilliard had solid (2 catches for 45 yards), but unspectacular games. Really, we can’t remember a dropped pass by the wide receivers. Hilliard, in particular, looked good in the red zone as he had one TD and should have had another if the throw was delivered sooner. However, Hilliard was outfought for a ball on one Kanell interception. It was a bad decision by Danny, but we thought Ike could have fought harder for the ball. He’ll learn. Thomas Lewis (1 catch for 14 yards) and Kevin Alexander (1 catch for 5 yards) weren’t thrown to much. The tight end position (no catches on Friday) continues to be invisible in the Giants’ offense. Howard Cross missed a block a run to the outside as well.
Defensive Line: The first team defensive line had some problems with Green Bay this week. Mike Strahan picked up another sack, but he didn’t get much help from his teammates. Robert Harris continues to be a no-show for the most part in the pass rush department (though he did get in there for a pressure on one play we saw). The Packers also picked up good yardage on a run to left in the first half where they successfully neutralized Chad Bratzke and Keith Hamilton. The run defense on the left side of the Giants’ defense was very sound as Michael Strahan, Corey Miller, and Corey Widmer did a good job of jamming things up. Nevertheless, the pass rush continues to be a concern. Strahan needs more assistance from his buddies.
The real pleasant surprise this week was the play of the second team defensive line. Cedric Jones had his best game as a Giant. He still was a half-second late out of his stance on occasions, but he was much, much quicker and actually used some moves! He put on a beauty of a spin move on one play where unfortunately the quarterback was rolling away from him or he would have had a sack. He also forced an incompletion on a play where he hit the quarterback!!! Really, he gave the Packers’ back-up left tackles problems all night. Also playing decently was Bernard Holsey, who played at left end and also got some decent pass pressure (maybe the coaches knew what they were doing by putting Holsey outside). Matt Keneley played a lot and did a nice job. He’s probably practice squad bound, but it was nice to finally see him make some plays. Ray Agnew and Christian Peter also did a decent job in the run defense department. We really thought the second team line were the stars of the game.
Linebackers: Steady but unspectacular. Miller, Widmer, and Armstead didn’t play much. On the second team, Ryan Phillips looked good rushing the passer and surprisingly decent in coverage. Scott Galyon was late getting over to cover the flat on one play and gave up a first down. The whole second-team front seven got burned on back-to-back plays where they blitzed, but the Pack called two perfect counter plays — a quick draw and a screen. These two plays led directly to the Packers first TD, but it was more a question of the Packers calling the perfect play at the right time rather than a physical or mental breakdown on defense.
Secondary: CB’s Conrad Hamilton and Thomas Randolph played the entire game. Hamilton was shaky early but came on strong. He was burned deep on one play where Brett Favre fortunately overthrew his man. Nevertheless, for most of the remainder of the game, he played tight coverage and didn’t allow much to his side. Conrad did a nice job picking up a fumble and returning it to the Packer two yard line. He did miss a tackle on the Packers’ second TD pass however. Randolph had a disappointing game. In fact, it looked like the Green Bay back-up quarterbacks were staying away from Hamilton and picking on Randolph. Thomas should be able to shut-down second-team wide receivers and he didn’t do so. He’s still not playing tightly enough for our liking. Randolph also had a shot at an interception and dropped it.
The star of the game at safety was Rodney Young. Young was strong in run support and picked off a pass in coverage. We’ve always been a fan of his and we hope he makes the team. Believe or not, FS Brandon Sanders saw time with the first unit in nickel situations and he picked off Brett Favre. Sam Garnes wasn’t very noticeable and he was a little late getting over for the Packers’ final TD pass, but overall, one gets the sense that he handled his responsibilities fairly well. Percy Ellsworth had a decent game. He still needs to work on tackling better, but he also had his hands on a ball that he should have picked off. Tito Wooten didn’t play much, but was generally around the ball.
Special Teams: A disaster area which cost the Giants the game. Both kick and punt coverage were atrocious. Charles Way had a horrible night as blocker for the punt team. His first holding call cost the Giants big time on a play where the Giants’ recovered a Green Bay fumble. His second penalty (illegally down field) was even worse as the Packers were given a second chance to return a punt and they returned it all the way to the Giants’s seven yard line (the Pack scored on the next play and this was the go-ahead TD). The Packers also came very close to scoring on a kick-off return — they ended up on the Giants’ side of the field regardless. David Patten doesn’t belong on the team. The coaches may love his speed, quickness, and hands, but he has done nothing as a receiver, returner, or punt/kick coverage guy. Indeed, in coverage, he is so small that the opposition has no trouble knocking him off stride and out of the play. As a returner, he shows poor instincts and goes down as soon as he is touched. Brad Daluiso was perfect on his only chance — another long field goal (53 yards). Both Brad Maynard and Scott Player were impressive in their hang-time, though Brad did shank one punt. Amani Toomer, fielding punts, heads to the sideline on almost every return — for once we’d like to see him take it up the middle of the field. We’ve said it numerous times but we’ll say it again, if the Giants don’t correct their deficiencies on their coverage teams, they are going to lose two games this year that they should win — just like this game.