Approach to the Game – Minnesota Vikings at New York Giants, January 14, 2001: You are all aware that I am not impartial. I’m a fan first and foremost. So maybe it’s just me getting caught up in all the hoopla, but I just have a feeling that the Giants are going to get it done. The script is just too perfect. Here you have the underdog Giants – a team that the “experts” keep predicting to lose. You can almost feel their frustration in the papers and on TV afterwards; it’s almost like they want to shout, “Can’t somebody just get rid of this team and be done with them?!?” I think not.
It’s as if the gods have determined this path already. The Panthers and Saints handed Kerry Collins over to New York. Carolina did the same with Mike Barrow. The Giants wanted OT Andy Heck in free agency; he turns them down and they end up with Glenn Parker upon the suggestion of his agent. The division favorites – the Redskins and Cowboys – were sent sliding. Injuries mounted up for rivals while the Giants remained healthy. The opposition missed field goals while the G-Men did not. There were late comebacks against Dallas and Jacksonville – in the latter game Jason Sehorn returns a kickoff for a touchdown (talk about irony). The Saints knocked off the Rams and the Eagles knocked off the Bucs in the playoffs. The Giants beat the Eagles – those dreaded Eagles who always gave the Giants fits – three times decisively. Ron Dixon tells his teammates that he is returning the opening kick for a TD and he does. Now Lawrence Taylor will give the post-practice pep talk on Saturday. It’s just too perfect.
This is a game that could go ever so many different ways. One would think it would be a high-scoring affair, but I’ve seen too many football games that were supposed to be like that that turned into defensive struggles. I can see a close game; I can see a blowout – by either team. Both teams come into this game confident, both have plenty of motivation to win.
But I do know this – the fans can have a direct impact on the outcome of this game. Even if the Vikings get up big (say 17 points) – don’t give up yelling and making life difficult for Minnesota. While the Viking defense has its moments, it is a weak unit and despite what the media says, the Giants are capable of coming back on these guys. At the same time, despite all their weapons, there are times when the Viking offense will bog down and become frustrated. No lead will be safe in this game for either team.
If you’re a Giants’ fan, you’ve got to love this. The Giants are the underdog and getting little respect from the media and fans outside of New York/New Jersey. The pressure is on Minnesota, not the Giants. The seeds of doubt must still rest with them regarding the 1998 Championship Game when they blew it against the Falcons. The Giants? They are that pesky underdog that just won’t go away; they are the type of team that “favorites” often get upset by. Most importantly, they have nothing to lose since they are supposed to regardless.
What will decide the game? The usual: who controls the lines of scrimmage, quarterback play, turnovers, big plays, and special teams. Go out there Giants and play with respect, but not fear, for your opponent. Win or lose, play your game. You don’t need to play a perfect game to beat these guys – just play smart, sound, fundamental football. Just like you have all year. The gods will take care of the rest.
Giants on Offense: I really feel strongly that the key for the offensive football team is to come out loose and have some fun. New York is the stage and the crowd will be loud and waving their towels. It’s the Giants’ David versus the Viking Goliath. How can you not love this setting? The players need to go out there and let it all hang out. Live for the moment.
To me, this is Kerry Collins’ game. Not just with his right arm, but with his presence and leadership in the huddle. Keep everyone calm and focused. “You get to this point, you love those kind of challenges,” says Collins. “You know what? No one expected us to be here, so we’re just gonna go out and fly around and let it rip and have a lot of fun. I don’t want us to go out there tight. I’m not gonna go out there tight. The pressure’s really off, the way I look at it.”
Kerry does tend to come out a bit hyper at times, with his passes overshooting the mark. It is up to Head Coach Jim Fassel and Offensive Coordinator Sean Payton to give him the type of plays that will enable him to quickly get into a rhythm or flow of the game. The Vikes tend to be fairly aggressive up front, but they don’t take many risks in the secondary due to their inexperience and talent deficiencies in the defensive backfield. They won’t play tight, aggressive coverage like the Eagles and Redskins do. But the Vikings will crowd the line of scrimmage with an extra safety in order to stop the run. To me, the game plan is obvious. Use the short-to-intermediate passing game to move the ball down the field, eat time off the clock, and score points. The primary weapons should be Amani Toomer (outs and slants), Ike Hilliard (on comeback and crossing routes), Tiki Barber (in a variety of patterns), and FB Greg Comella. An occasional toss to a tight end (be it Howard Cross, Pete Mitchell, or Dan Campbell) wouldn’t hurt either. When Ron Dayne is in the game early, I expect it will be as a decoy. There should be a lot of room in the Minnesota zone. Collins will have to be accurate and patient. Don’t force the ball, but just take what the Vikes give.
If Collins is “on”, the Giants will put up a lot of points and may win this game going away. If he is “off”, things could get ugly. This is his moment. The really great quarterbacks play well in big games. Collins won a national championship in college. This should be nothing new to him.
