St. Louis Rams 38 – New York Giants 24
Game Overview: In some ways this game was closer than the final score indicates; in others it was not. What is clear is that the Giants got beat by a better team. That does not mean the Giants have no chance against the Rams if they were to face them again, but they would obviously have to play more mistake-free football and hope that the Rams do not play at the top of their game.
What went wrong? The turnovers, especially the first one (the fumble by WR Amani Toomer), were practically decisive. Toomer’s fumble gave a gift touchdown in a game where the Giants could ill-afford to be generous. After two more aborted drives, the special teams gave up a 39-yard punt return that put the ball on New York’s 27 yard line – three plays later and it is 14-0. Throw in two pretty bad Kerry Collins interceptions (the Rams for some reason bring out the worst in him), a fake punt, and a defense that was over-matched against the Rams’ passing game, it is no wonder why the G-Men lost to the defending champions. But despite all of that, a play made here or there could have made this a seven-point game in the fourth quarter – so that is encouraging. So is the way the Giants continued to fight back despite the big halftime deficit. What the Giants ran into was a Superbowl Champ coming off an embarrassing defeat on national television and playing a team that was not as talented or ticked off as it was. And for some reason, there is a lot of bad blood between both these teams and that only helped to fire up the Rams.
The Giants need to get over this game very quickly and get their heads right. The Detroit Lions are up next and this is a huge game for the Giants. Indeed, it may be one of the most important of the entire season.
Quarterback: Kerry Collins (17-of-34 for 240 yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions) played a mediocre game. There were a few outstanding throws and a couple of drops also hurt, but I was unimpressed with Collins’ play in three areas. First, there were once again a few too many times when Collins started to get jumpy in the pocket and started scrambling around when there was no need to do so. For some reason in each game, there always seem to be times when Collins starts rolling to his left or right to avoid phantom pressure (not counting the pre-designed rollouts). This tendency often causes him to run right into actual pressure from the ends outside of the tackles. Once in this position, Kerry finds himself in real dire straights and often finds himself drifting back to avoid the defender and throwing towards the sideline off his back foot. Fans may say that the line is to blame in such situations because of the pressure, but it was Kerry’s movement that caused the pressure in the first place. What is so strange about this is that there are times when Collins stands tough in the pocket and delivers the ball calmly despite the oncoming rush.
Second, Kerry’s deep passing has not been real sharp this year and this hurt big time against the Rams. On the Giants’ first possession, Kerry overthrew an open Ike Hilliard down the right sideline on a play that could have resulted in a 50+ yarder (Ike had gotten behind the corner and safety). He also missed Joe Jurevicius deep in the second half.
Third, Collins threw two balls that were intercepted, thus making even more difficult for the Giants to mount any kind of realistic comeback. The first pick was a deep ball to Hilliard where Ike was double-covered. Collins inadvisably tried to squeeze it in there, the ball was slightly underthrown, and picked off. This put the ball back into Trent Green’s hand and he proceeded to march his team down the field for the fourth touchdown in the first half. On the second interception, Collins accurately led Hilliard on a crossing pattern over the middle, but he did not see the middle linebacker drifting towards Ike from the opposite direction and the ball was again intercepted. The Giants were trailing 31-17 at the time and this turnover enabled Green to put the dagger in the Giants heart with another TD drive.
Now to be fair, there were a few very good throws and Collins did get the Giants back into the game despite missing Amani Toomer and Ron Dixon. Armed with only Hilliard, Jurevicius, and Thabiti Davis, Kerry was provided with only half of his deep arsenal.
Wide Receivers: Amani Toomer (1 catch for 20 yards) got hammered coming over the middle of the field and fumbled the ball on the Giants’ first possession. The ball was picked up and returned to the Giants’ one-yard line. Not only did the play give the Rams a gift early lead, but it forced Amani out of action for the rest of the game. A devastating play.
