Regular Season: Giants Lead Series 73-37-2
Approach to the Game – New York Giants at Arizona Cardinals, October 10, 1999: This is a big, big game for the Giants (2-2; 1-1 in the division). The Giants can’t afford to fall further behind the Dallas Cowboys (3-0; 2-0 in the division) and the Washington Redskins (3-1; 1-1 in the division with a victory against the Giants). New York is not in terrible shape record-wise, but their two victories have not been impressive. If the team is to contend for the NFC East title, it must quickly get its act together starting in Arizona.
For their part, the Cardinals have not played well and they have been a major disappointment thus far in the season. But they are still a very dangerous team with many talented players on both sides of the ball. New York should not and must not take Arizona lightly.
Giants on Offense: When things are not going well, fans always love change. That’s why the back-up quarterback is always so popular on a struggling team. But often times, the move to start the back-up only helps in the short-term. This has been true of the move to Danny Kanell and Kent Graham in the past two seasons. Will Kerry Collins be any different? Team management seems to think so. Collins has the pedigree, but he has to prove that he can do it on the field. There are two questions that need to be answered: (1) Can Collins lead his team to a victory against the Cardinals?, and (2) Can he become the “franchise” quarterback the Giants have lacked since the departure of Phil Simms? Obviously, the first question is the more relevant for this game preview.
One concern with Collins is his propensity to turn the ball over. He had these problems in Carolina and New Orleans last year. He has also turned the ball over in each of his two regular season appearances with the Giants. Most importantly, Collins needs to keep a firm grip on the ball when he is being hit.
What Kerry brings to the table is a major league arm, better accuracy, and a quicker release than Kent Graham. He also plays to win, not to lose. This can lead to big plays, but it also can get him into trouble at times as he is less wary than Kent to force a ball into tight coverage. Kerry shouldn’t change this element of his game, but he should be a little smarter with the ball at times.
Arizona’s probable overall defensive strategy will be to stack the line of scrimmage against the run, jam the wide receivers at the line, and blitz like crazy (including run blitzes). The Giants have killed the Cards the past two years with their ground game and Head Coach Vince Tobin is probably going to pull out all the stops to make sure it doesn’t happen again. “Basically, (the Giants have) lined up with two tight ends, mashed us off the ball and said, ‘OK, here it comes, tackle us,'” said Arizona Defensive Coordinator Dave McGinnis. “They turn around and hand the ball to a big back, block us up front, and the big back runs over you. Four times. We haven’t stopped it four times. That’s what concerns you.” The big question for the Giants is do they attempt to run the ball at Arizona regardless early in the game (this has worked in the past) or do they come out throwing the ball in order to take advantage of the Cardinals’ aggressiveness? In terms of pure strategy, the latter route is the way to go, but that will put a lot of pressure on Collins, the offensive line (which may be missing Brian Williams), the backs (in terms of blitz pickups), and the wide receivers to perform.
Collins will need to be on his game against Arizona. CB Aeneas Williams is one of the best in the game and WR Ike Hilliard will have his hands full with him. Thus, it will be very important for WR Amani Toomer to have a big game against CB Corey Chavous or CB Tom Knight. Chavous is a physical player who will probably look to jam Toomer at the line. If Amani can get off the line quickly and get some separation from Corey, he could make some game-turning plays. I would also look to David Patten as possibly having a big game. Kerry likes throwing to David and Patten’s overall speed and quickness might cause the Cardinals some problems. WR Joe Jurevicius has been disappointing thus far. He needs to make more plays and stop making physical (dropped passes, fumbles) and mental mistakes (poor route running) on the field.
Of course, as usual, the ability of the offense to move the ball and put points up on the board will largely depend on the success or failure of the offensive line. Unfortunately, the Giants may be without their leader up front, OC Brian Williams (thumb). Even if Williams does play, he will probably be limited. If he doesn’t go, OC Derek Engler will have to play well or the Giants may be in trouble. The bad news is the DT Eric Swann (knee) returns this week against the Giants. If I were Tobin, I’d move him over from the left side to the right defensive tackle spot where he would face rookie Luke Petitgout, who has struggled. LG Ron Stone has had good success against Swann since he has been in New York. “He’s definitely ready – ain’t no doubt about it,” Cardinals’ OC Mike Devlin says. “He’s as strong as I’ve ever felt him. He’s as quick as I’ve ever seen him. If you don’t double-team him, you’re stupid. He’s one of the strongest – freakish strength – I’ve ever seen.” The Cardinals list DT Mark Smith (knee) as doubtful. If he can’t go, Jerry Drake and Rashod Swinger will start and whichever Giant faces one of these two must handle their opponent. On the left side, LT Roman Oben has had good success in the past with Simeon Rice. Hopefully this will continue; Roman did not play very well last week. RT Scott Gragg faces the super-talented Andre Wadsworth. Gragg could have problems with Andre’s quickness unless Scott gets his big mitts on him. Gragg is going to have to play a tough, physical game. It is also time for Luke Petitgout to step up and start showing some improvement. Most notably, he needs to start playing more aggressively in the ground game and getting more movement on his opponent. If the line doesn’t perform well, Kerry Collins and Gary Brown will have a long day.
