Atlanta Falcons 34 – New York Giants 20
Overview: There is no use crying over spilled milk. The Giants are obviously not going to the playoffs this year. Heck, it’s going to be a struggle for this team to reach the .500 mark given the toughness of its remaining schedule. It is time to face reality. This team is not as talented on offense as many of us Giant fans thought they would be this year. To make matters worse, key young players have regressed.
What fans and the Giants’ players and coaches need to do right now is simply focus on one game at a time. Don’t think in terms of we need to win these next few games or have such and such record by this point. Just go out and win your next game. Don’t peek down the road and don’t hold anything back. And certainly don’t think about what has already transpired. All the Giants should be thinking about is the Arizona Cardinals, their next opponent.
Coaching/Front Office The expectation level for this team was unfairly raised by last year’s success. The Giants won the NFC East last year mainly because of the crappy division they play in. Seven of their ten wins came against divisional opponents. Maybe being so successful early on may end up backfiring and hurting the long-term development of the team. But the winning record and division championship did one important thing in 1997 — it changed the collective attitude of the team. The difference between a winning football program and a losing one is mainly mental. In 1995 and 1996, under Dan Reeves, this team really did not believe in itself. In a tight ball game, the players felt that they would inevitably find a way to lose the game. Part of this had to do with their youth. Bill Parcells once said that in close ball games, young teams lose. Well, in 1997, Jim Fassel changed all that. Through hard work, an aggressive defense, a weak schedule, and a little bit of luck, the Giants won the NFC East. The Giants lost a heart breaker to the Vikings in the playoffs, but the most important battle had been won — the young Giants finally stopped doubting themselves and started to believe that they could actually be one of the better teams in the NFL.
All of that is in danger now. When one looks into the eyes of the Giants’ players, particularly the offensive players, one sees a lack of confidence and an abundance of doubt and frustration. This frustration has now spilled over to the defense. It seems as if the old days have returned and the players are now expecting the worst to happen. And when one expects the worst, good things rarely follow.
How does Jim Fassel and his coaching staff right this ship? Winning a football game would be a step in the right direction. But that isn’t likely until the coaches find a way to get the players to say to themselves, “enough is enough. We’re better than this. We’re angry and we’re going to make the other teams pay.” That is Fassel’s biggest challenge. It’s not the play-calling or game day tactics. He must get this team to start believing in itself again or the future will remain dark. Not only this year, but down the road as well.
As for the front office and the work of new General Manager Ernie Accorsi, I would suggest that his early decision-making has been highly questionable at best. Re-signing RT Scott Gragg, an unproven and inconsistent player, to a big, 4-year deal looks like a huge mistake. So does re-signing FS Tito Wooten, a guy with an unstable personality, to another big, 4-year deal. Throw in Kanell’s not-so-small 3-year deal and the Giants have committed a huge portion of their salary cap to three ordinary ball players. I hope these moves don’t portend of future poor decision-making.
Offensive Line: The offensive line has only played decently in two games this year, both victories. This is no coincidence. Without a solid foundation up front, a team cannot hope to execute well offensively on a consistent basis. Against the Falcons, the line was once again horrible. They gave up six sacks and did not create enough space in the running game. LT Roman Oben probably had the best game of the bunch, but he did not play particularly well either. He was beaten cleanly on DE Antonio Edwards’ sack, forced fumble, and fumble return for a touchdown in the second quarter. Edwards is a journeyman and to be beaten inside like that should never have happened. Oben also later gave up an outside speed rush sack to Chuck Smith. The good news is that for most of the game, Oben actually did a nice job on Smith in both pass and run blocking department. But it wasn’t enough to overcome his teammates’ inconsistencies. Greg Bishop played a poor game and seems to be regressing after a fast start. He was flagged a couple of times, including one very costly hands to the face penalty that erased a first-and-goal from the one situation. He also had problems with Lance Scott in picking up stunts and the Giants continue to fail to generate any consistent push up the gut in the ground game. Lance Scott is just not a very good ball player. He would make a decent back-up/special teamer, but he doesn’t get any push on his run blocks and has too many lapses in pass blocking. It is always a bad sign to see an offensive lineman constantly picking himself off the ground. Jerry Reynolds, subbing for the injured Ron Stone, also had major problems with stunts. He and RT Scott Gragg were very much confused by a Falcon stunt right at the start of the game — a play that resulted in a sack. Gragg, for his part, did not play well either. Besides the above-mentioned play, he also gave up a terrible sack late in the fourth quarter on a play where he got caught flat-footed.