Ike Hilliard (5 catches for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns) had his best game of the year. Much of that had to do with the fact that Collins was without Toomer and was largely forced to throw in Ike’s direction time after time. Hilliard’s two touchdowns were highlight-reel action. On the first, he came across the middle out of the slot, caught the ball, and raced down the left sideline for a touchdown after faking one defender out. On the second, he demonstrated superb concentration as he held onto the ball despite getting smashed in the ribs by the safety just as the ball arrived. Ike bounced off the hit and waltzed into the end zone. Very impressive. The downside was that there were two more drops from Hilliard. One came on third down where Collins made a very accurate throw despite pressure – the drop forced the Giants to punt. This proved costly as the ensuing punt set the Rams up on the 27 yard line of the Giants. The other was also costly as if Hilliard had held on, he might have scored on the play and cut the lead to 38-24 near the beginning of the 4th quarter. As it was, an ensuing sack forced the Giants to punt.
With Toomer out, Joe Jurevicius (2 catches for 31 yards) was provided with a wonderful opportunity to shine, but he came up with a disappointing effort. He did get a step deep on the defender late in the game on a play where Collins overthrew him, but he was too quiet in a game where the Giants needed him to step up and deliver.
Thabiti Davis was forced into action quite a bit, but did not have a reception.
Tight Ends: There was one pass thrown in the direction of Howard Cross in the first quarter, but Collins’ throw was not on the mark. Pete Mitchell (3 catches for 33 yards) saw the ball a bit more this week, but he remains strangely left out of the passing offense. I heard one unconfirmed rumor from a BBI regular that Pete has put his house up for sale in New Jersey. With him being an unrestricted free agent next year, he may not want to come back.
Running Backs: Ron Dayne (9 carries for 66 yards) was taken somewhat out of the game by the Rams big early lead. Despite that, he broke off his best run as a Giant, demonstrating vision, a burst, and decent speed on a 50-yard gallop down the right sideline. However, it was three short-yardage carries by Dayne that proved very costly. On the first, with the Giants driving in the second quarter, New York faced 3rd-and-1 and then 4th-and-1. But Dayne was stopped short on both. Same story early in the third quarter, when the Giants faced 3rd-and-1 from the two yard line. A touchdown there makes it a 28-21 game, but Dayne’s inability to power the ball into the end zone caused the Giants to go for three instead. To be fair, Dayne was provided with poor blocking on both plays. I also did not like decision to send Dayne to left on both plays. Dayne should have been sent right up the gut or off of right tackle behind Stone, Petitgout, and Cross.
Tiki Barber (9 carries for 61 yards, 4 catches for 32 yards and a touchdown) had a couple of good runs, including a 23-yard draw. Still, Tiki did not make enough of an impact in this game. He came ever so close to getting the ball into the endzone preceding Dayne’s failed 3rd-and-1 conversion after the turnover. Tiki also had a nice right-side run where he used some nice moves to get a first down. His prettiest play of the day was the swing pass from Collins where he demonstrated some good vision, moves, and power to get the ball in for a score. Barber did drop one ball and fumble another – but he showed great hustle in recovering the fumble. Keep in mind that he is playing with a broken thumb.
Hate to sound like a broken record, but FB Greg Comella (2 catches for 14 yards) was sharp again with his lead blocking. But Comella couldn’t get out on the linebacker on Dayne’s failed 3rd down run down on the goall line. “What happened was Comella got caught up in a line stunt,” said Tiki Barber. “He was supposed to get out one-on-one on the linebacker but couldn’t get there.” He also did a real nice job after one reception where he put on a spin move, kept his balance and picked up additional yardage after the catch.
Offensive Line: The loss of LG Glenn Parker before the game started must have been disconcerting. His replacement, Mike Rosenthal, played admirably well, but the Giants had some problems picking up blitzes and I wonder if this was partially due to unfamiliarity and miscommunication. The blitz that hurt the Giants the most were blitzes from the secondary – there were a couple of plays where the Rams sent two defensive backs from opposite sides at Collins. Whether a lineman was supposed to pick these blitzes up, the back, or it was simply a “hot” read where Collins should have gotten rid of the ball is unknown. It is also certainly possible that the receivers did not recognize the blitz, cut off their routes, and provide Collins with an immediate target. There was also pressure from Grant Wistrom on one play where LT Lomas Brown got cleanly beat. Still, for the most part, pass protection was solid. RT Luke Petitgout did a decent job on DE Kevin Carter. There was one crazy blocking formation early that had Dayne trying to block Carter – needless to say an incomplete resulted as Collins was forced to unload the ball. Run blocking was a mixed bag. There were some very good runs by Dayne and Barber where the line created some nice holes. But the problems in short yardage were devastating. The Giants couldn’t get much of a push at the line in these situations.
