New York Giants 20 – Denver Broncos 16
Overview: Savor the victory Giants’ fans. Remember it well. This will go down as one of the most memorable games in the Giants’ long and storied history. Ten or twenty years from now, you will be sitting around a table or fireplace with friends and ask, “Do you guys remember the game when the mighty unbeaten Denver Broncos rolled into the Meadowlands?” They were so cocky, so sure — and just as infuriating, so was the media. It wasn’t supposed to be like this for the Broncos. The Giants were supposed to be another highlight film victim for their perfect season. The game would be a cakewalk. The game would be over early. The Broncos would finish the day 14-0, off looking for more worthy opponents. Well, a strange thing happened on Sunday afternoon — the Giants beat those mighty Broncos.
It didn’t even take the perfect game by the Giants like all were calling for to beat Denver. There were costly drops and turnovers on offense and poor play in the return game. Indeed, if it weren’t for these mistakes, this game might not have been that close.
So remember this game. Enjoy it. Forget all the little problems in life for a moment. Raise your head up high and pound your chest. It is one for the ages.
Quarterback: What a marvelous performance from Kent Graham (21-out-of-33 for 265 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, 3 rushes for 26 yards). With such an amazing victory, one could easily fall prey to overrating the play of the team, and the quarterback in particular. But even if one takes off the rose-colored glasses, one still sees a magnificent performance. This was Kent’s best game as a pro. And just think how much pressure was on his shoulders!!! He not only had to face a very good defensive team, but he knew if he didn’t play well or even (God-forbid) beat the Broncos, he would lose his starting job to Danny Kanell.
Kent didn’t make the costly mistake. He was at his best on third down, converting time and time again. The Giants came into the game with a league-low 25% rate on third down. They finished the game 9-out-15 (a 60% rate!!!). More notably, Graham was 7-out-of-10 when he was allowed to pass the ball on third down, picking up seven first downs (a 70% rate). And with the game on the line, with less than 2 minutes, no time outs, and 86 yards to go — Kent Graham led the Giants to the winning touchdown. Kent Graham, not John Elway, was “Mr. Comeback.”
Graham showed good pocket awareness (save for one play when he took off running when I thought he had plenty of time). His accuracy was much better, including on the short throws. His 21-yard touchdown pass to Tiki Barber was a thing of beauty as he hit Tiki perfectly while the latter was in full stride (Graham was 8-out-of-11 on that 15-play, 80 yard drive). Graham looked off defensive backs, didn’t force the ball, and went away from his primary receiver when he was covered. He also had two fantastic runs. Yes, the 23-yard scamper was huge on the final drive. But his much shorter, 2-yard, twisting, diving, desperation run on 3rd-and-2 earlier in the quarter was all heart and hustle. It also picked up another vital first down and kept the clock moving. Graham would have had a 300+ yard passing day if it were not for costly drops from Ike Hilliard and Charles Way.
Offensive Line: Strange game for the offensive line. They started off strong run blocking, then cooled a bit. Likewise, they were shaky early in pass protection, then improved dramatically as the game wore on. Indeed, in the final analysis, this might have been their best game in terms of picking up the blitz and handling pass rush games from their opponent. But like I said, things were a little rough early. LT Roman Oben and LG Greg Bishop were beaten badly on a right side twist from the Bronco down linemen, resulting in the only sack of the game. RG Ron Stone was also beaten cleanly on a play by a defensive tackle. But as the game wore on, and Denver became more and more desperate, the line did a wonderful job of handling the blitz (much credit goes to the backs too — more of that in a minute). HB Gary Brown also had an another excellent day rushing the ball and the line must receive much of the credit for his performance. The biggest negative was their inability to knock Denver off the ball late in the game when the Giants were inside the five and could have put the game away. Hate to say it Scott Gragg-bashers, but he played another very good game, keeping his man under wraps all day long.
Tight Ends: No action in their direction. Probably kept in more to help with the pass blocking. Did a good job run blocking.
Running Backs: An up-and-down day for HB Gary Brown (18 carries for 112 yards, a 6.2 yards-per-carry average, 2 catches for five yards). Brown, like last week, ran with power and authority. With each passing game, he is breaking off a number of big runs as well. Brown had a 19 yard run on the Giants’ first field goal drive and he rattled off a 45-yarder in the fourth quarter. But he fumbled the ball away twice (one luckily called back due to a Bronco penalty). His fumble in the fourth quarter was his first since 1993. He also dropped a pass from Graham. Amazingly, considering he didn’t play much in the first half of the season, Brown is nearing a 1,000 yard season. FB Charles Way (2 catches for 11 yards, 4 carries for zero yards) led the way with some excellent lead blocking, once again. But he did drop a pass on a 3rd down play where he was wide open and might have gone for big yardage. He also didn’t do much with the ball in his hands.
