Regular Season: Dallas Leads Series 46-25-2
Approach to the Game – Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants, October 18, 1999: Head Coach Jim Fassel may be on the verge of losing the respect of half his team – the defense. Once that respect goes, then so will Fassel’s grip on this team. After that, it would be only a matter of time before team management will be forced to fire him after the season is over. In order to prevent that all from happening, Fassel may have to find a way to get his team to beat the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night – something the franchise has never been able to do in its history.
Giants on Defense: Since the offense is not pulling its weight on this team, we are going to start off the preview this week with the defense. Aside from an absolutely unforgivable performance against the Redskins in week two, the Giants defense has played not great, but good enough to win. Against the Cowboys, there will need to step it up one more notch. New York has had problems in recent years defending power running attacks and that is what the Cowboys employ. A rejuvenated Emmitt Smith will have the advantage of running behind the best offensive line in the division. Look for Dallas to try to pound the ball straight at New York and wear down the Giants’ defense. At the heart of this conflict will be the match-ups up front. DE Michael Strahan has had problems in the past dealing with massive RT Erik Williams. DE Cedric Jones will have to deal with the equally massive Flozell Adams. DT Keith Hamilton, who has played extremely well thus far this season, will have to contend with All Pro LG Larry Allen. If Strahan, Jones, and Hamilton try to get into a power game with those three, they are most likely going to lose. They are going to have to play with better technique, leverage, quickness, attitude, and hustle against their counterparts. They will also need help from DT Robert Harris/Christian Peter, the linebackers, and defensive backs in forcing the run. Dallas isn’t as strong at right guard with Everett McIver. OC Mark Stepnoski is also banged up and may not play. In order to help their linemates out, look for Defensive Coordinator John Fox to call for some disruptive run blitzes from both linebackers and defensive backs. The absolute key to the game is defending the run. Limit the amount of damage Emmitt Smith and Chris Warren do and the Giants have a chance. Don’t and the Giants have virtually none.
With WR Michael Irvin out and the Giants likely to pay more attention to WR Raghib Ismail, expect QB Troy Aikman to try to get his tight ends more involved in the game. Dallas surely noted how much trouble SLB Ryan Phillips had in coverage last week against Arizona. Look for Troy to go right after Ryan with passes in the direction of TE David LaFleur or the fullback. Warren has soft hands out of the backfield in the third down role. The coverage of all the linebackers against the underneath receivers is another important key.
So is the pass rush. Dallas’ line is not only very strong run blocking, but they usually provide Aikman with superior protection. Blitzes gave the Cowboys some problems last week, but they most likely spent a lot of their work week on their blitz pickups during practice. Thus, look for the Giants to blitz, but Dallas will probably do a better job of picking it up. It should go without saying that the more pressure that the Giants can get from their front four, the better. This is a game where guys like Robert Harris (who usually plays well against Dallas) and Cedric Jones could make an important impact in the pass rush department. New York also can’t afford to have Strahan get neutralized by Williams too often. Get in Aikman’s face and hit him. Troy is not particularly fond of contact. What quarterback is?
In the secondary, these guys simply have to start making more plays. Last week Phillippi Sparks had a rough game and CB Jason Sehorn gave up a big play deep. They should be able to limit the production of the Dallas receivers with Irvin out. Ismail is a dangerous deep threat and it is key for the corners not to give up the big play. But the guys in the secondary need to start causing more turnovers, both with interceptions and forced fumbles. The run defense of all the men in the secondary is critical. Sam Garnes could be a very active player. Dallas will probably run left quite a bit behind Adams and Allen at Jones, WLB Jessie Armstead, and CB Jason Sehorn. Sehorn is going to have to be physical and beat blocks to the corner. Nickel back Shaun Williams should be making more of an impact.