Defensive Line: The first touchdown you can’t blame the defense – the Rams started with the ball on the one-yard line. The Rams’ second “drive” started on New York’s 27 yard line. But the drive that really hurt was the 12-play, 71-yard march down the field for a score after the Giants had cut the lead to 14-7. The TD drive given up right after Collins’ second interception interception, when the Giants were still only trailing by 14 midway through the 3rd quarter also hurt.
There were moments when there was a pass rush and Trent Green was sack or hit as he threw the ball. But for an opponent that had no semblance of a running game, the Giants should have been able to exert more consistent pressure. It was this lack of pressure that directly led to the defensive backs being exposed by superior athletes at the wide receiver position. As I feared, Cedric Jones (zero tackles) was largely handled by LT Orlando Pace. Jones had a few pressures, including one that caused an interception on a screen pass and set the Giants up on the 10 yard line. He also came very close to sacking Green in the endzone for a safety. But for the most part, he was kept quiet. Same with DT Christian Peter (4 tackles) and DT Cornelius Griffin (who played quite a bit). Indeed, Griffin’s performance was disappointing as the Giants needed to get more inside pass pressure from him. The two down linemen who faired better were DT Keith Hamilton (5 tackles, 0.5 sacks) and DE Michael Strahan (4 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2 passes defensed). Strahan was doubled at times and yet he did get some decent pressure on Green. I spotted him crashing into the quarterback several times aside from his 1.5 sacks. But he didn’t have the monster game needed given Jones’ ineffectiveness on the opposite side. His 15-yard personal foul penalty helped the Rams on their fourth TD drive too. Hamilton had some real nice inside power charges. Still not enough however. When the Rams did run the ball (aside from Green’s scrambles), the front four and linebackers did a good job except for late in the game when the Rams were running out the clock.
Linebackers: If anyone thinks Jessie Armstead (7 tackles) has slowed down, then they should watch him cover speedster HB Trung Candidate down the sideline. His coverage on that play was superb and there are not many linebackers who could do that. Jessie also knifed into the ball carrier on a draw for a minimal gain. He latter sniffed out a screen pass (Keith Hamilton got a good rush on the play too). MLB Mike Barrow (8 tackles) got suckered badly on Green’s play-action on the one-yard line for a score. He also failed to come up with an easy pick on a ball deflected by Strahan. Mike missed some tackles in the backfield. He should have sacked Green on an inside dog, an outside delayed dog, and tackled the back for a loss on a play where he smartly shot the gap. But he didn’t finish on all three of these plays. Ryan Phillips made a nice play in coverage early on a crossing pattern. MLB Pete Monty played quite a bit, but wasn’t heard from much.
Defensive Backs: Not good. CB Jason Sehorn (5 tackles) did a decent job on Pro Bowler Isaac Bruce for much of the contest, but as the game wore on, Bruce was able to get open in front of Sehorn on some outs and he got beat badly in the 3rd quarter for a long touchdown that put the Rams up 38-17. A big completion given up by Sehorn was the 9-yard out to Bruce on 3rd-and-8 after the Giants had cut the lead to 14-7. A stop there could have made a big difference as the Rams proceeded to go up 21-7 on that same drive. Surprisingly, Dave Thomas (7 tackles) didn’t get beat too badly. In fact, he was in excellent position on some deep balls. What hurt was his two drops of potential interceptions. One came on the Rams’ first drive as Thomas played the coverage so well that he looked like intended receiver. However, he dropped the easy interception in the end zone. Thomas did get burned for a touchdown on a well-executed inside pattern. He and FS Shaun Williams (9 tackles) were beat deep on one play by Torry Holt, but the pass was off the mark (the Rams scored on the drive regardless). Shaun was also guilty of the dropsies as he dropped a sure pick near the goal line too. The missed opportunity was very costly as it came a couple of plays before the one where Sehorn was burned for a touchdown. That play could have been a huge momentum changer. CB Emmanuel McDaniel (5 tackles) got burned deep by Az-Zahir Hakim, but was very lucky Hakim dropped the ball. Reggie Stephens got burned badly inside by Ricky Proehl for touchdown. Stephens had problems staying with the Rams’ receivers much of the day. SS Sam Garnes (10 tackles) made one big hit and was in on a lot of tackles, but he continues to be largely invisible in the big play department. Often times that is a good sign for a defensive back, but it would be nice for the well-paid Garnes to make a big play every now and then.
