Dallas Cowboys 26 – New York Giants 18
Overview: With Green Bay knocking New York out of the playoff picture, I found myself actually hoping that we would lose so we would get a better draft spot and an easier schedule. But I did expect the Giants to show much more emotion and effort than they did against Dallas. The Giants went out with a whimper. So much for the pre-game warnings from Head Coach Jim Fassel and co-owner Wellington Mara.
What a roller coaster season. The Giants went from 1-0 to 1-2, from 2-3 to 5-3, from 5-6 to 7-6, from 7-6 to 7-9. Another change at quarterback, a slew of injuries at key positions, and a down year from key performers marred the season. There was too much talking, not enough action. The passing game and special teams improved, but the running game and defense declined. Now there is talk about sweeping changes being made. Will it be enough? The NFC East Champion Redskins are armed with three first round picks, including the second overall pick. It seems as if the talent gap will get wider, not closer.
Coaching Staff: It is always a bit dangerous to judge a coach after a three game losing streak. Tempers run hot. But the question remains as to whether or not Jim Fassel is head coaching material. Perhaps he is. But the fact that the question is still be asked after three years is not a positive sign. His detractors will point to the declining fortunes of the team the past two years as well as a post-season collapse this year. At times, he doesn’t seem to have control over his own clubhouse (see all the players talking to the press) and one wonders if he still has the fearful respect necessary to intimidate players into superior performance. His supporters will point to a lack of talent to work with and a terrible rash of injuries to key contributors. With the quarterback position finally settled in the second half of the year, the Giants finished ninth in passing offense. At least publicly, the players stand up for him.
After a 10-5-1 and 8-8 seasons, this was supposed to be the barometer year for Jim. If true, then he failed. But rightly or wrongly the Giants’ hierarchy has determined he will stay on for at least another season. At least part of the rationale is that change will set the program back again. There have been too many coaching changes with the Giants this past decade. It is a real crap shoot in trying to find a coach who can handle today’s multi-million dollar athlete. The psychology of the players is changing and because of that, the game is changing. A “Bill Parcells” doesn’t grow on trees and even guys like Jimmy Johnson is having trouble motivating these spoiled players.
Front Office: Not only do the Giants need a productive draft and free agent signing period, but they must stop overpaying their own talent. This started with George Young, but it is continuing with Ernie Accorsi. His free agent mistakes include Tito Wooten, Jerry Reynolds, Marcus Buckley, Carlton Gray, Danny Kanell, Corey Widmer, Scott Gragg, and Gary Brown. All were re-signed to big contracts and then cut or they are about to be cut. That is signing bonus money (i.e., cap room) down the drain.
Quarterback: Back to the game. Kerry Collins had a mostly positive performance. His strong arm and ability to throw off his back foot is both an asset and detriment. It is an asset because he can make an accurate throw even when in trouble, and he showed this once again against Dallas. At the same time, it is a detriment because he continues to be sloppy with his footwork at times and this does adversely affect his accuracy. Collins finished the day going 31-of-48 for 314 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. But those stats are a big deceiving in that he only had 89 yards passing in the first half of the game. Part of Collins’ problems were that penalties by the offensive line kept putting the Giants in very long yardage situations. It seemed as if every time the Giants tried to get something going, there was a holding penalty. It didn’t help that Pete Mitchell wasn’t in action or that the defense couldn’t get the Dallas offense off the field. I was also surprised that the Giants challenged the cover-ability of the Dallas linebackers so much and didn’t try to get the ball down the field more in the first half. Collins can get the ball into tight spots. I know I sound like a broken record, but his accuracy is truly impressive and there were times he hit his man with the littlest of margins for error. On the downside, a few of his deep throws were off the mark and he missed seeing a wide open David Patten deep down the left sideline.