So much will depend on the health of Toomer (ankle). He will play, but how effective will he be? He will line up against RCB Robert Tate – a very good athlete who is inexperienced. Tate can make a good play and then look awful. Ike Hilliard will line up against CB Wasswa Serwanga – another guy who doesn’t have much pro experience. The Giants need Ike to shine in this game like he did in the national championship game in college. Serwanga is a guy he should eat up. Minnesota is even greener in the secondary with FS Orlando Thomas out of the game; rookie FS Tyrone Carter will start. Carter is a very small player, but he is tough and aggressive. The strength of the secondary is SS Robert Griffith. Not only is Griffith very good in coverage, he is an excellent run defender. It will be interesting to see how many 3-WR sets the Giants employ with Joe Jurevicius (knee) returning. Since the secondary is a weakness on the Vikings, I would think getting more DB’s on the field would be a Giant strategy.
Obviously, the Giants can’t abandon their running game. I just wouldn’t come out and try to ram the ball down Minnesota’s throat. For one, they will be expecting that. Secondly, the Giants need points and points come out of the passing game. When the Giants do run the ball, Barber could have a big day with the cutback run. The Vikings are aggressive up front, but not the most disciplined bunch in the world. I would also think we could see a reverse or two. It’s absolutely critical that the Giants’ offensive line dominates. LT Lomas Brown (back) and LG Glenn Parker (rib cage) are ailing so let’s pray they can hold up. The Vikings like to move DE/DT John Randle around the line of scrimmage. He could appear almost anywhere against anyone up front. I’ve been impressed at times with rookie DT Chris Hovan. He’s got a nice combination of strength and quickness. RG Ron Stone must do a number on him. He is teamed with DT Tony Williams who will line up against Parker. DE Fernando Smith will be matched up against Luke Petitgout much of the time (it will be interesting to see if Minnesota moves Randle over Luke in pass rush situations).
The Vikes have some aggressive linebackers, but this isn’t the best unit in coverage. MLB Kailee Wong is similar to Corey Widmer in that he is a converted defensive lineman. SLB Dwayne Rudd is an athletic talent who makes mental mistakes. WLB Ed McDaniel is solid. Again, I’d throw the ball against these guys. I’d try to get Barber, Comella, and possibly the tight ends involved here. I’d also use some of the misdirection I talked about above.
The Viking defense played much better last week. They are well-coach by Emmitt Thomas who used to be Ray Rhodes’ defensive coordinator in Philadelphia – so he knows the Giants. There is some good defensive talent on the team. But if the Giant players on offense stay loose, execute, play smart (no penalties), and don’t turn the ball over, they should move the ball and put points up on the board. Once and if New York gets up with the passing game, then I’d hit them with a heavy dose of the run with Ron Dayne. I would then take some shots with play-action and put the game away.
Giants on Defense: Everyone and their mother is talking about Randy Moss, Chris Carter, and Daunte Culpepper. But if you don’t stop HB Robert Smith, then you will lose the game. Hello…the Vikings have rushed for more yardage than the Giants. Smith is a breakaway threat who can score any time he touches the ball. He killed the Giants last year with a 70-yard touchdown run. Smith has good speed, can be elusive, and runs behind a huge, smash-mouth offensive line. Smith is the guy to worry about first.
That being said, I expect Viking Head Coach Dennis Green to go for the knockout punch early. It would surprise me to see the Vikings throw deep time after time early in the game. They don’t want the Giants hanging around because they longer they do, the more dangerous they become. I think how well New York defends this opening storm will determine the game. The defensive backs had better be ready for the deep ball from the get-go.
But back to the ground game first. You have to pick your poison in many cases with the Vikings. Play aggressively against the run and you get burned with the pass; play it safe against the pass, and Smith will break you. Much of New York’s success in run defense comes from the fact that the secondary is active in run defense. That probably won’t be the case on Sunday. Thus, even more pressure will be on the front seven on defense than normal. These guys will also be hampered by the fact that they will be playing up against a very large and very good offensive line. DE Michael Strahan will have his hands full with Pro Bowl RT Korey Stringer – a mammoth man who Strahan won’t be able to bull-rush. Strahan surrenders almost 70 pounds to Stringer (maybe more). Michael will have to play with great leverage and fire to stuff the ground attack in his direction. He will also have to use more of speed game than he is used to on his pass rush to be effective. DE Cedric Jones will be equally challenged by LT Todd Steussie. DT Christian Peter faces RG David Dixon – another huge guy who likes maul defenders. Dixon could have problems however when Cornelius Griffin lines up over him as he is not the athlete that Cornelius is. This could be a big game for DT Keith Hamilton. The Vikes are not real solid at left guard with two players share time (Corbin Lacina and Chris Liwienski). He most likely will see double-team blocking from Pro Bowl OC Matt Birk. The front four of the Giants must: (1) play stout against the run, (2) maintain their pass rush lanes as Culpepper can scramble, and (3) get after the passer. It won’t be an easy task. So much of the defensive success or failure will rest on the shoulders of Strahan, Hamilton, Griffin, Jones, and Peter.