Special Teams: The poor play of the Giants’ special teams (except for kick returns) was a huge factor in the outcome of the game. PK Brad Daluiso’s kickoffs continue to exacerbate the mediocre kick coverage unit. To their credit, the kick-off coverage teams held the dangerous Tony Horne in check. However, the same can not be said of the punt coverage unit. Hakim had a big 39-yard punt return that set up the Rams deep in Giants’ territory at the 27 yard line and led to the second touchdown. They gave up another 33-yarder earlier in that quarter as well. Too often, coverage men are leaving their lanes or getting effectively blocked. P Brad Maynard did punt fairly well and Emmanuel McDaniel did do a nice job of downing one punt inside the five yard line. The Giants were also burned by a fake field goal that was converted for a first down (and led directly to a touchdown). What is even more disconcerting is that the players were warned by the coaches about the fake during the time out. The one bright spot was the kick return game as both Reggie Stephens and Bashir Levingston returned kicks past mid-field. Pete Monty was called for a holding penalty on one return.
Offensive Line Analysis: The Hair of the Dog
by Chris Jacobs
Every Monday I listen to the Jim Fassel report at 5:05pm on WFAN. This week was the first time I’ve heard Fassel get upset at either of them. Instead of trying to explain, I’ll just give you the exchange between Fassel and Chris (Maddog) Russo as memory serves:
Russo: Well ya know Jimmy, you haven’t really won a big game since you’ve been with the team.
Fassel: We beat the Redskins for the division title in 97′, and we blew them out.
Russo: But the Redskins weren’t a playoff team that year.
Fassel: They would have been if they beat us.
Russo: Ok, you haven’t beaten a good team this season though.
Fassel: The Eagles are 7-4, they’re playing good football. If you take us out of that equation, they’re 7-2.
Russo: Yeah but they aren’t any good.
Fassel: Why don’t you call Bill Cower and tell him that.
Russo: How good are the Steelers?
Fassel: I don’t know.
Ok fast forward to about 10 minutes after the Fassel report was over, now Mike and the Maddog were trying to go over the last six games for the Eagles, Redskins and Giants to decide who would win the division. Well they came to the possible conclusion that the Skins and Giants would be 10-6 and the Eagles would win the division at 11-5. WHAT!?!?!?!?!?! You just told the coach he hadn’t beaten anyone! I’ve given up on the media. Last week Steve Serby of The Post was saying why the Giants would win, and talking about home field advantage in the playoffs and blah, blah, blah. I open the paper Tuesday morning the the Serby headline is, “Giants show they are far from being Super.” Make up your mind. You’re putting them in the NFC Championship game one day, they lose to the best team in the NFC, and suddenly they’ll be lucky if they win a playoff game. If the Giants win 4 of the last 6 games they’ll be calling them the worst 11-5 team in the history of the NFL, blah blah blah. None of these guys ever played, they don’t know what it’s like to push yourself to do that extra set of squats in February when the season is 8 months away. I’d love to see Mad Dog run downfield full speed on a kickoff and end up flat on his back with his head ringing. These guys have no idea what it’s like to prepare all year for that 60 minutes to prove you belong, you’re the best. These are the guys who tried out for the football team and quit because they didn ‘t have it, and then laughed in the stands when the team lost. They have no idea how emotional the game is. All that preparation, for one moment, too few moments considering what goes into it. Alright let me get on with it before I start talking about that game we lost my sophomore year in College that knocked us out of the playoffs. If only I had done that extra set of squats…
Lomas Brown 86%:
He didn’t grade out bad but he didn’t have a very good game. Besides the obvious short yardage blunders his man was getting pressure on the QB often in the second half. To his credit though, on the short yardage, and the pass blocking, the Rams knew it was coming.