Giants on Offense: This is getting ridiculous. The Giants simply must put more points up on the board. Offensive players held a team meeting this week and supposedly rededicated themselves to the task at hand, but it remains to be seen if this event will make a difference on the playing field. The biggest problem has been a lack of confidence. The offensive players expect things to go wrong and they generally do. The players have also asked Fassel to simplify the offense once again. There have also been criticism that Fassel is too much of an X’s and O’s kind of guy, not factoring other key variables such as changing match-ups, or making significant adjustments during a game. Sometimes it seems as he doesn’t have a feeling for the flow of a game. Fassel is down, but is he out? Are these criticisms justified? Talent generally wins the ball game, but coaching can have a significant impact. Jim and his staff must start out-coaching their opponents.
Let’s make things simple. The Dallas linebackers are very quick and fast, but light. The strength of their game is their ability to run and chase, not take on blocks from big men. Jim Fassel has no business calling a lot of outside runs against these guys. The Dallas linebackers will simply beat the Giants’ blockers to the corner by the time the ball carrier arrives. The speed and quickness of the linebackers also make them tough in coverage and thus passes to the running backs and tight ends (even Pete Mitchell). The exceptional coverage ability of CB Deion Sanders also usually shuts down the deeper passing game to one side of the field. To me, the game comes down to this: New York must stick with an inside ground attack, preferably to the right side. RT Scott Gragg and RG Ron Stone should be able to run block DE Kavika Pittman and DT Alonzo Spellman. Throw in the blocking of TE Howard Cross and OC Brian Williams on their flanks and the lead blocking of FB Charles Way and the Giants should be able to pound the ball to the right. SLB Darren Hambrick is not stout at the point of attack – he’s their version of Marcus Buckley. Get a hat on Hambrick and MLB Randall Godfrey and the Giants are in business. A big question mark will be whether or not SS Darren Woodson, a superb run defender, will play. If he doesn’t, this type of attack becomes a no-brainer. Keep it simple Jim – don’t have your offensive linemen try to be too cute by pulling and trapping. Play it straight up and pound the ball.
When the Giants do put the ball up, it will be difficult to do so successfully without extra targets running routes. Dallas will counter this by stunting and throwing a lot of blitzes at the Giants. The line, tight ends, and backs will be under a lot of pressure to give QB Kent Graham protection. Last year in the Meadowlands, Dallas blitzed the heck out of the Giants and New York never was able to adjust. Will this be a repeat of history? LT Roman Oben faces a tough opponent in DE Greg Ellis. LG Luke Petitgout will have to contend with another quality DT – this time Chad Hennings. The ability of Oben and Petitgout to deal with these two will be key. At the same time, the Giants can ill-afford leaks spring up at other positions. They also need the backs to decisively pick up blitzing linebackers and defensive backs.
Now to the targets. I would think that CB Deion Sanders will be lined up against WR Amani Toomer. If true, Amani is probably in store for a quiet night. It also means that the outcome of this game will largely be influenced by the WR Ike Hilliard/CB Kevin Smith match-up. Hilliard has to come up with big plays early and often. Ike needs to get off the line of scrimmage quickly. Fassel would also be advised to force Dallas to bring out their nickel back as much as possible. If New York can protect the quarterback and Graham is on his game, then the Giants ought to be able to do some damage against nickel corner Duane Hawthorne. Of course, that means David Patten or Joe Jurevicius need to step it up. The Giants should not ignore Deion’s side of the field, but they need to be careful. I’d stick with slants and crossing routes – I’d be very, very careful with any deep out patterns.
Finally, the quarterback position. Kent Graham returns as the starter. If he hopes to remain the starter for long, he needs to start putting more points on the board and leading the Giants to victory again. It won’t be easy against Dallas who has fast linebackers and a quality defensive backfield. But nevertheless, that is the hand dealt to Kent. No excuses – make plays and come out of the game with a win.
Giants on Special Teams: Throughout the 1990’s, the Cowboys have had superior special teams and Giants-Cowboys games have often been decided by a play here or there in the kicking game. The most important thing is to limit the damage that the Dallas returners, in particular Deion Sanders, do. P Brad Maynard will be on the spot to punt for direction and hangtime, while not shanking the ball. Dallas has also been able to pressure Maynard in the past. Coverage on kick returns will be equally important. The punt returns of Tiki Barber have improved with better blocking, but kick return production has regressed in recent weeks. The Giants can’t afford many more misses from PK Brad Daluiso.