Minnesota Vikings 34 – New York Giants 17
by David Oliver
Twas the day after Christmas
And all through the Meadowlands
Not a Giant was stirring
Even in their own house.
The Y2K bug hit Giantdom early and hard, on both sides of the ball and the bench. As I drove up Sunday morning, I was apprehensive, fearing that Eric was right and the Giants, bruised and battered, would tank the last 4 games. The Rams game was very disheartening. The team seemed to wither in the end and played lackadaisical football. A performance like that against the Vikings and the it would be ‘sayonara’ to the playoffs.
So I tried something different as I passed Philly, Land of Broken Dreams. No doo-wop this trip. I popped in a Bruce Springsteen CD, New Jersey tough. What a mistake. War was powerful, Darlington County wistful. But his monologue narrative Vietnam tune talking about the relationship between a father and son and generational change – wow. It was blue collar simple. The son keeps hearing from the father how the army will make a man of him. Then he takes off for three days for his draft physical. When he comes home, father asks, “Where were you?” He replies, “Taking my draft physical.” Father asks, “What happened?” Son says “I failed.” Father says “Good.” Memories flooded in, of those times. Although not the same, my own experience was similar as years later I found out my dad had a suitcase packed in the closet, just in case we would be taking a northern vacation. But that’s another story.
What really hit home, was home, and the Giants going nowhere, so my mind wandered. It’s always this way between Christmas and the First. The Boss reminded me of a big, beefy Irish kid I knew, before he was the first of my classmates lost in Nam. An athlete, a popular guy, whose dad was also the prototypical Irishman, big and gregarious and successful. In all these years, I have never forgotten both of them, sitting in the cafeteria at the Seton Hall, friendly and alive. Living and working near and in D.C., I ran past the Wall three or four times every week. But I never visited. One Christmas, Sandy (my wife) and I visited the tree. I said, “What the hell, we’re here, let’s go.” It was a warm, drizzly, misty night, with a soft light. We hit the statute and I started crying. Don’t ask why, if you weren’t around then you would never understand. Sandy took me by the hand, asked his name, looked him up in the book and led me to the Wall – I never stopped crying, but I was thankful for her that night. Brian Conlon, hero. I’ve never been back.
The connection here. It’s always about coming home. It’s about joy and sorrow, it’s about family, it’s about the New York Football Giants. It’s fearing another January without football; it’s fearing a wash-out in the Meadowlands. Here it is, the dawn of a New Millennium, with a team that remains a mystery. Who is the heart? Who is the soul? Who the brains of leadership? Like Dorothy on the Yellow Brick Road, we fans are hoping the Wizard has some answers, for us and our team.
The game started at 1:02 pm, EST. The weather – temp. 32, increasing cloudiness, wind out of the southwest at 12 mph, wind chill 11 – Giants weather. The stats, very deceptive. First downs- Giants 25, Vikings 18; fourth down eff. – Giants 3 of 5- 60%; total net yards – Giants 344, Vikings 378; rushing yards – Giants 76, Vikings 174; passing yards – Giants 268 Vikings 204; throws/comp/int – Giants 51-31-1, Vikings 22-11-2; time of possession, Giants 37:35, Vikings 22:25. Who would you say won this game? Nothing could be further from the truth.
Robert Smith rushed for 146 yards on 16 carries, with a long of 70. Joe Montgomery led the Giants with 55 yards on 19 carries and a long of 12. Most of them came in the first quarter. Jeff George wasn’t outstanding, he was workmanlike, picked the Giants apart and never got his uniform dirty. He was only 10 of 21 with a long of 37. But Randy Moss threw a TD strike of 27, longer than any Giants completion. Carter caught 5 passes for 131 yards, on one leg. Toomer and Barber did well for the Giants, catching 9 and 8 respectively, mostly shorter passes.
On defense, the Giants made 33 tackles with 17 assists – not a very busy day. Ellsworth had a combined 11 of those. When your safety makes 20% of the tackles, you know it’s been a long day. Jessie, playing at about 60% still made 6 tackles, but really wasn’t part of the game after the first quarter. That’s the good news. The rest of the story – no pass rush, no cornerback play and the safeties playing catch-up all day. Did we have any linebackers out there except Jessie? I don’t know because they weren’t in evidence. We have gone to a very conservative read and react scheme to help the corners – but the result was to help George, who doesn’t like being hit and pawed. He rolled out three times, other than that it was like a light practice for him.
The Vikings won the toss, elected to receive and were held. The Giants then had one of their monster drives. Monty for 8, Monty for 3, Monty for -2. Then Collins to Toomer for 10, Monty for 3, Monty for 5, Collins to Toomer for 10. Monty for 12, Monty for 8, Monty for 1; Tiki for 4, Tiki for 1, Monty for -1, Collins sacked. Result – field goal – 3 points from a drive that went 65 yards in 15 plays and took 8:35.
