New York Giants 31 – Philadelphia Eagles 21
Overview: Don’t underestimate the importance of the Giants’ win in Philadelphia. For one, it rekindled New York’s sagging confidence level after going 1-2-1 over the course of the previous four games. Second, it helped to keep the Giants’ own playoff fate in their own hands. Third, the win helps to convince players and fans that these aren’t “the same old Giants” and that they can win anytime and anywhere, even in stadiums and against teams that have not been very kind to them in the past. Psychologically, this last point is not only important for the remainder of this season, but is important for the growth of this team in seasons to come.
Quarterback: Danny Kanell (14-27-153 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception) had an up-and-down game. The bad news was that he was inconsistent and caused two terrible turnovers that led directly to 14 points for the Eagles. A number of his passes were wild and off-the-mark and he forced some balls under pressure that he was lucky weren’t picked off. His embarrassing fumble and turnover could have destroyed the team’s momentum in the first half as well as his interception returned for a touchdown in the second half. The good news was that Kanell did not allow these unfortunate plays to negatively affect the rest of his game. The ability to put a bad play behind you and just focus on the next is a tremendous asset for a quarterback. Danny seemed to shake off any misfortune and continued to come out swinging. He threw a number of excellent passes to keep drives alive. He threaded the needle to Amani Toomer on his crossing route. He hit David Patten with players in his face. He found the well-covered Chris Calloway when he needed him most. We particularly liked the play where he came back to TE Howard Cross on the other side of the field once he found his primary receivers covered. His two best passes were the touchdown passes to David Patten (a perfectly thrown pass on the post) and to Chris Calloway (a deftly thrown pass to the back corner of the end zone where only Calloway had a shot at the ball — very Montana-like). Head Coach Jim Fassel challenged Kanell the week before the game and threatened his starting job. Playing in the Vet in front of a hostile crowd and against a talented and motivated defense only added to the pressure. Say what you will about Kanell, but his is a mentally tough guy.
Offensive Line: After a rough start, these guys largely controlled the line of scrimmage and allowed the Giants to score enough points to bury the Eagles. Strong performances were turned in by LT Roman Oben (who had problems with Mike Mamula only a couple of times) and RG Ron Stone (who quietly has turned into one of the best guards in the game). OC Lance Scott may get out-muscled from time to time, but he is far more mobile than even Brian Williams used to be and looked good on a number of runs to the outside. RT Scott Gragg gave up a sack to DE Richard Dent on the first drive of the game, but settled down and generally mauled his man in the running game. The weak spot remains OG Greg Bishop who had problems in both pass and run blocking. There is one thing we really like about Bishop however — he stands up for his teammates. When an Eagle defender was stepping all over FB Charles Way late in the game, Bishop ran over and defended his teammate. We love that kind of attitude in our offensive linemen and wish we saw more of it from the Giants’ down five.
Running Backs: HB Tyrone Wheatley (5 carries for 20 yards) started off impressively again, running with power and toughness inside, before a severe ankle injury sidelined him. In his place, HB Tiki Barber (21 carries for 114 yards; 4 catches for 28 yards and one touchdown) performed very well. Tiki doesn’t break tackles, but he is difficult to spot running behind the Giants’ big offensive line. He’s got very good instincts and can be very elusive. However, it is evident that his hamstring is still bothering him. A healthy Tiki Barber would have scored on his long run on the sweep to the left side (where he got a great block from FB Charles Way). For his part, Way continues to impress with his blocking and running (18 carries for 76 yards). As Fassel said a few weeks ago, we wouldn’t trade Charles for ANY fullback in the league.
Wide Receivers: Finally, another wide receiver besides Chris Calloway decided to step up and make some plays. David Patten (3 catches for 54 yards) broke the game open with his well run post pattern for a 40-yard touchdown. Amani Toomer (1 catch for 15 yards) ran a good pattern on his sole catch — but we could have done without his antics after the catch (Amani, that type of crap should be reserved for Michael Irvin). Celebrate touchdowns, not first downs. Kevin Alexander (1 catch for 9 yards) continues to remain invisible since the game against the Bengals. Chris Calloway (4 catches for 38 yards) got away with a push off on his touchdown catch, but so what?