Wide Receivers: Not a real productive day. I was surprised that the Giants were not able to take more advantage of the left cornerback playing opposite of Deion Sanders. WR Amani Toomer broke Earnest Gray’s single-season record with 79 catches. But he only had two receptions for 35 yards against Dallas. Deion covered him most of the time and the Giants tended to shy away from that side of the field. Ike Hilliard, the guy who the Giants needed to have a big game, only could come up with 5 receptions for 37 yards – leaving him just four yards short of a 1,000-yard season. He did have some key 3rd down conversion catches, but there was nothing big down the field. The two guys who actually made some plays were Joe Jurevicius (3 catches for 86 yards) and Brian Alford (1 catch for a 7-yard TD). Jurevicius showed some good speed catching an intermediate toss and outrunning everyone but Sanders on a 71 yard catch-and-run. Alford had his first catch of the year, but made it count for six. David Patten had one catch for 14 yards.
Tight Ends: With Pete Mitchell (ankles) and Dan Campbell (hamstring) out, the Giants were left without a passing threat at tight end and this hurt. Howard Cross was the target of a couple of throws, but he had no catches. In fact, he hurt the team by being flagged for offensive pass interference. The Giants really would be best served letting Howard go after the season. Mark Thomas saw some action, but couldn’t hold onto a key 3rd-down toss that was low.
Offensive Line: This unit was outplayed by the Dallas front seven. Everything you need to know is that on one screen pass, the Giants had three blockers in front of Tiki and only one defender in sight, but not one of the blockers laid a hand on the defender. LT Roman Oben was flagged twice with holding and let his man get inside of him on a shuttle pass to Tiki Barber. LG Mike Rosenthal was also flagged with holding. He whiffed on Leon Lett on one play for a sack. For some reason, the Giants didn’t help him out with Lett. OC Brian Williams tried to gut it out on one leg, but was often seen picking himself off of the turf. RG Ron Stone played yet another solid game, though he didn’t get as much push as I would have liked in one short-yardage situation. RT Scott Gragg simply isn’t physical enough or sustain his blocks long enough for the run.
Running Backs: HB Tiki Barber had a big game catching the ball. He broke Mark Bavaro’s old single-game receiving record by catching 13 passes for 100 yards. What is amazing is that now every pass sticks to his hands like glue; last year, he couldn’t buy a catch. He only ran the ball once for 3 yards. HB Joe Montgomery continues to be his own best blocker, grinding out 36 yards on 12 carries before giving way to Sean Bennett for most of the second half. Joe’s power is quite impressive and his two-point conversion was all effort. I’d love to see the Giants finally make a big hole for him so they can get him into the secondary. HB Sean Bennett (3 carries for 35 yards) showed outstanding speed on a right-side sweep that went 29 yards (and which almost went the distance). However, he still runs too high between the tackles.FB Greg Comella (5 catches for 37 yards) looked sharp as a receiver and blocker.
Defensive Line: The defense gave up 437 yards to Dallas!!! Give me a break! The Dallas offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage, and thus the game. Michael Strahan (1 tackle) played like crap and was completely dominated by RT Erik Williams. What was most disturbing was seeing him laughing and smiling with Dallas players during the game. You need to take a strong look at yourself Michael in the offseason. If you had an ounce of pride, you would allow Simeon Rice to take your Pro Bowl spot. DT Christian Peter (2 tackles) was in and out of the line-up and was kept quiet. DT Keith Hamilton (1 tackle) was also kept pretty quiet by LG Larry Allen and double-team support from the center. He badly missed Emmitt Smith on one occasion when he broke into the backfield. RDE Cedric Jones (4 tackles) played his worst run defense game of the year. The Giants needed a big pass rush day from Jones and he did not deliver. DT Ryan Hale (3 tackles) saw a lot of time and was completely manhandled up front. DE Bernard Holsey (1 tackle) played but did not stand out either.