Quarterbacks: Without solid pass protection, it is extremely difficult for even a veteran quarterback to get the ball down the field to the wide receivers. What makes things virtually impossible is that Danny Kanell (11 out of 21 for 100 yards, 1 touchdown, no interceptions) is not experienced AND he is not playing well. Danny seems confused. He’s bird-dogging receivers and not reading defenses very well. Kanell clearly appears to be pressing. He doesn’t look very instinctive to us right now either. The high point of the evening was obviously Kanell’s performance in the 2-minute drill right before halftime when he led the team on an impressive touchdown drive to bring the Giants to within one point of Atlanta’s lead. He also just missed hitting Ike Hilliard on a deep pass and threw a fairly accurate pass into the endzone to Hilliard that resulted in a defensive pass interference penalty. But he also was very careless with the ball on Edwards’ fumble recovery and score. He looked uncomfortable in the pocket even when he had time and many times forced the ball into covered receivers. What worries us most right now with Danny is that his offensive teammates do not seem to be rallying around him. Indeed, the offense seems to lack ANY leadership. Kanell is at the crossroads right now and the Giants will most likely use the rest of the season to determine if he will be their starter in 1999.
Kent Graham (11 out of 16 for 105 yards, zero touchdowns, zero interceptions, one touchdown rushing) came into the game late in the fourth quarter. Granted he was playing against a prevent defense and a defense filled with many second teamers, but this was clearly Kent’s best performance since returning to the Giants. Kent was very decisive on the field and his arm strength does bring an added dimension to the game that Kanell lacks. But Graham, as he showed all during camp and the preseason, continues to have problems with his accuracy.
Wide Receivers: How much blame should the receivers receive for the impotence on offense? That’s a tough question to answer with Kanell and the offensive line playing so poorly. Not having a viable threat at tight end is certainly not helping matters either. Were the receivers open, but the ball was not delivered? Tough to tell. But WR Chris Calloway was a non-factor in the ball game, catching his one and only pass very late in the game. Ike Hilliard (4 catches for 35 yards) is not making the type of impact the seventh player in the draft should be making. Amani Toomer (4 catches for 38 yards) made some plays against the Falcons, but also dropped a couple of catches. David Patten (3 catches for 59 yards and one touchdown) made his first big play in the passing game this year, but it was largely due to a busted coverage by the Falcons. Joe Jurevicius saw very little playing time. These guys must start making some plays after the catch. The Giants’ offense needs a spark.
Tight Ends: Terrible. Al Pupunu was once again invisible as a pass receiver. His blocking was mediocre at best. Howard Cross made a nice block on Charles Way’s 4th down conversion effort (as did Roman Oben), but hurt the Giants as a receiver. On one play, he wasn’t even looking back for the pass. On another, he fumbled the ball away. Howard Cross, as a receiver, is a very easy player to cover.
Halfbacks/Fullbacks: These guys actually did not play poorly, but were limited in their attempts by the score and the inability of the passing game to pick up first downs. FB Charles Way (11 carries for 39 yards) had a few very good looking inside runs and his sweep outside on 4th down was a huge play. Gary Brown (6 carries for 15 yards) looked quicker to us this week, especially on his outside runs. For one game, Tiki Barber (3 carries for 12 yards, 9 catches for 56 yards) was sharp catching the ball out of the backfield and showed a little burst after the catch. He’s still not breaking tackles or making a lot of yards after the catch however. It also looked like he was the one responsible for not picking up the CB-blitz on Kanell’s final sack and fumble.