Mike Rosenthal 82%:
After I was done cleaning my pants… I was pretty pleased with his performance. Did a much better job run blocking, put some guys on rollerskates at times. Needs to keep his head up to sustain blocks. In pass protection he kept chasing his man out of his zone on the twist stunts, it hurt them a couple of times. I think someone in the booth noticed because he stopped doing it in the fourth quarter. No reason to feel uneasy with him in there the next two weeks.
Dusty Zeigler 96%:
His only bad marks were on running plays when the Rams had nine guys on the LOS. Showed no sign of the injury bothering him.
Ron Stone 86%:
Like LB, not his best game, got only one bad mark pass blocking. Did ok run blocking but nothing spectacular. Still the best of the bunch.
Luke Petitgout 88%:
Had a good game, the one sack that L. Little recorded was actually Rosey’s fault that flushed KC out of the pocket. Did a good job run blocking, nothing to report as far as mistakes or bad habits. His influence blocking is improving weekly.
Greg Comella:
By far his best game of the season. Improving every week.
Howard Cross:
By far his worst game of the season. Was pushed into the backfield repeatedly. Goal line run to Dayne would have worked but Cross was pushed back into Stone.
RAMSGATE
by David Oliver
Photographers deal with positives and negatives. A positive is a complete image, a negative is an image that must be processed to produce a complete image. A positive is a transparency, what you see is what you get; a negative is a work in process. Football presents many similarities. Sometimes what appears as a negative can be worked into something quite beautiful. And transparencies, positives, are just that. Much like the Rams game on Sunday, you have to work with the film, process the negatives, to reach your final image. The positives immediately stand out, but the negatives aren’t so blurry, looked at through time and with the right dose of chemicals – in my case coffee.
I’m writing this without reading the commentary in the papers or on the board. I had the pleasure of the WFAN on my home yesterday and the calls were predictable. The Giants can’t play with the elite teams, what did you expect, forget the Super Bowl this year, fire the special teams coach; I’m sure the NY Media was writing the same things. Well, I feel like pollyanna this week and I’m playing with the negative. Are the Giants an elite team? By what definition – are they 10 and 0 – no. Can they play with the elite teams? Well, of course they can, and in the end, they only have to beat two of them one time each. Have they beaten the Redskins, Titans or Rams? No, not yet anyway. But the Redskins are very doable and they’ll have that chance soon.
Well, then, are they a bad team? Hmm! They are leading the division, they have a very respectable 7-and-3 record, they beat every team they are supposed to beat, so no, they are not a bad team. Which leaves good or very good as a category of teams. The Skins, for some reason, own the Giants the past two years. This should be soon corrected. The Titans abused a flat Giants team for one half, but was on the ropes in the second as a rally fell short. The Rams came into town with a huge chip on their shoulder and they took it to the Giants, but they did not overwhelm them.
In photography it is luck and lighting. Skill is presumed. In football, it is breaks and momentum, skill is presumed. As analysts, and we are all analysts, we have to consider not only the is but the ought, the ‘ifs’, the ‘buts’ and the ‘thens’. In other words, look at it syllogistically, if, then, but, much as in developing film the negative, when processed becomes a positive.
Let’s cut to the chase. Are the Rams an ‘elite’ team? Absolutely. They have more speed than a fleet of Maseratis, they are big, in every sense of the word, starting with Orlando Pace. They are as acrobatic as the Flying Wallendas, as methodical as Bobby Fisher, as demoralizing as those Palm Beach voters who went for the yin and yang of politics by voting for both Al Gore and Pat Buchanan on the same ballot. The Rams won the game, fair and square, I think, and no recount, or replay, even the Toomer fumble, will reverse the result now. But none of this is to say the Giants didn’t play hard, as they did. But a hand review of the stats shows that the early 14 point gift bulge unfairly tilted the whole game and in a rematch things might be different.