When the Giants run the ball, the key will be the work of the interior linemen (Petitgout, Stone, and Williams or Engler) and FB Charles Way against Swann, Drake/Swinger, and the linebackers. If Swann begins to dominate and Luke needs help, this will free one of the linebackers against Brown. But if the Giants can handle Swann with one guy, then our center and Way could get a helmet on the smallish linebacking corps. The blocking of TE Howard Cross could play an important factor as well. When the Giants put the ball in the air, Collins needs to get TE Pete Mitchell more involved. He should be able to do some damage against SS Tommy Bennett and the linebackers. 3rd down back Tiki Barber needs to make some big plays too and the blitz pickup of all the backs could prove decisive.
Giants on Defense: The Giants on defense had better come ready to play if they intend to win. With their offensive teammates continuing to struggle at putting points on the board, it will probably be up to the defense once again to keep New York in the contest. QB Jake Plummer of the Cardinals has struggled so far this year, but he is still very dangerous both running and throwing the ball. It will be important for Giant defenders to keep him scrambling for first downs. The defensive line needs to get a good push on their pass rush, but they must also be wary to maintain their pass rush lanes and make sure tackles when Jake starts moving around.
The Giants must dominate up front or they will be in trouble. They should create some problems. DE Michael Strahan and DT Robert Harris should control their match-ups against RT Anthony Clement and RG Lester Holmes, respectively. Strahan started to elevate his game in the second half of the Eagles contest last week; Harris has yet to do so. DE Cedric Jones might be able to have a breakout game against LT Matt Joyce and DT Keith Hamilton should outplay LG Chris Dishman. The Giants are better up front; but they still have to play the game at a high level if they expect to win. Dealing with the heat will also be a concern and the Giants need quality minutes from DT Christian Peter, DT George Williams, and DE Bernard Holsey this week. Williams and Holsey need to make more plays when they get in the game – they have done little this year.
Since the Cardinals run a West Coast Offense, the linebackers will have to play strong against the pass. TE Terry Hardy has become a favorite target of Plummer’s and their running backs can catch the ball. HB Michael Pittman is their new third down back and he can break it. Starting HB Adrian Murrell is also thrown to in the passing game. The Cardinals will be sure to test Corey Widmer and Ryan Phillips in coverage. It might be wise to have Scott Galyon and Marcus Buckley play a bit more than usual this week.
The Cardinals have struggled to run the ball this year, but Adrian Murrell is still dangerous. The last thing the defense needs is for the Cards’ ground game to get untracked. Stuff the run and make Arizona one-dimensional. Then get after Plummer. That’s the key.
With WR Rob Moore (hamstring) out and WR Andy McCullough (hamstring) limited or out, Arizona is a bit thin at wide receiver right now. That’s another reason why Plummer may use his backs and tight ends more. Yet they still have WR Frank Sanders (who has been a Giant-killer) and the very talented rookie WR David Boston. If CB Jason Sehorn, CB Phillippi Sparks, and FS Percy Ellsworth can handle these two on their own, then SS Sam Garnes can help out the linebackers. It’s also time for S Shaun Williams to start earning his first round pay check and make some big plays.
The most important thing when defending a West Coast Offense is to disrupt the timing between the receivers and quarterback. Jam the receivers at the line and throw them off their routes. Get in the quarterback’s face. Do not allow Jake to get into any kind of rhythm. The defense simply cannot afford to give up many points this week.
Giants on Special Teams: Give the Giants some credit this year; their special teams has been very much improved. But they have to keep it going. A game often comes down to the play of the special teams – especially division games. Mario Bates is dangerous on kick returns and David Boston is very capable of breaking one on punt returns.