New York Giants 20 – Philadelphia Eagles 0
by TLB
Overview: The Giants came away with their first win in their last four games, blanking the Philadephia Eagles 20-0 at home. The week preceeding the game was peppered with nervous excitement, as coach Jim Fassel benched a struggling Danny Kanell and replaced him with Kent Graham, in hopes of providing a spark to the Giants offense. Although the result was a win, the game can not be used to accurately gauge expectations against upcoming opponents. This was, after all, the Eagles — a team that lost any semblance to a cohesive unit late last season, and will not turn around until a new staff is in place.
While Head Coach Jim Fassel spoke of several changes in the lineup this week, two players that were expected to see some playing time did not. Toby Myles, the rookie Tackle the Giants hope will quickly blossom ala Oben, was dressed but did not see action. The other was Tyrone Wheatley, who was in street clothes on the sidelines to make room for new special teams player Curtis Buckley. Brian Alford was inactive as well.
Quarterback: Would Kent Graham provide the spark that Coach Fassel was hoping for? If you left the game after watching Graham’s first two passes, the answer would be yes, as a 22-yarder to Chris Calloway and a 15-yarder to Ike Hilliard evoked positive crowd reactions. With over 50 minutes of playing time left, however, the realists were not disappointed.
At various times throughout the remainder of the game, the rocket-like touch of Graham, as well as the rust of not seeing extended playing time (several severely overthrown balls), was exposed for all to see. Graham would end the day completing just 10 of 21 passes for 138 net yards (59 coming on a single play to JJ), but it was clear that the receivers have not adjusted to the velocity of Graham’s throws. Although the Philadelphia pass defense is 2nd-best in the league in terms of yardage allowed, they came into the game with only three interceptions, and that was fortunate for Graham, who was lucky to get away with giving up just one (on a tipped ball with :46 left in the first half).
What are the positives of Graham starting? First, the opposing defense can no longer stack 8 men in the box and play man-to-man, as Graham provides the Giants the long-ball ability that was, is and always will be lacking from Danny Kanell. Indeed, the Eagles played zone all day with the only exception being when they ran blitz packages. Second, Kent Graham is capable of cupping the ball and scrambling for yardage if the receivers are blanketed — again, something seldom seen from Danny. In addition, on a play where the Eagles called a full 8-man blitz, a back-pedaling Graham at least had the presence to toss the ball out to Ike Hilliard (who was open, but didn’t turn around fast enough to adjust to the hurried pass), a situation in which Danny would have simply ducked and taken the sack. Third, Kent Graham has the ability to hit receivers in-stride with line-drives, as evidenced by the touchdown pass to Tiki in the closing minutes (who, as the announcers quickly noted, didn’t have time to think about dropping it.)
The Giants next two games are back-to-back West-coast trips against the 49ers and the Cardinals. Both team’s have excelled at intercepting errant throws this year. Let’s hope the velocity of Graham’s passes keeps their defenders off guard as well.
Offensive Line: The line played very solidly when run-blocking. Scott Gragg stood out as a force in this department all day. Roman Oben had a very tough time handling the Eagles RDE Douglass, and was unable to ride Douglass outside on many passing plays. Bishop was again penalized for a false start (as were Hilliard, Stone and Haase – which suggests that the players may not be used to Graham’s cadence and hard snap-counts.) Fortunately, the play-calling was 40-21 in favor of the run, which played to the strength of our line, and the weakness of the Eagles Defense.
Wide Receivers: It was clear that Kent Graham was used to throwing the ball to Toomer and Jurevicius as the scout-team quarterback throughout the year. Calloway and Hilliard combined for two catches and 37 yards. Graham connected to Toomer on a 14-yard bullet on 3rd and 13 that saved the drive in which Brown scored the Giants first rushing TD in 11 quarters of play. Toomer also was the target on a very nicely-executed crossing route that picked up 25 yards. Jurevicius was the recipient of the longest passing play of the season for the Giants, hauling in a 59-yarder from Graham as he escaped a collapsing pocket. The receivers will need the extra day of practice this week to get accustomed to the velocity of Graham’s throws. With the emergence of Jurevicius, have we seen the last of David Patten as a WR?