The Head Coach popped his cork in his post game interview which should be indicative of the emotional pressure cooker that NY football, sports, is. I don’t know how Senator Clinton would fare before the withering accusations of the sports reporters of the Post, the News, the Times, the Ledger and the Bergen Record. The pencil necks have had a field day with this ‘elite’ thing. Nothing less than 10-and-0 and 50 points a game would satisfy them at this time and the fans are following this doppleganger like lemmings in the spring run. Coach almost screamed, almost hissed, that he didn’t “care what people think” about this issue. He said that he knows they are getting better and this is the important thing. I mean, which is it, the Giants can or can’t make the playoffs, they can or can’t beat any ‘elite’ teams, they won’t go far if they do make the playoffs. Only two teams get to the championship game. Only one is a champion. The Giants have only done it twice in the last 20 years. So what’s the big deal. Enjoy the wins and let the playoffs take care of themselves. The final standings won’t read the Giants finished 13-and-3* but they didn’t beat any elite teams. Heck they may have to beat the Eagles a third time to advance to the Conference Championship – so does that make them a lesser team?
Coach said he was “very disappointed” and not happy with the level of play. No surprise here. He said, “We have to figure out how to start the game better,” and he said that was his job and he would do it. And this is the key. In big games, the adrenalin rush seems to overwhelm the Giants. Scientists announced today that clinical studies have isolated the portion of the brain in which love is located. And they know why ardent lovers don’t think straight. Of course, with men, that’s easy – all the blood leaves the brain and rushes south – ah, back to football – maybe Dr. Goldberg can do some studies and discover why, in big games, the Giants run onto the field in an overexcited state, and then fumble fornicate all over the field during the first quarter. It was interesting in the locker after the conference. I was changing the batteries in my tape recorder (I’m always changing some damn batteries in some damn equipment) and I was in a corner by Keith Hamilton and Ron Stone. Both are fairly quiet, intense guys. Coach walked by and said first to Stone and then to Hammer, something to the effect of we’ll be back, don’t get down. He was still emotional and upset and he realized this one had gotten away from the Giants – it was winnable, but it got away. I wished I had a camera then (not allowed) because it was an ESPN moment. It was a MASCULINE moment, raw emotion veneered by restraint.
Okay, so I think the Giants could have won this one. So sue me. Maybe, like Warren Christopher, I have spent too much time in Washington and I am capable of convincing myself that my favorite has won despite the facts. Last month, I would have said, not me I’m from Missouri, the show me state; but after watching them elect a dead man to the Senate, I think they’ve seen about everything, so I need a new slogan for my scepticism.
Thus, a little different review this week. I’m going to mix some stats, some observations, some reviews together to tell you what I saw. Start with the coaching. For the first time in a long time, I believe the Giants staff put the whole thing together right. Had they won with this plan, everyone would be giving them an A; they didn’t, so no A, but was it the plan or the execution. Never was that phrase so obvious. The Rams are a known quantity – they will amass 30 points against anyone, including Michael the Archangel’s Legions (although it is scary to think the Skins defense matches up pretty well with more speed in the secondary). The Giants have been scoring a respectable number of points so the strategy was to take care of business offensively and somehow steal two TDs off the Rams defensively. And it almost worked. The Rams are a big play offense; the Giants negated that for the most part, allowing only one pass more than 30 yards and one run back of any consequence. A dropped interception, a fumbled completion and a momentary loss of composure, and that 2 TDs was on the board and playing the Rams even the rest of the game was for naught. Coaching problem? No. Execution problem? Big time. Keep in mind, there was another team on the field, they are good, and any mistakes will be costly – that’s a fiber optic connection, quick and sure.