The Vikings were held again, and punted. The Giants had 4 plays and punted. Then it fell apart. George to Carter for 37 yards over Hamilton. George to Moss for 25 yards over Hamilton. George to Carter for 17 yards over Lincoln. Hoard up the middle for 3, TD. No pressure, no corners, no middle defense, too easy. The next Giant series, a couple of short runs, a couple of passes, a couple of incomplete, 2 sacks and a fumble (recovered by Oben). Field goal. 8 plays, 43 yards 4:09, 3 points.
The Vikings then drove to the endzone, but Lincoln made a nice interception on one of the few passes that George threw down all day.. Giants go nowhere, punt. The Vikings take over with 4 minutes left in the half. 2 runs, a 19 yard pass to Glover, Smith bursts up the middle for 15, 2 minute warning. Incomplete pass, 16 yard completion to Carter, Smith run for 14, Hoard on a 1 yard TD run.
At the half, the game was effectively over. The defensive line, with the exception of some early Keith Hamilton, could exert no pressure – it couldn’t even contain, as Smith ran up the middle several times. The linebackers were a major disappointment. Everyone knew about the corners, little was expected, little was shown. Conrad Hamilton was beaten several times, although he came up on run support several times. Lincoln epitomized the play when he chased down Smith on his long TD run, then love tapped him instead of leveling him out of bounds – why spoil a good run with something as messy as a real tackle.
The Giants took the third quarter kickoff – short pass, run, short pass, run, real short pass, short run, pass, run, short pass, sack, missed field goal from the 22. The Vikings went nowhere and punted. Then the interception. The first Viking play was the Randy Moss to Carter TD pass – Ellsworth, either because of injury or careless play, was trailing. Both of these guys are on one leg so it should have been even up. This drive took 8 seconds. So much for ball control.
The next Giant possession was the season in a nutshell. Collins to JJ for 18, Tiki run, incomplete, run for no gain, pass for 5 yards, pass for 3 yards, pass for 9 yards, incomplete, pass for 7 yards, incomplete. The Giants are on the 25, the score is 21 to 6, it is the end of the third quarter, the Giants kick a field goal. Run up the white flag, forget who is calling the plays, why bother with a fourth quarter? The Giants have successfully traded field goals for TDs all day.
The final quarter was a total disaster. The Vikings ran the kickoff back 85 yards for another TD. Blanchard was cold-cocked and lay on the turf with an Excedrin migraine. The Giants playoff hopes laid down right next to him. And yet, back they came. Incomplete, pass, pass, incomplete, incomplete, pass, pass (holding penalty), pass for a loss, incomplete, pass to Tiki for 15, pass to Ike for 19, incomplete, pass to Ike for 8, pass to Ike for another 8, then from the Viking 2, run, run, run nowhere, pass to Mitchell for the TD. Collins up the middle for the 2 point conversion. Another 16 play, 69 yard, 6:59 drive.
Next series, Smith takes the ball, runs through the middle, cuts to the sidelines and motors 70 yards. The Stadium empties rapidly. The Giants had the ball 3 more times. A lot of incomplete, no scores.
The Giants had the ball for more than 10 minutes in 3 of the 4 quarters. Giant possessions went like this; field goal, punt, field goal, punt, half, missed field goal, int., field goal, TD, downs, downs, game over. The Vikings got an 8 second TD, a 22 second TD and 2 3 minute drives. Talk about explosive.
Observations – the Vikings blocking schemes looked like an impenetrable wall – rarely was there a blue shirt in the picture after the first quarter. Giants blocking shows holes, but most of the blocking was done from the backside, catching the Vikings as they were turning back up field. DT John Randle was too fast for Rosey, Engler was abused, no one else did anything outstanding. Oben did keep Dolman from getting that sack he needs to cap off a great career. Collins was playing uninspired. The Rams hangover continued. He is getting hit and apparently does not react well to physical abuse. Frankly, we were overmatched in line play. Steussie and Stringer are behemoths. Smith is a physically large back – I was surprised walking out the tunnel next to him to see how really tall and square shouldered he is. Glover is a big, physical tight end, Jerry Ball is still a horse and his line mates are very quick. Chris Carter is a great receiver – he always manages to get free. Moss didn’t have to do anything, but he threw a beauty of a pass. Interesting, last week Jim Fassel said he wasn’t going to show the Giants the game film. I opined that the Vikings would watch it, and I’m sure they did. And they saw what they needed. Right now, with all our injuries, the Giants are not a four quarter team.
The Giants at this stage are no longer a running team. They are a decent short range passing team with no explosion. Opponents will trade field goals for TDs anytime and it is obvious that the Giants lack the ability for the killshot. Most disturbing, no fire on the field or the bench. Fassel smolders, Fox is holding it together with bailing wire and chewing gum, McDuff has shot his wad. A sense of resignation has hovered over this team except for the Jets game. Too many injuries, too many QB changes, too many conservative calls – passivity is the trademark of a collection of individuals, it is not an element of team dynamics. When you have LT, you can settle for field goals. Without him, you had better risk it all for TDs.
I talked to several players after the game, but there really isn’t much to say. The most noteworthy comments were offered by Beshir Levingston, “Same plays, same plays.” And my friends, the same results. HAPPY NEW YEAR and may the force be with us at draft time.