Linebackers: WLB Jessie Armstead (3 tackles) played the game on one leg and was in-and-out of the line-up. He made some plays in the backfield against the run, but it was obvious that his speed – the strength of his game – was lacking. MLB Corey Widmer (4 tackles) and SLB Ryan Phillips (3 tackles) look slow. Widmer looked completely out-of-place on Ismail’s touchdown catch through his zone (I don’t like playing zone coverage that close to the goalline anyway). He also dropped a sure interception that could have kept three points of the board. Phillips made a nice play in the backfield against Smith, but that’s not enough. LB Scott Galyon (2 tackles) played quite a bit, but was hammered at the point-of-attack.
Defensive Backs: The Giants, even with their beat up secondary, should have been able to control the Dallas receivers. Instead, they gave up almost 300 passing yards to the previously struggling Troy Aikman. CB Conrad Hamilton (6 tackles) did not look sharp. Rocket Ismail caught too many balls in front of him. CB Jeremy Lincoln (3 tackles) played decently most of the game, but was burned badly by rookie Jason Tucker for a 90-yard TD that was the back-breaker in the game. S/CB Shaun Williams was beat out of the break again by slot receivers. This former first rounder isn’t making much of an impact. Quite frankly, I think waiver-wire pick-up Emmanuel McDaniel would do better in the slot than him. SS Sam Garnes (4 tackles) was fairly active against the run and broke up a pass with a hard hit. He still isn’t playing like a top safety however. FS Percy Ellsworth was in on 9 tackles and showed hustle chasing down Smith from behind. However, he is not making plays against the pass like he used to.
Special Teams: Kick coverage broke down again for the second week in a row as Jason Tucker returned the opening kickoff 79 yards. Punt coverage on Deion Sanders was solid. P Brad Maynard remains inconsistent as ever. He’s not living up to his draft status. Tiki Barber never really had a chance to return a punt. Kick returns were mediocre as the blocking for returns remain terrible.
TEAM STATISTICS
NYG DAL
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FIRST DOWNS 19 20
Rushing 4 7
Passing 14 13
Penalty 1 0
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 6-15 4-10
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY 3-3 0-0
TOTAL NET YARDS 380 437
Total plays 66 62
Average gain 5.8 7.0
NET YARDS RUSHING 74 149
Rushes 17 29
Average per rush 4.4 5.1
NET YARDS PASSING 306 288
Completed-attempted 31-48 23-33
Yards per pass 6.2 8.7
Sacked-yards lost 1-8 0-0
Had intercepted 1 0
PUNTS-AVERAGE 5-35.8 2-42.0
RETURN YARDAGE 100 103
Punts-returns 1-minus 9 1-7
Kickoffs-returns 5-109 3-96
Interceptions-returns 0-0 1-0
PENALTIES-YARDS 5-39 7-55
FUMBLES-LOST 1-0 1-0
TIME OF POSSESSION 30:02 29:58
PLAYER STATISTICS
Missed field goals: None.
NY Giants rushing: Joe Montgomery 12-36, Sean Bennett 3-35, Tiki Barber 1-3, Kerry Collins 1-0.
Dallas rushing: Emmitt Smith 22-122, Chris Warren 3-28, Robert Thomas 1-1, Troy Aikman 3-minus 2.
NY Giants passing: Kerry Collins 31-48 for 314 yards, 1 INT, 1 TD.
Dallas passing: Troy Aikman 23-32 for 288 yards, 0 INT, 2 TD, Deion Sanders 0-1 for 0 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD.
NY Giants receiving: Tiki Barber 13-100, Greg Comella 5-37, Ike Hilliard 5-37, Joe Jurevicius 3-86, Amani Toomer 2-35, David Patten 1-14, Brian Alford 1-7, Sean Bennett 1-minus 2.
Dallas receiving: Raghib Ismail 7-62, Jason Tucker 4-122, Chris Warren 3-18, David Lafleur 3-17, Jeff Ogden 2-28, Emmitt Smith 2-19, Chris Brazzell 1-19, Mike Lucky 1-3.
TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS — GIANTS, Ellsworth 9-0-0, C.Hamilton 6-0-0, Garnes 4-0-0, Jones 4-0-0, Widmer 4-0-0, Armstead 3-0-0, Hale 3-0-0, Phillips 3-0-0, Lincoln 2-1-0, Gaylon 2-0-0, Peter 2-0-0, S.Williams 1-1-0, K.Hamilton 1-0-0, Holsey 1-0-0, Strahan 1-0-0, Comella 1-0-0, Levingston 1-0-0, Monty 1-0-0, Patten 1-0-0. Dallas, Coakley 5-1-0, C.Williams 5-0-0, Nguyen 4-1-0, Hawthorne 4-0-0, Sanders 4-0-0, Hambrick 4-0-0, Woodson 3-1-0, Lett 3-0-1, Ekuban 3-0-0, Teague 3-0-0, Godfrey 2-1-0, Hennings 2-0-0, Spellman 2-0-0, Zellner 2-0-0, Davis 2-0-0, Pittman 1-0-0, Hall 1-0-0.
SCORING
1ST QUARTER:
DAL – FG, EDDIE MURRAY 20 YD, 2:18. Drive: 4 plays, 2 yards in 2:18. Key plays: Tucker 79-yard kickoff return plus 6-yard facemask penalty on Giants’ Patten to New York 5. DALLAS 3-0
DAL – FG, EDDIE MURRAY 21 YD, 13:57. Drive: 13 plays, 76 yards in 6:15. Key plays: Aikman 15-yard pass to Tucker to Dallas 35; Aikman 19-yard pass to Brazzell to New York 47; Aikman 14-yard pass to Smith to New York 33; Aikman 5-for-8 for 64 yards. DALLAS 6-0
2ND QUARTER:
DAL – TD, RAGHIB ISMAIL 4 YD PASS FROM TROY AIKMAN (EDDIE MURRAY KICK), 8:25. Drive: 9 plays, 80 yards in 4:47. Key plays: Aikman 6-yard pass to Ogden on 3rd-and-3 to Dallas 45; Smith 45-yard run to New York 10: Smith 3 carries for 59 yards. DALLAS 13-0
DAL – FG, EDDIE MURRAY 27 YD, 14:35. Drive: 10 plays, 78 yards in 1:25. Key plays: Warren 25-yard run to Dallas 37; Aikman 11-yard pass to Ismail to New York 47; Aikman 22-yard pass to Ogden to New York 19. DALLAS 16-0
3RD QUARTER:
NYG – FG, CARY BLANCHARD 29 YD, 9:36. Drive: 11 plays, 64 yards in 6:20. Key plays: Collins 25-yard pass to Toomer to New York 39; Bennett 29-yard run to Dallas 29; Collins 4-yard pass to Hilliard on 3rd-and-3 to Dallas 18. DALLAS 16-3
DAL – TD, JASON TUCKER 90 YD PASS FROM TROY AIKMAN (EDDIE MURRAY KICK), 10:46. Drive: 2 plays, 86 yards in 1:10. DALLAS 23-3
4TH QUARTER:
NYG – TD, JOE MONTGOMERY 1 YD RUN (CARY BLANCHARD KICK), 4:41. Drive: 4 plays, 80 yards in 0:55. Key plays: Collins 71-yard pass to Jurevicius on 3rd-and-2 to Dallas 1. DALLAS 23-10
DAL – FG, EDDIE MURRAY 40 YD, 10:51. Drive: 11 plays, 57 yards in 6:10. Key plays: Smith 22-yard run to Dallas 44; Smith 4-yard run on 3rd-and-2 to New York 44; Aikman 15-yard pass to Ismail to New York 26. DALLAS 26-10
NYG – TD, BRIAN ALFORD 7 YD PASS FROM KERRY COLLINS (JOE MONTGOMERY RUN FOR TWO-POINT CONVERSION), 14:03. Drive: 13 plays, 80 yards in 3:12. Key plays: Collins 14-yard pass to Patten on 4th-and-10 to New York 34; Collins 8-yard pass to Barber on 4th-and-5 to Dallas 28; Collins 15-yard pass to Hilliard on 3rd-and-4 to Dallas 7;. DALLAS 26-18