Approach to the Game – New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys, December 21, 1997: If someone had told you at the end of September that the Giants would have nothing to play for in their final game and that many of their reserves would be “getting a look” from the new head coach, you would have assumed the Giants were once again finishing a miserable season. In reality, nothing could be farther from the truth. The Giants, having clinched the NFC East and not being able to improve their playoff positioning, now face an unusual situation. They are the division champions, playing a late, largely meaningless game. Head Coach Jim Fassel wants to give his starters enough reps to keep them in sync, but at the same time, he doesn’t want to risk injury. He also wants to give his players a last little break before they head into the playoffs. On the other side of the field, the 6-9 Cowboys are now in the Giants’ old shoes. They just want to get this disastrous season over with and the best they can hope for is a “moral victory” in order to end the season on somewhat of a high note. The game really doesn’t mean that much, but there are a few reasons for the Giants to want to win this game: (1) they want to keep the momentum going after two impressive victories over the Eagles and Redskins, (2) winning breeds more confidence and more winning, (3) 10-5-1 sounds a lot better than 9-6-1, and (4) there is a lot of pride at stake — the Giants will want to get some revenge on a Cowboys’ team that used to regularly kick them in the teeth.
Giants on Offense: One gets the strong sense that the Giants won’t go very far in the playoffs unless their passing game continues to improve, and improves at a quicker rate. A lot of pressure will be placed on QB Danny Kanell as opposing teams will focus on stopping the Giants’ running game and dare Kanell to beat them. The passing game is definitely not a strong point of the Giants right now, not just because of the inexperience of Kanell, but because of the experience level and quality of his targets. Regardless, as the playoffs near, the challenge becomes clear: Kanell, Chris Calloway, David Patten, Amani Toomer, Kevin Alexander, Howard Cross, and Aaron Pierce need to take it up another notch. Since the stakes are low in the Dallas game, we would use this time to work on the passing game. Take some chances. See what works and what doesn’t work. Is that a strategy conducive to winning? Heck no. But the Giants need to add some more spice to their passing attack for the run for the Championship. We would continue to work the tight ends into the offense, after their “breakthrough” six-catch effort last week. We would give a lot of work to the three young wide receivers. We would work on the screen pass — a complicated play that can pay big dividends against an aggressive defense. We would work on the slant pattern — a play that we honestly thought we would have seen more of this year. Fassel doesn’t want to show too much because he doesn’t want to tip off the Giants’ next playoff opponent, but there are things that need to be worked on.
One clear advantage about this game for the Giants is that it will provide an excellent opportunity to clean off some of the rust from HB Rodney Hampton. HB Tyrone Wheatley (ankle) is still ailing and his readiness for the first playoff game must be questioned. HB Tiki Barber (hamstring) still hasn’t returned to his explosive old self. Thus, Rodney may play a huge role for the Giants in what is probably his last season with the team. We hope Tiki continues to get some work in the 3rd down package to keep him in sync, but we also hope Fassel doesn’t play him too much. Hamstring injuries can be re-aggravated very easily.
Up front, OG Greg Bishop and latter OG Rob Zatechka will face a stern task in facing DT Leon Lett. At times, Lett can be almost unstoppable and his legs will be a lot fresher than Bishop’s. RT Scott Gragg will also face his old nemesis DE Tony Tolbert and needs to come up strong. If the Giants are to win this game, they must take control of the game early and put some points up on the board before Fassel starts substituting players. Thus, the line can’t afford to start off slowly as it has the past few weeks. It will be interesting to see how some of the Giants reserves such as Zatechka, Jerry Reynolds, and Bryan Stoltenberg perform.
This game will also be a good opportunity for QB Dave Brown to take some of the rust off, as well as market himself to other teams for next season. Indeed, if he plays well, the organization may benefit as a team may want to trade for Brown this upcoming offseason. One of Brown’s biggest weaknesses is that he often puts too much mental pressure on himself in a game. That shouldn’t happen in Dallas on Sunday as this game doesn’t mean much. We would expect Dave to come out loose and do well.
Giants on Defense: If the Giants’ starters on defense really want to make a statement, they will come out like gangbusters, take any glimmer of hope out of the Dallas offense, and “encourage” Dallas Head Coach Barry Switzer to get some of his gimpy starters such as QB Troy Aikman and HB Emmitt Smith out of the game. Players like OLB Jessie Armstead and DT Keith Hamilton probably won’t play long, so if they want make some plays, they will have to do it early. Hamilton, DT Robert Harris, and DE Michael Strahan will also be looking to pad their sack totals. The good news for Harris is that he won’t be facing Larry Allen anymore — the bad news is that DE Robert Holsey and DE Antonio Edwards will as Allen has been permanently shifted from right guard to left tackle. Strahan will battle Pro Bowler Erik Williams. As always, the key is to stuff the run early and force the Cowboys to become one-dimensional. If the Giants can successfully do that, they then can get after Aikman.
However, if the game remains close when the substitutions are being made, we can’t see a line of Holsey, Christian Peter, Ray Agnew, and Edwards doing much against the big Dallas line unless the Cowboys decide to substitute freely too. Much will come down to attitude and pride. Do the Cowboys have a lot of fight left in them? Do the Giants’ reserves want to let down the regulars? Attitude can often overcome talent deficiencies. For his part, Peter will have a ton of rust. He really hasn’t played since the preseason, after not playing at all last year. We haven’t seen much of Edwards since the Giants picked him up off the street a few weeks ago. Holsey may have to play more on the strongside if the Giants are going to give Strahan a rest.
Some back-ups who we are high on should receive some solid playing time as well. As our long-time readers know, we liked OLB Scott Galyon even before the Giants drafted him. He has really developed into an excellent nickel linebacker, but he will now show what he can do in the base defense. There has been some talk that if he plays well, that the Giants may try him on the strongside next year, despite his size. MLB Doug Colman is another guy who we liked even before the Giants drafted him. It’s really a damn shame that MLB Pete Monty and OLB Ryan Phillips are hurt because they could have used this time too. As for the regulars, they had better not take the Cowboys too lightly. Dallas can still run the ball. Neither team wants to be embarrassed on national television.
In the secondary, with CB Phillippi Sparks out (a guy who always does a great job on Michael Irvin), we would follow the same strategy the Giants employed last week with Redskins’ WR Michael Westbrook, that is, we would have CB Jason Sehorn follow him no matter where he lines up. CB Thomas Randolph, who has quickly slipped from a one-time starter with a bright future to the fourth cornerback on the team and a guy who might not be back next year, will most likely line up against Anthony Miller, Stepfret Williams, or Billy Davis. Randolph is one of the fastest players on the team and generally seems to cover his man fairly tight, but the opposition also always seems to target him successfully. Randolph could be very important to the Giants if Sparks is limited by his knee injury in the playoffs. It is important for him to play at a high level. Same story with CB Conrad Hamilton, who has had an up-and-down year. Reserves who may see some extended work include FS Percy Ellsworth, SS Rodney Young, and CB Robert Massey.
Giants on Specials: Dallas has one of the best, if not the best, special teams coaches in the league. Thus, Dallas is always tough in this department. They like to come after a punter if they think there is a weakness in punt protection and the Giants have come darn close to giving up punt blocks in recent weeks. For his part, P Brad Maynard needs to improve his coffin corner punting and his consistency in general. PK Brad Daluiso kicked well last week and we hope he is on one of his upswings. Coverage will be important as Herschel Walker is a strong kickoff returner. The Giants did a nice job of blocking on one kick return last week, but Erric Pegram did muff two kicks. PR Amani Toomer hasn’t done much in almost two months.