New York Giants 26 – Detroit Lions 20 (OT)
Game Overview: In a remarkable turnaround after their 1-3 start, the New York Football Giants are in first place in the NFC East at the halfway point of the season. However, before everyone (fans, media, and especially the players and coaches) let this fact go too much to their heads, it is important to keep the win over Detroit in perspective — the Giants were extremely fortunate to win this game. Indeed, for much of the game, the Lions controlled both sides of the line of scrimmage. The Giants’ only offensive touchdown during regulation was set up by a fumble by a defensive back who intercepted a Danny Kanell pass and an ensuing personal foul penalty. The Lions also gave the Giants another gift turnover by fumbling the quarterback-center exchange while they were driving in Giants’ territory. The defense held Barry Sanders largely in check, but had problems with the passing game. The offense had problems moving the ball all day as the offensive line and the running game struggled, particularly in the first half. The Giants are in first place, but if they expect to seriously challenge for a playoff spot, they must play better. The tough part of the schedule is coming up after the bye week and the Giants will be hard-pressed to match their 5-3 record in the second half of the season.
Quarterbacks: QB Danny Kanell didn’t play well, but he got the job done when he needed to. As Kanell was running onto the field to start the Giants’ first possession in overtime, Kanell said to OLB Corey Miller, “Corey, you and the rest of the defense won’t see the field again.” That is Kanell’s biggest asset: his confidence and belief in himself. It’s what makes him a “winner” despite not being blessed with great physical tools. Kanell (17-31 for 220 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception) was largely hampered in the first half by the fact that he was constantly facing 3rd-and-long situations. On some of these instances, Kanell delivered — such as his perfect deep pass to WR Chris Calloway on a corner route in the first quarter. At other times, however, Danny was wild as either his men were covered down field or he had trouble reading the defense. Some shaky pass protection didn’t help matters. Too many times, Kanell was throwing off the back of his feet as Detroit blitzed him heavily. But Danny kept his poise and aside from one poor decision throw into double-coverage on his intercepted pass intended for TE Aaron Pierce, he did not make the kind of mistakes which hurt his own team. His touchdown pass to Howard Cross showed his maturity as Cross was Kanell’s third or fourth option on the play. He didn’t get flustered by the pressure bearing in down on him. His most impressive play came in the second half on a 3rd-down play where he stepped up into the pocket, knowing that he was about to get sandwiched between two Detroit defenders, and hit a tightly-covered WR Amani Toomer for a big first down. The play was very “Simms-like” in terms of the way Danny stepped up. Nevertheless, Danny remained inconsistent in the second half. For instance, he threw too high to a wide-open HB Tyrone Wheatley in the flat. As regulation ended, Kanell had only “amassed” 144 yards of passing. Yet it was in overtime where he really delivered. Facing a loud, hostile crowd and poor field position, Danny demonstrated a calm in overtime usually reserved for experienced veterans. Kanell coolly hit Cross for eight yards. Then after a six yard run by Way, he threw a perfect pass on an out-and-up to Calloway for a 68-yard catch-and-run that won the game. Danny has a long way to go, but if fans keep in mind that he basically is still a rookie and will have some growing pains, he should develop into a fine quarterback.
Wide Receivers: Chris Calloway had a monster day (5 catches for 145 yards and 1 touchdown). Chris is as slow as they come and he looks downright awkward when running after the catch, but he is currently the Giants’ most consistent receiver as he has a knack for getting open and making clutch catches. The lack of any production from the receiving position opposite Calloway is really hurting the Giants. Kevin Alexander has been invisible for two games in a row. David Patten only had one catch for five yards. Amani Toomer made a nice play (1 catch for 16 yards) on a 3rd down play with the defender draped all over him. The Giants need Alexander, Patten, or Toomer to step it up, or they need Thomas Lewis (toe) to return healthy soon.
Tight Ends: TE Aaron Pierce finally got his big chance, but he blew it. Early in the game, Fassel sent Pierce down the field on an intermediate route but Pierce dropped the ball. Kanell came back to Pierce soon after, but Aaron was well-covered — it was a poor decision by Danny to throw the ball there. To his credit, we spotted Pierce making some nice blocks in the running game. Believe it or not, Howard Cross caught three passes in one game (for 15 yards and a touchdown). At one time a few years ago, Howard was a very effective weapon for the Giants in the redzone and we hope the coaches realize this fact — especially since most defenses probably now ignore him.