One of the heros of the day was HB Tiki Barber (2 catches for 29 yards, 1 touchdown). Not only did Tiki score on his third touchdown catch in four games, but he was masterful in picking up the Denver blitz all day. On one play in particular, I saw him take out two onrushing Denver players.
Wide Receivers: It seems as if Amani Toomer (2 catches for 42 yards, 1 touchdown) has one play. Send him deep and let him outfight the defender. Ask him to do anything more, and that might be asking too much. Toomer’s 37-yard touchdown catch was the type of play that Giants’ fans see other teams’ receivers make, but never our own. It was highlight reel, game-winning stuff and an amazing play in a tight situation. Now if he could just make some of the easier plays!
Ike Hilliard (4 catches for 41 yards) had a strange game. He did a nice job early in the game showing some decent run-after-the-catch ability. However, his drop/fumble (ruled a fumble) is unacceptable. Not only was a potential game-losing play, but he actually might have gotten close to the goalline or scored on the play. Chris Calloway (5 catches for 99 yards) came up big on the Giants’ first touchdown drive, making catches of 14 and 16 yards (the latter coming on 3rd-and-13). Kudos to him for not giving up and making a heck of catch (for 36 yards) on the Denver off-sides penalty.
Joe Jurevicius (3 catches for 32 yards) made a big impact in the game in terms of keeping drives alive — three catches, three third down conversions, including a critical one on the game-winning drive while playing with a bum knee. David Patten (1 catch for 6 yards) also got into the act with a nice short catch to pick up a first down.
Defensive Line: The defensive line did a nice job of pressuring John Elway, at times without any blitzes. The biggest problem was on the right side as Denver picked up good yardage by running at DE Chad Bratzke and WLB Jessie Armstead. Bratzke (5 tackles, 1 sack) came up with a huge sack on Denver’s last drive. DE Michael Strahan (2 tackles, 1 sack) picked up his 13th sack of the season by overrunning RT Harry Swayne. Inside, DT Christian Peter (1 tackle) hustled, but was held pretty quiet. His pressure on Elway contributed to Shaun Williams’ interception. DT Keith Hamilton (6 tackles, forced a key holding penalty) made some noise. Strahan and Marcus Buckley gave the offense a chance by nailing FB Howard Griffith in the backfield on third down when Denver was trying to run out the clock.
Linebackers: Strong game for MLB Corey Widmer. Matched-up with TE Shannon Sharpe on Denver’s first scoring drive, Widmer knocked the ball away on third down, forcing a field goal attempt. He was also active against the run (5 tackles). Corey did have some problems getting through garbage on the runs to his right side. Looked good on one inside blitz. WLB Jessie Armstead (13 tackles) was very active, but was handled somewhat at the point of attack. He and Bratzke (along with Conrad Hamilton) were blocked too easily on Terrell Davis’ 27-yard touchdown run (Marcus Buckley also missed a tackle on the play). Jessie also jumped off-sides twice. But Armstead made the defensive play of the game when he nailed Davis in the backfield for a loss on 2nd-and-1 when Denver was trying to run out the clock. If Denver picks up the first down there, the Giants lose the game. SLB Marcus Buckley (4 tackles) was up and down. As usual, he had some problems against the run, but he also made some plays — both against the run (he tackled Howard Griffith on the play following Armstead’s). He was solid in coverage (though he did give up a short pass on 4th-and-1) and looked decent blitzing.
Defensive Backs: This group played an outstanding game against a very tough opponent. CB Phillippi Sparks kept the highly-motivated Ed McCaffrey (3 catches for 24 yards) nearly invisible. CB Conrad Hamilton (10 tackles, 2 passes knocked down, and sack) was all over the field. Hamilton was blocked on Davis’ above-mentioned TD run and was burned deep by McCaffrey on one play, but fortunately Elway didn’t see him. S Shaun Williams (4 tackles) saved the day with his superb interception. Like a savvy veteran, he read Elway’s eyes came away with momentum-changing pick. Williams was a big factor in keeping TE Shannon Sharpe (4 catches for 25 yards) under wraps. Sam Garnes (6 tackles) and the linebackers must have been strong in coverage too. Even FS Tito Wooten (8 tackles) had a good game. His defense of a deep sideline pass was just how one draws it up in defensive meetings.
Giants on Special Teams: Extremely poor in the return game. David Patten was awful on kick-offs, making terrible decisions. Didn’t have great blocking, but he had some room to work with. Amani Toomer is getting worse as a punt returner. In recent weeks, he’s been out of position and not made a great effort to field poor punts. A good punt returner doesn’t allow a bad punt to hit the ground on astroturf (if he can help it). His costly mishandle of the last Denver punt could have meant the game. Coverage was solid on kickoffs. Brad Maynard was excellent in his two coffin corner attempts, pinning Denver back. Maynard almost did have a punt blocked due to shoddy protection up front. Brad Dalusio nailed both his field goals, but is still not getting enough depth on his kick-offs.