Approach to the Game – New York Giants at Chicago Bears, September 17, 2000: This is a very important game for the Giants, especially when you consider the fact that three of the next four games are on the road. The Giants can ill-afford to drop a game here against a very beatable Chicago team with the likes of Washington and Tennessee on the horizon. The Giants must win this game and they should win this game.
But let’s get one thing straight – Chicago is a much better team than they have showed thus far in the early season. What’s more, their backs are now against the wall and this will be their home opener. Blowouts are not the norm in the National Football League. And teams that are blown out (like Chicago last week), normally give a very good showing of themselves the following week. Don’t expect the Giants to win this game in a cakewalk. This should be a very closely contested affair and the game probably won’t be decided until late in the 4th quarter.
The absolute decisive factor in this game will be whether the Giants maintain their focus, intelligence, and intensity.
Giants on Offense: Chicago’s defense is very average. That doesn’t mean they don’t have some talented players and are not capable of putting together a great game, but when you look at their personnel across the board, they fall right into the middle-of-the-pack in terms of NFL standards. The best thing the Giants’ offense can do is to take a big early lead in order to take the life out of the players and the crowd – just like the Giants did last week in Philadelphia.
We now have a good feel for what the new Giants’ offense is all about. The offensive line employs more of a finesse scheme with a lot of pulling and trapping. There is motion galore which is designed to confuse the defense and give the offense a better understanding of the defense’s intentions. Ron Dayne is the horse of the running game and Tiki Barber is the explosive change-of-pace back. Dayne is used more on straight ahead power runs and Tiki is used more on outside runs and cutbacks. The flats are vulnerable with Barber and FB Greg Comella (the screen being especially popular). The starting wide receivers are now both intermediate and downfield threats. Head Coach Jim Fassel and Offensive Coordinator Sean Payton intend to stretch defenses both horizontally and vertically and early plays are often specifically designed to set up a bigger play later in the game. The offense is balanced and multi-dimensional.
Now add to this mix the return of H-Back Pete Mitchell. Mitchell is bound to be rusty as he missed most of the preseason and the first two games with a knee injury. He’s not 100% yet. But he is a key figure. The other Giants’ tight ends don’t scare opposing linebackers and safeties like Mitchell can. What’s more, he is a sure-handed security blanket that helps keep drives alive. Pete can also be a big factor in the red zone. While he was out, some of this critically important roll was taken up successfully by Comella. Now with Pete back in the fold, the Giants’ offense just got that much tougher to defend. Now that middle linebacker or strong safety may not be able to help out on Tiki out of the backfield or Toomer running a slant.
But let’s get back to the opponent. The Bears’ best pass rusher in line is DE Phillip Daniels. LT Lomas Brown faces him. The other end, Bryan Robinson, is more of a run defender. Same story with the inside guys, Jim Flanigan and Mike Wells. Wells can be a difficult defender to move out against the run at the left defensive tackle spot. Thus I would think you would see New York running right with Dayne quite a bit behind RG Ron Stone and RT Luke Petitgout. Defenses around the league have already begun to take notice that when Barber is in the game that they must watch out for the cutback run. Injuries have unsettled Chicago a bit at linebacker. SLB Roosevelt Colvin is out and MLB Barry Minter is questionable. First rounder Brian Urlacher who can play all three spots will start. He is very talented athletically, but he is still a rookie and the Giants can take advantage of that inexperience.
The Bears have decent corners. In fact, Thomas Smith is a guy the Giants were hot after in free agency but couldn’t afford. Nickel back Jerry Azumah was supposed a guy who New York might have tried to trade for. Dime back Terry Cousin is solid. Tony Parrish and Shawn Wooden are a fine safety tandem (though Wooden has a hamstring problem). But Kerry Collins is red hot right now and this secondary shouldn’t intimidate him and his receivers. If Chicago focuses too much on the run, look for Kerry to go up top. If they look to shut down Toomer, then Hilliard, Jurevicius, Mitchell, or Barber should get open. As long as everyone stays composed and focused and plays smart, the Giants should be able to move the ball and put up points.
Giants on Defense: We’re about to get a good read on the Giants’ secondary and players such as CB David Thomas, nickel back Emmanuel McDaniel, dime back Reggie Stephens, and FS Shaun Williams. In fact, so will CB Jason Sehorn who will most likely be locked up on very talented WR Marcus Robinson much of the day. That leaves the speedy, but sometimes undisciplined, Eddie Kennison on Thomas. That’s a huge match-up. But the problems don’t stop there. The Bears will often run 4-WR and even sometimes 5-WR sets (with an empty backfield). They love to run WR screens and force secondaries to tackle well. And they have the talent at WR to do it – Bobby Engram, Marty Booker, Macey Brooks, Dez White. Short catches become big plays when facing the Bears. The entire secondary will be on the spot and TACKLING will be a priority. The good news is that SS Sam Garnes and Williams are very strong tacklers. (In fact, I would be very tempted to sit Ryan Phillip and play the nickel to start the game.) Having very mobile linebackers such as Mike Barrow and Jessie Armstead will also be huge. The good news is that the Giants have two “safety-like” linebackers (Armstead and Barrow) and two “linebacker-like” safeties (Garnes and Williams) and this will help them match-up well. But Thomas, McDaniel, and Stephens are going to have to step it up.
Of course, the best way to disrupt a passing game is to get pressure on the passer. Unfortunately, for the third week in a row, the Giants can’t afford to pin their ears back and go hell bent after the quarterback. Cade McNown is yet another dangerous scrambler. In fact, he’s the leading rusher on the Bears and is averaging over nine yards per carry. Once again, DE Cedric Jones, DE Michael Strahan, DT Christian Peter, and DT Keith Hamilton will have to maintain their pass rush lanes. This makes pass blocking much easier for a strong Bears’ offensive line that features LT Blake Brockermeyer, LG Todd Perry, OC Olin Kreutz, RG Chris Villarrial, and RT James Williams. These guys are no slouches and the Giants’ defensive front will need the same kind of intensity that they brought to the table last week.
The Bears are not afraid to use their tight ends/H-backs in the passing game either – the linebackers must remain strong in coverage here too, especially with Garnes preoccupied elsewhere. Surprisingly, given quality of the offensive line, the Bears don’t run the ball with their halfbacks very well. Perhaps, their offensive mindset is dominated by their aerial antics. One thing is clear though – the Giants can’t afford to let Curtis Ennis or James Allen get untracked. Continue to make the opposition one-dimensional, cover the receivers, and get after McNown in a disciplined fashion. Do that, and the Giants win.
Special Teams: The Giants are getting better, but there is still plenty of room for improvement. P Brad Maynard simply has to get his act together. This is his third year and it is time for him to demonstrate on a consistent basis why he was a high draft pick. Kick-off coverage was improved last week, but they still gave up a good return. Plus, Glyn Milburn is dangerous and Eddie Kennison had a huge return against the Giants in the preseason. (Milburn also returns punts). The Giants keep getting closer and closer to breaking a kick and punt return. Barber and Ron Dixon are explosive, but the blocking is also improving.