Tight Ends: Howard Cross is simply the best blocking TE in the league. His run-blocking today was superb. However, the Giants need a complete TE, which includes actually catching passes. Andy Haase was inserted, but was quickly pulled after a false start — not the way to gain Fassel’s confidence, especially after just moving up from the practice squad.
Halfbacks/Fullbacks: Gary Brown had a fine day (96 yds/3.6ypc), running behind some excellent blocking. Charles Way gained 15 yards on 6 carries, but did an outstanding job of taking out linebackers to create large gaps for Brown. This was probably Way’s best game in the blocking department all season. Tiki Barber, who had excelled against the Eagles in both games last season, had only one touch for 2 yards on the ground. His only reception was an 8-yard bullet from Graham resulting in the Giants 2nd and last touchdown of the game (joke: Why did Tiki catch the ball? He didn’t – it was lodged in his chest and had to be surgically removed.)
Defensive Line: The Giants usually have a sackfest against the Eagles, and this game was no different, as the Giants increased their tally by six. Only two of these were recorded by the line, however, with Strahan and Bratzke each picking up one. Surprisingly, the Eagles running game (26 carries, 4.5 ypc) was more successful than one would have thought coming into the game. Most of the long yardage came against Bratzke’s end and up the middle, as the Eagles steered clear of Strahan at all costs. Keith Hamilton and Robert Harris played well early on, but were neutralized when the running plays were directed towards Bratzke. On a side note, what is it about the screen pass that gets our entire D-Line suckered? At what point, after the opposing offensive line opens like a sieve, is the little bell supposed to “go off” alerting them that they are being played for fools? Every team we have played has used this against us, and we have YET to adjust.
Linebackers: It would not surprise this writer if Jessie Armstead were named NFC Defensive Player of the Week. He was back to his old self, flying around, making tackles (10), sacks (2), and even knocked down a pass. It would have been nice to have a healthy JA all season, as it is clear that when he is healthy, nobody comes close on the weakside. Widmer was back after suffering a concussion last week, but he generally does not come up to fill the gaps on running plays; rather, he lets the play come to him before making a tackle. A slight adjustment here could turn a mediocre MLB into an above average run-stopper. Scott Galyon had four tackles and a forced fumble, and Ryan Phillips was quiet, as was Marcus Buckley, where his only tackle was for a loss on a hurried dump-off by Hoying who was under pressure from Strahan.
Defensive Backs: Phillippi Sparks played an outstanding game, intercepting two balls and knocking away three others. Conrad Hamilton (3 tackles) knocked away a pass on the opening play, and was generally around the ball all day. It was good to see Sam Garnes return. Garnes was 2nd on the team behind Armstead with 6 solo tackles, and showed no ill-effects from his foot surgery. Tito Wooten, aside from his two sacks (one was questionable), was caught taking the wrong angle on two more plays today. Against a better team, these plays would have been disasters. Percy Ellsworth, while not the biggest hustler in all of football, should replace Tito at FS during the long practice week. At least there would be the chance of an interception. Cartlon Gray was solid.
Special Teams: Curtis Buckley showed why his reputation as a good special teams player is earned. A fine pickup by the Giants. Brandon Sanders, normally the Giants best ST player, was singled-out and neutralized (once, brutally, when the Eagles were called for a holding penalty; if you ask me, the “holding” penalty doesn’t quite describe what was done to him on that play.) Amani Toomer is not the long-term answer at punt-returner.
What has happened to Brad Daluiso’s long kickoffs? Only one today was not returnable, and several were pooched, including one that went out of bounds. Part of me kept asking if this was planned; surely he hasn’t regressed that far. Or has he? Brad Maynard averaged 38.3 net yards on 6 punts, with a long of 52, and only one “bad” punt.