As a result of these early miscues, Sean Payton had to get out of the game plan, the methodical control offense of the Giants and get into a shootout. The Giants and KC might win a shootout with the Bengals, but not the Rams. KC is a good QB, he is not a great one, not even a potentially great one. He has a strong arm, and when given time can pick apart a defense. Heck, even the Old Timer could probably do that. KC lacks field vision, quickness and fire, which offset his ability to manage the clock. Great quarterbacks respond to pressure like Phil Simms when he said to Kevin Greene after one particularly vicious sack, “is that all you’ve got?” That’s the fire. Or like Payton Manning who can find Marvin Harrison while running for his life. Or like Troy Aikman (before his 9th concussion) who can be concussed 8 times and throw a touch pass 40 yards down field on every drive. Don’t jump my butt just yet. Kerry tried harder this game. He took a couple of hits and didn’t get totally wild. But he can’t evade anyone, he can’t find open receivers, he can’t inspire his guys to do the impossible. Last night there were two you could watch, both lesser skilled men than KC. Even Trent Green is lesser skilled but a better leader, a better competitor. For those of you who want an ‘elite’ team, write to EA and tell him to get an elite QB Having. Said all that, I believe the Giants can win with KC, will win and are going to go deeper into the playoffs than Vegas says.
Back to the game plan, control the ball, don’t make mistakes. With only 19 running plays, ball control is out of the question. The Rams won that battle, controlling the ball for 36:40, limiting the Giants to 23:20, beating the Giants at their own game. Most telling was the fourth quarter when the Giants had it only 4:08. KC did complete 17-out-of-34, but even those are not great numbers. A total of 240 yards and a long of 46 to Ike, and in fairness, several key drops, including one by Ike which would have been a 50 yarder, easily, but Ike took his eye off the ball at the last minute. On the other hand, there were several key misses by KC, he often couldn’t find the open man, locked in on one receiver, and in the end fired so far over the head of JJ that it looked more like Cherry than Kerry out there. It wasn’t the usual 8-10 yards per average though as Ike caught 5-for-110, Tiki 4-for-32, Pete Mitchell 3-for-33, Jurevicius 2-for-32, Comella 2-for-14 and Toomer 1-for-20 before he was knocked into Thanksgiving weekend. The Giants made as if this was a light injury post game, but Amani had an Excedrin World Class and still couldn’t remember the play. He needed attention, he needed protection and frankly, he didn’t get it and that’s not right.
As an aside here, the Rams were physical, very physical, actually they came into the stadium and physically beat the Giants. It was a hard fought contest and neither side left anything out there. The Rams left beat up and tired, the Giants left beat up and demoralized. I don’t think I have ever seen Jessie so despondent after a loss. The Rams may be a finesse team but they are a physical finesse team. They had a chip on their shoulder, as the Giants both last year and according to the Rams, this year, wouldn’t stop yapping. The Giants are an emotional, fiery team, and that’s good, but every once in a while you have to put it on the Big Dog just to back up the yapping. In this game, they were out-muscled. Jessie and Strahan did play Championship ball and Hammer and Peter were right behind them.
On to Special Teams, where every week we hear fire McDuff, waive Daluiso, the specials are killing the Giants. Well, guess what folks? The specials are getting better and they are holding their own. The Rams are a very potent specials squad, led by Hakim and they were held in check. Not only that but the Giants did some damage of their own.. Maynard had 6 punts, averaging 50.5 with a long of 54. Daluiso kicked off 5 times with 1 touchback. The average Ram start was their own 30, the Giants average start was their own 33. Horne had one decent return of 32 yards, but the Giants had 173 total, with 43 by Bashir, 40 by Reggie Stephens and 22 by Omar Stoutmire. Not bad. Each team had one field goal, but the Rams also missed one. So in this game, advantage goes to the Giants Special Teams and Coach McDuff.