Tight Ends: The Giants just can’t get these guys involved. Dropped passes aren’t helping matters. Howard Cross’ drop provides a clue as to why Danny doesn’t look to him more often. Cross did have one catch for 9 yards. The Giants also tried to get the ball into Pierce’s hands down the field, but the pass was off the mark. At least these two are blocking well.
Defensive Line: The down four played a great game. DT’s Robert Harris and Keith Hamilton gave the Eagles’ interior three fits all day. Hamilton (1 fumble recovery, 1 sack and numerous pressures) had a particularly strong game. On one play, he slammed the Eagle running back in the backfield as soon as he touched the ball. DE Michael Strahan dominated the right tackle all game. Unfortunately, he had a sack wiped out because of a penalty, but he did come up with a huge fumble recovery and pressured QB Bobby Hoying throughout the contest. DE Bernard Holsey had some problems with the running game early in the contest, but came on strong and finished with a sack and a forced fumble. DT Ray Agnew continues to do a solid job as a reserve.
Linebackers: WLB Jessie Armstead (10 tackles, 1 sack, 2 interceptions, and one touchdown) was a man on a mission. Jessie’s interception and touchdown return on the Eagles’ second offensive play set the tone for the day and helped to take the Eagles’ crowd out the game. MLB Corey Widmer did a decent job on inside running plays, but was luckily Hoying missed FB Kevin Turner on a play that might have gone the distance. SLB Corey Miller seems to be getting back in the groove again. He looked good on one blitz where he almost got to Hoying and did a good job of jamming things up on the running game too. Reserve WLB Scott Galyon continues to excel as a nickel linebacker. Galyon (one sack and one forced fumble) can cover and blitz. He did drop an easy interception on the play before the Eagles’ one touchdown pass — got to make that play.
Defensive Backs: Superb job by this unit until late in the game where CB Jason Sehorn and FS Percy Ellsworth gave up a 72-yard touchdown pass. CB Phillippi Sparks had his second big game in a row and seems to be regaining his Pro Bowl form. He practically shut out his man all day and really did a number on WR Irvin Fryar. Sparks’ blitz also forced Hoying to throw his second interception to Armstead. Sehorn, except for his one miscue, also dominated his man. He also made a crushing block on Jessie’s touchdown return. Jason continues to look good on the run blitz as well. FS Tito Wooten had an excellent game too, both deflecting passes and hitting the runner in the backfield. He was around the ball the whole game. SS Sam Garnes was fortunate that Hoying’s pass to HB Charlie Garner was off the mark deep down the left sideline. However, the TE position for the Eagles was invisible and both he and Corey Miller must accept much of the praise for that. FS Percy Ellsworth made a diving interception. Nickel back Conrad Hamilton had an excellent game except for his costly hands to the face penalty that wiped out a 3rd down sack by Strahan. He was solid in coverage even though the Eagles often went at him and he made a great hit on the running back coming out of the backfield. He almost picked off a pass and scored late in the 4th quarter (the Giants need to start holding onto more of these interception opportunities).
Special Teams: Terrible. Granted P Brad Maynard was punting into the wind, but to average 28.2 yards per punt is disgusting. His coffin corner kicking is still a liability rather than an asset. PK Brad Daluiso missed yet another long field goal attempt — even though he had a strong wind at his back. Distance is never a problem with Daluiso, it’s his accuracy. He also inexplicably squibbed one kick with the wind at his back. Erric Pegram continues to look out of place on kick returns. He had one superb return where he received some excellent blocking, but it went all for naught as holding was called. Amani Toomer once again thought the sideline was the end zone. Kick coverage was decent. Punt coverage, on Maynard’s one good punt, was good as well as David Patten hustled down the field.