Offensive Line: Not that good. Detroit really loaded up to stop the run and the Giants’ line allowed too much penetration and got far too little movement for most of the day. RT Scott Gragg had his problems with DE Robert Porcher against the run and the pass. Indeed, it was Gragg’s whiff on Porcher on 2nd-and-short mid-way through the 4th quarter that kept the Giants’ from moving into field goal territory and putting the game away. Gragg is frustratingly inconsistent. On some plays, he looks like a Pro Bowler, and others you want to kill him. RG Ron Stone is starting catch-up to Gragg on the false-start penalties (he had two). With all of Detroit’s blitzing, Fassel decided to play some two TE alignments which helped out Oben and Gragg some. The line was able to generate some decent-sized holes for FB Charles Way in the second half. The Giants only gave up one sack, but there was too much pass pressure on Kanell throughout the game.
Running Backs: Whether he was still suffering from his shoulder injury or reverting back to his previous form, HB Tyrone Wheatley did not look sharp. Granted the holes were not there from the offensive line, but Wheatley looked far too tentative and indecisive. On one sweep to the left, he ran right into a fallen Lion for a loss instead of avoiding the immobile tackler. There was one inside run where he looked strong and lowered his shoulders, but this was not the norm on Sunday. He only picked up 16 yards on 13 carries. The star of the day was FB Charles Way who gained 90 yards on 13 carries. Way looks like a slow, lumbering back, but for some reason, he consistently picked up good yardage on Detroit — sometimes on slow-developing outside runs. The one thing Way does for a big man, however, is that he has a little quick lateral move in his gait that often causes the first tackler to miss. HB Erric Pegram didn’t look bad in catching the ball out of the backfield (5 catches for 28 yards). He also picked up 15 yards on 3 carries in the running game.
Defensive Line: The defensive line had a decent game as they played more of a contain role this week than their usual attack stance. The tackles were once again strong inside. DT Keith Hamilton was often double-teamed and there were a few plays where we thought he was obviously being held in pass rush situations. DT Robert Harris came up big with a sack-and-half (which now brings his half-season total to an impressive 6-sacks). DE’s Michael Strahan and Chad Bratzke were not as strong against the run as in previous outings, but they weren’t bad either. Strahan was also being held on a lot of plays (with no call), though he did pick one sack (now has seven on the year). Chad just isn’t getting it done in the pass rush department. DE Cedric Jones saw a tiny bit of action and we thought he did well on one pass rush, but for some reason, we didn’t see him in the game after that. DT Ray Agnew continues to do a decent job as a reserve in jamming things up inside. He’s also doing a better job in the pass rush department.
Linebackers: Not a particularly strong effort. OLB Corey Miller remains the weak spot. He kept getting caught too far inside on a play that looked hauntingly similar to the old Redskin counter-trey where the runningback (Sanders) took on step to the left and then followed his pulling linemen to the right. This play picked up significant yardage for the Lions on a number of occasions. Miller did do a nice job in containing the run on one play where he was playing on the right side and he also did a nice job in defending a pass, but the Giants need better play out of him. OLB Jessie Armstead was pretty quiet, though he also made a nice play in pass defense, as did MLB Corey Widmer. Armstead was burned by FB Tommy Vardell on a huge pass play on the Lions’ final drive in regulation. Nickel-backer Scott Galyon continues to impress. He had three tackles and half a sack in limited action.
Defensive Backs: Not a great game for this group either. CB’s Phillippi Sparks and Jason Sehorn had problems with WR’s Herman Moore (7 catches for 88 yards) and Johnnie Morton (five catches for 72 yards) all day. Sparks got beat inside on a slant pass to Moore and Lions kept finding the open zone on the right side of the Giants’ defense against Sehorn throughout the afternoon. SS Sam Garnes looked good in defending the run, but FS Tito Wooten did not. He whiffed on Sanders on Barry’s only big run of the game and he also missed him on Sanders’ touchdown run. Both Wooten and Garnes bit big time on QB Scott Mitchell’s fake handoff to Sanders on the Lions’ scoring play which sent the game into overtime. Reserve CB Conrad Hamilton did decently, especially since he was facing Moore on those times when Moore was placed in the slot. He did get flagged for a costly holding penalty however and did not keep up with Moore on one first-down conversion. FS Percy Ellsworth was quiet.
Special Teams: This was Amani Toomer’s shortest punt return for a touchdown as a Giant, but it was by far his most impressive. Instead of dancing around with the ball, Toomer caught the ball and headed directly up field — something we had been calling for all season. He made a number of superb cuts and received some good blocks and was off to the races for 53 yards and the score. HB Erric Pegram was not impressive returning kick-offs and the blocking on kick returns was pathetic. There were also too many illegal blocking penalties on the Giants. PK Brad Daluiso made both of his kicks, including a very, very impressive 53-yarder. His 47-yarder was a little too close for comfort. P Brad Maynard was horrible early, but impressive late. Although he was able to get the punt off, he can’t afford to drop any more snaps however. Coverage teams were solid except for one kick-off return where Glyn Milburn almost took it all the way. WR David Patten made the game-saving tackle. Scott Galyon and Brandon Sanders also continue to excel in coverage.