Defense is difficult to analyze in a losing effort where the winner scores 38 points and 5 TDs. The Giants game plan was to nullify the big strike and they did save for one. Other than the 34 yard TD strike to Bruce, the Rams looked like this: Holt 8 for an average 10.8; Proehl 6 for an average of 8.8; Bruce besides the TD 4 for 18.8; Hakim 2 for an average of 19.5. The rest were inconsequential. The zone coverage employed by the Giants worked. But they were bamboozled on a fake field goal and could not contain Green who ran 6 times for 54 yards, including an 18 yard TD. If you saw the tape on ESPN last night you could see Jessie falling back with the receiver on Green’s run, opening up the field. That’s a credit to the Rams who send out so many good receivers, it is physically difficult to cover everyone and watch the QB. Throw Marshall Faulk into the equation and you have something very special. Consider this: the Rams had 5 TDs. The first went 1 yard. One of the other 4 was set up by a return to the Giants 27. They had 2 legitimate drives of 71 and 63 yards (set up by an interception) and a 59 yard drive (also set up by an interception). The defense was outstanding considering the short field the Rams had. But no one on the D felt good. They have taken 38 points personally, no matter how they were put on the board.
On regular defensive plays, the safeties, as you would imagine, were very active. Garnes had 10 combines stops (8 solo), Williams had 8 (6 solo). Barrow had a combined 8 and Jessie 7. Hamilton had 5, then the corners, Sehorn and Thomas with 5 and EMac with 4. Peter and Strahan had 4, Phillips 2, Monty 1. Williams, Sehorn, Thomas, and Emac had 1 pass defensed each; Strahan had 2 batted balls and Phillips had two passes defensed and an INT. This was not a bad defensive effort. Strahan was a monster and the middle played tough. Green had time to throw as he often used a 3 step drop, but when he went to 5 and 7, he wasn’t pressured. We watched him making his reads and several times coming off his primary along the sidelines to go over the middle. For the Rams, I have to mention London Fletcher who was a demon. He played as if he had a score to settle with 7 solo tackles, no chippies, 1 interception, 1 pass defensed and a forced fumble. Bottom line, John Fox and Johnny Lynn had a good game plan, the problem, too many, too fast Rams and short field position to defend.
The Giants had a couple of nice drives as Payton and KC clicked some of the time. The first drive was the Dayne explosion as he took the ball on the Giants 34 and barreled for 50 yards, running to the east endzone and stopping at the Rams 16. Two plays later Tiki took a swing pass the final 13, making some beautiful moves to get into the endzone. Unfortunately, the Rams answered quickly. Green methodically took them downfield and hit Proehl for the score in the west endzone where Ricky had a lot of family. He threw them the ball.
Score 28-7 at the half, time of possession advantage Rams 2-to-1. Then Bashir ran the kickoff back 43 yards and a KC to Ike strike for 46 finished the drive. Daluiso kicked off into the end zone. Phillips intercepted a pass at the 21 and ran to the 11. Then disaster. Dayne was to run off tackle, but KC and Dane thought they saw something and changed it to around end. For the second time this year I saw Dayne try to run laterally around end in the east end zone and Fletcher came firing across and took him out. MESSAGE TO THE GIANTS – do not run Dayne around end to the left side of the line. Okay, time for a testosterone check. JF fails and sends in Daluiso for a field goal. We see the Rams smiling as they leave the field. They just dodged a bullet. They will take 7 for 3 all night. JF said he felt the 3 plus 2 TDs and the Giants would lead – yeah and the Queen said if I had two I would be King. But the King answered if I had three more I’d be a pinball machine. The Giants never have an answer at times like these. JF felt no points would demoralize the team. Well, 3 and still needing 2 TDs didn’t seem to perk them up as the Rams answered right back with 3. This is the Giants strength and weakness. Play steady no risk, no mistake ball, or should I say no balls ball, beat the weak, tease the strong, murder the fans.
After that, the Giants got a little drive going, KC gets sacked, then KC tosses it to Fletcher and the fans head for the exits. The big one to Bruce, as now the Giants are demoralized, it’s 38 points, and it’s over. In the 4th quarter a little rally. KC hits JJ for 18, then Tiki up the middle for 23, Tiki pass for 7, KC to Mitchell for 10, then out of the shotgun for 34 and a TD to Ike. On the final possession, KC went to JJ for 13, then missed him. The Rams were giving chase to KC and that does not help his accuracy. On the final toss, JJ beat his man down the sideline and KC overthrew him by 10 yards. JJ turned, placed his hands on his hips and stared, wondering much like the rest of us “what if”.