Equally important against the run will be the linebackers. They also must keep an eye on Smith out of the backfield. I’d keep Jessie Armstead on him. The linebackers will need to watch out for short crossing routes from the receivers (particularly Chris Carter). The Vikings also like to cross up defenses by throwing to TE Johnny McWilliams as well. FB Jim Kleinsasser is an infrequent target, but he has good hands and infrequent targets sometimes become factors in playoff games.
What about the blitz? I think the Giants will blitz, but they won’t do it all the time. I think it is pretty obvious that Defensive Coordinator John Fox is going to try to confuse the Minnesota offense (specifically Culpepper), but mixing things up. So expect the Giants to come hard on one play, then play it safe on the next. Look for change-ups in coverage from aggressive to passive, from zone to man (and zone/man combinations). “You don’t want to get caught up in trying to put too much pressure on Culpepper when you have two receivers on the outside when he can throw the ball up to and they can run up under and make plays,” says Armstead. “It’s just like a baseball game. You just got to know what pitch to throw at him at the right time. Keep him off balance as best you can because he can make a lot of plays out there. We’re going to throw a lot of switch-ups at them, but they’ve got so many different weapons sometimes you’re wondering where to start at.”
Culpepper is having an amazing season. He is blessed with outstanding talent around him, but he also is playing with great poise for a first-year starter. Still, I think it must be possible to confuse him given his inexperience. First, the Giants must keep him in the pocket. There will not be a great pass rush this week because of the problems associated with blitzing the Vikes too often and the need to contain Culpepper. The second most important thing is to tackle him. The guy is as big as a guard. Who would have ever dreamed it possible that there would be a quarterback this big in the NFL (6-5, 266lbs)? Little guys won’t be able to bring him down so I wouldn’t blitz someone like Emmanuel McDaniel. Even the “bigger” guys like Armstead and Barrow will be at a size disadvantage. Then need to wrap up forcefully. Too many of Culpepper’s big plays come when guys bounce off of him.
That brings us to the glamour match-up on this side of the ball – the wide receivers versus defensive backs. On the positive side, the Giants have big defensive backs (except for nickel back Emmanuel McDaniel) so they match-up better than most teams size-wise with Minnesota. However, it would appear that we won’t see the match-up that many expected: WR Randy Moss versus CB Jason Sehorn. It is quite possible that the Giants will put Sehorn on WR Chris Carter one-on-one and double-team Moss with CB Dave Thomas and FS Shaun Williams by rolling the defensive coverage towards Moss. Moss needs to be double-teamed regardless so the Giants will probably rely on Sehorn to handle Carter as best as he can. Jason will really be on the spot this week as Carter is one of the best in the history of the game. The outcome of the game may largely rest on his shoulders. As for Moss, Thomas and Williams (or whoever covers him) need to play the ball as much as they play the man; too often defenders get too concerned with Moss that they lose track of the ball and Moss out-jumps them for the reception. A critical aspect of the game for all in the secondary will be the ability to tackle well. Speed guys like Moss and Smith can go the distance if you don’t wrap up. Moss is going to get his catches – but make him catch the ball in front of you and then hit him – HARD.
The big cerebral battle will be between the defensive coaches of the Giants and offensive coaches of the Vikings. Minnesota will be able to see how the Giants plan to defend them early and they will adjust accordingly. Look for the Vikings to move Moss around and try to match him up on McDaniel by playing him in the slot. Can the Giants adjust? The Giants need Shaun Williams and SS Sam Garnes to step up big too in coverage. They will need to provide double-team support and fight for every ball thrown in their direction. Don’t let the Viking receivers out-hustle you! Moss and Carter are very aggressive in going up for the ball. A match-up that could end up being decisive that no one is thinking about is McDaniel versus third-down receiver Mathew Hatchette.
To me, it comes down to this: weather the opening storm. Mix things up and try to confuse Culpepper and frustrate the Viking offense. Stop the run, contain Culpepper, and somehow generate somewhat of pass rush (hopefully from the down four). Most importantly, don’t let up!!! Just when you think you have Smith, or Carter, or Moss under control, they break one on you. Don’t let that happen!!! Four quarters – sudden death if necessary.
Giants on Special Teams: If you have been watching the playoffs, you have seen how decisive special teams play has been in the outcome of most games. Punt returner/kick returner Troy Walters is a small guy, but he is quick, fast, and elusive. Get down in a hurry, stay in your lines, and wrap him up. The field position battle is always huge – especially in the playoffs. If Randy Moss is used, obviously coverage becomes even more important.
The Giants need P Brad Maynard to start punting better again. They also need a guy to field punts who will be secure with the ball. It could be Barber or Toomer this week, but it also could be Ike Hilliard or Reggie Stephens. Jason Sehorn will be the emergency guy.