Approach to the Game – Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants, September 21, 1998: Giants-Cowboys…Monday Night Football…if that isn’t enough to get your juices flowing then consider the fact that the winner of this game will be viewed, temporarily at least, as the front runner in the weak NFC East. The Cowboys will be without star QB Troy Aikman, but don’t expect a cakewalk in the Meadowlands. Despite what many may think, Dallas still a very dangerous, veteran team with plenty of experience playing in the limelight of Monday night. The Giants, for their part, are coming into the game with a banged-up linebacking corps on defense and continued problems moving the ball and generating points on offense. Both teams are trying to rebound from losses.
This is a big game for the Giants. Winning the game will not only elevate their record to 2-1, but give them a 2-0 advantage in the all-important division standings. The Giants need to come into this game fired up, but they also need to be careful to keep their emotions in check and their focus on their individual responsibilities.
Giants on Offense: The Giants’ offense is still stuck in neutral. Mental mistakes, penalties, failed third down conversion attempts, and an anemic running attack are the main culprits. The Giants need to get down to the basics again and that starts with the offensive line, a unit that did not play well against the Raiders. The Cowboys are beat up at defensive tackle and their defensive ends are nothing to write home about. DT’s Leon Lett and Chad Hennings are both nursing injuries; back-up DT Antonio Anderson will not play. LDE Greg Ellis is a promising first round draft pick, but he is still a rookie. RDE Kavika Pittman has been a disappointment. The Giants’ front five have to get mean, nasty, and physical. They need to come off the ball quickly, get their pads down, and drive the Dallas front seven off the ball. We would eschew the outside running game for the most part against Dallas. The Dallas’ linebackers are very quick and fast; the strength of their game is running to the ball. But due to their lack of size, you can run right at them. We would use a power running attack that utilizes backfield combinations of Gary Brown and Charles Way as well as Charles Way and Greg Comella. Power football run right at the defensive tackles and linebackers. Pound the ball, pound the Dallas defenders. The match-up to watch will be LG Greg Bishop against Lett. RG Ron Stone also needs to play well against Hennings.
For their part, Dallas, like the other teams the Giants have faced, will most likely stack the line of scrimmage and dare the Giants to beat them with the pass. Dallas will count on and expect CB’s Deion Sanders and Kevin Smith to shut down WR’s Ike Hilliard and Chris Calloway. Indeed, that is a very tough match-up for the Giants. Sanders is arguably the best cornerback in the game and Smith has always given Calloway problems. The strength of the Dallas defense is undoubtably their pass defense. Not only are Sanders and Smith tough, but Darren Woodson is the best strong safety in the game and the linebackers can cover. So the question is this? Do the Giants attempt to force the ball down the Cowboys’ throats with the running game, knowing Dallas will be stacked against that? Or do the Giants try to cross the Cowboys up and come out throwing on first down?
If the Giants attempt the former, it might be best to bring in an extra wide receiver or two in order to spread Dallas out. Of course, if you take that course, the fullback and/or tight end have to come out of the game and Charles Way and Howard Cross are two of the Giants’ best blockers. But by spreading Dallas out, you force a some of the defenders away from the line of scrimmage. If the Giants take the latter course of action, then bringing in an extra wide receiver or two is most definitely a good option. Dallas is not a strong pass rushing team. The Giants’ coaching staff has to assume that the offensive line can handle the rush by themselves. Plus, the Giants need to attack the weaker links in the Dallas secondary and those weak links are the new free safety, Omar Stoutmire, and the nickel back. It’s time for Head Coach Jim Fassel and QB Danny Kanell to utilize impressive rookie WR Joe Jurevicius more and matching him up on the nickel back would be a very good idea. We’d also like to get the ball more into David Patten’s hands. Denver was able to confuse Dallas last week with multiple WR-sets; the Giants may try to do the same. Sneaking TE Al Pupunu down the seam once or twice might be good idea as well.
What the Giants especially need to do is not to get too excited. The adrenaline will be pumping and QB Danny Kanell can’t afford to come out too excited and overthrow his receivers early in the game as he has been prone to do. The Giants also can’t afford a lot of silly penalties that put them in long yardage situations — like last week. It is also time for HB Tiki Barber to make some plays as a pass receiver out of the backfield. It’s not just enough to catch the ball, but he’s being paid to do something with it after the catch.
Giants on Defense: Some tough questions here in terms of strategy too. With Aikman out and the Dallas offensive line and HB Emmitt Smith playing much better than last year, the Giants will expect Dallas to run the ball early and often. The Dallas coaches know this. Will they attempt to cross the Giants up themselves by throwing instead? They do have a lot of faith in their back-up, Jason Garrett. Dallas head coach Chan Gailey has a bright offensive mind. The New York defenders had better prepare for this contingency.
But regardless, the key to winning any game is to shut down the opposition’s running game first and foremost and make them one-dimensional. As has been harped on all week, the center of the Giants’ defense, namely DT’s Robert Harris and Keith Hamilton, will be key. But so will MLB Corey Widmer. The play of these three will set the tempo, especially with OLB’s Jessie Armstead (ankle) and Marcus Buckley (hip) still ailing. Harris in particular needs to win his match-up against RG Everett McIver. Hamilton will be facing the re-injuvinated LG Nate Newton. SS Sam Garnes also needs to be active and aggressive in run support — well at the same time, keeping an eye on the tight ends. At some point of the game, and maybe from the get-go, Dallas will attempt to smash the ball down New York’s throat. They will attack the outside linebackers and they will go after the right side of the defense in particular where they will count on LT Larry Allen to dominate Chad Bratzke and for Armstead and CB Conrad Hamilton to have problems in run defense. On the left side, Michael Strahan battles his old nemesis RT Erik Williams. When Dallas is in short yardage, they like to bring in mammoth rookie lineman Flozell Adams as an extra “tight end” and power the football.
When Garrett goes to the air, he will use his backs (Smith and Daryl Johnston) and tight ends (David LaFleur and Eric Bjornson) underneath. Conversely, the Giants’ undercoverage (linebackers and strong safety) need to do a good job of keeping an eye on these guys. When Garrett goes deep, his best target is obviously WR Michael Irvin. We wouldn’t be surprised to see the Giants keep CB Phillippi Sparks on Irvin. Sparks has had good success against Irvin in the past due to the physical style of his game.
Like the offense, the defense has to be careful not to become over-excited and too aggressive. Dallas may figure that the Giant defenders will be pumped for the game and try to use their aggressiveness against them with screens, draws, reverses, and misdirection. New York also cannot afford a high number of dumb penalties again.
Giants on Special Teams: The Cowboy special teams are well-coached and playing at a top level. They punt well and kick well, cover well, and return well. If the Giants break even with Dallas in the special teams department, they may win the game. If Dallas dominates this area of the competition, the Giants may be in deep trouble. The main thing is to not let Dallas get a big return. Kevin Mathis is averaging over 30 yards a kick return for Dallas. Deion Sanders is a threat to go all the way on every punt return. Brad Daluiso and Brad Maynard both need to give their kick/punt coverage teams a good chance to control these guys. But the coverage men also have to be at the top of their game, getting down the field in a hurry, keeping to their respective lanes, and making clean, crisp tackles. Dallas may also try to come after Maynard when he punts the ball.
In the Giants’ return game, it would be great if kick returner David Patten and punt returner Amani Toomer continue to play as well as they have been playing as of late. Patten has come close to breaking one all the way on a couple of occasions.
The game may come down to Brad Daluiso’s foot.
Why do the Giants have such a hard time even come close to blocking the oppositions’ field goals and punts?