Defensive Line: DE Michael Strahan (6 tackles, 1 sack) played well, especially given the fact that he was double-teamed most of the game and Falcons stayed away from his side most of the night. He was strong against the run and picked up yet another sack. However, the rest of the line did not play particularly well. The Falcons have a below average offensive line, yet the defensive line (and linebackers) did not really control the game like they should have. Most disappointing was their performance after halftime when the Falcons were able to control the clock and the tempo of the game with their ground attack. Atlanta HB Jamal Anderson picked up over 100 yards rushing. DE Chad Bratzke was held VERY quiet by Bob Whitfield all night and the Falcons were able to pick up decent yardage in his direction. Inside, aside from a pressure or two, Keith Hamilton didn’t make an impact at all. Christian Peter is improving and didn’t hurt the team. He didn’t make many plays, but we love his hustle. He did pick up an impressive looking sack, that was unfortunately didn’t count due to an off-sides penalty by Strahan.
Linebackers: Up and down. The good news is that Jessie Armstead (5 tackles, 1 sack) looks like he’s getting closer and closer to being his old self. He was flying around the field most of the night, making an impact on the blitz as well as against the run. He forced a fumble with a great hustle play from behind. However, at times, I also saw him being engulfed at the point of attack by Falcon blockers. Marcus Buckley started the game off very strong, but faded as the game progressed. I felt he forced the first fumble, not Armstead. He also made a couple of very nice plays in run defense and was solid in coverage. But later, I saw him getting knocked around defending the run as well as missing tackles. Corey Widmer (9 tackles) didn’t make much of impact inside and much of Atlanta’s success on the ground must lie with him. Doug Colman made a nice play on the goalline. Scott Galyon (5 tackles) picked up where he left off, looking good both against the run and on the blitz. Defensive Coordinator John Fox did gamble a lot with the blitz in this game. Perhaps he felt that the only way the Giants were to win the game with the offensive performing so poorly was to take chances and force turnovers. This aggressiveness paid off at times, but the Giants were also hurt by a number of shallow crossing patterns that were wide open because the area was vacated by blitzing linebackers.
Defensive Backs: Aside from two poor plays, this unit played surprisingly well — especially given the fact that three-fourths of the starting secondary was out with injury. FS Tito Wooten was beaten deep for a touchdown by a superbly executed play-action fake by Chris Chandler. Tito has always been an aggressive player and one of the holes in his game is that he tends to bite too much on play fakes. This is a big “no-no” for free safeties who should always play the pass first and foremost. Tito’s aggressiveness cost both him and the Giants on this play. On the other hand, Percy Ellsworth has always been stronger against the pass, rather than the run. Percy started at strong safety in this game in place of Sam Garnes. I would have played Tito on the strongside. Tito (6 tackles) did play an excellent game in run defense. Percy (11 tackles) wasn’t bad in this area either, but he was late in getting over to help Carlton Gray on Terrance Mathis’ long touchdown catch — a play where Percy looked terribly slow. Mathis’ touchdown against Gray ruined what was otherwise a pretty darn good performance. Gray did a nice job knocking down a couple of passes and was generally solid. But the touchdown pass hurt badly. He also hurt the Giants with a personal foul penalty on Chandler. The best performance I felt was turned in by Conrad Hamilton. Hamilton seems to be improving game after game. Conrad was very solid in coverage and also recovered a fumble. He was a little shaky in the tackling department however. Jeremy Lincoln’s holding call on third down in the first quarter was particularly costly as the Falcons later scored on the drive. With all the injuries in the secondary, the scary thing was that Kory Blackwell actually saw a lot of playing time.
Special Teams: The special teams actually may have played their best game of the season. Kick and punt coverage was solid against a very dangerous kick returner. Charles Way made a couple of very impressive open field tackles. Pete Monty and Doug Colman also made plays. Both David Patten and Brandon Sanders looked bad, however, not breaking down better in their tackle attempts as gunners. Both hustled down field in good order, but that matters little if you are out of control when it comes time to make the tackle. David Patten didn’t receive much help on his returns, but still looks dangerous. Amani Toomer ran away from his blocking on his one kick return, but made good decisions as a punt returner. Brad Maynard was the star of the game for the Giants with his superb punting. Brad Daluiso was perfect on his two long field goals.