Approach to the Game – Seattle Seahawks at New York Giants, September 22, 2002: After the emotional and physical ammunition used on two of the NFC’s elite (49ers and Rams), the natural tendency here may be to relax a bit and take a deep breath.
But the Giants must not do that. Seattle is hurting at 0-2, but any team in the NFL is capable of beating any other team. What’s more, just think back to last year when New York had to rely on a last minute 96-yard drive in order to win the game against these very same Seahawks. Lastly, keep in mind that Seattle is now an NFC team…and thus an important game in conference standings come playoff time.
Seattle is desperate…this game may be their season. Expect their best.
Giants on Offense: Seattle is disheartened, but still has fight. To rid them of that fight, the Giants should come out and go for throat right off the bat. I know the Giants’ coaches and players want to establish the run, but I would come out throwing and put a couple of scores up on the board first. Take the life out of the Seahawks…make it an up-hill climb for them. Points come out of the passing game…the rushing game is more for controlling the tempo of the game, the time of possession, and wearing down the opposition.
Giants’ fans have to get over their stereotypes of past Giants’ offenses of the 1980’s and 1990’s. New York is a passing team now. This offense is more similar to Allie Sherman’s offenses from 1961-1963 with Y.A. Tittle. That is not to say that the Giants can’t run the football. But it’s been tough for the Giants because Tiki Barber is ailing and Ron Dayne is not running well. Just as important, opposing defenses still think the key to stopping the Giants is to stop the running game and make Kerry Collins beat you. Collins almost beat the 49ers and did beat the Rams, but I bet you most defensive coordinators still think Kerry can’t keep this up. The key for the Giants – and Kerry Collins – is to continue to prove them wrong.
The coaching staff must also understand and appreciate this situation. If the opposition strengthens their run defense, then pass the ball. If they drop back more people into coverage, run the ball. It’s that simple. Don’t try to run strength-on-strength, trying to be macho.
The coaching staff needs to be sounder in calling plays in short-yardage and in the redzone. These two areas have been the biggest weakness in an otherwise impressive offense. There has been talk this week of spreading the opposing defenses out in short yardage by using more receivers in the game. That’s a thought. So is passing out of a tight formation. The Giants also need to be less predictable with their personnel packages…if we fans are picking up tendencies, you know the professionals on the opposite sideline are doing the same.
All that being said, the Giants still need to find a way to consistently pick up one-yard when everyone in the stadium knows what the play is. A team needs to be able to pick up one-yard when it needs to. The problem is that the Giants don’t seem to have a quality short-yardage running back on the roster.
The problem with the pass-first strategy that I am advocating for this game is that the Seahawk secondary is very good. CB Shaun Springs is excellent. He normally plays on the left side so it will be interesting to see if Seattle keeps him on Ike Hilliard or has him stick with Amani Toomer. Ken Lucas is the other starting corner and Willie Williams is a quality nickel back. So passing will not be easy on Seattle.
Of course, the presence of Jeremy Shockey and Tiki Barber should help to open things up. I would test the Seattle linebackers in coverage with both of these guys, as well as with an occasional play to Sean Bennett (who the Giants need to use more with Tiki ailing anyway). Chad Brown is a very good linebacker, but he’s better moving forward than in reverse. At the other outside spot, Marcus Bell is now playing for the injured Anthony Simmons. Middle linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski is ordinary at best. This is where the Giants can make some noise – pass on these guys – and then take some shots down the field to the receivers if open.
Once the Giants have a comfortable lead, I would then hit them with a heavy dose of Ron Dayne. It’s time to see one and for all if Dayne can be counted on to deliver. Why keep him on the roster if he isn’t productive when you need him? What’s the point?
Up front, LT Luke Petitgout faces DE Antonio Cochran – a bit of a DT/DE ‘tweener. RT Mike Rosenthal will battle against DE Lamar King – a former first rounder who hasn’t lived up to expectations. LG Rich Seubert will get DT Brandon Mitchell, a reserve filling in for the injured DT John Randle. LG Jason Whittle faces Seattle’s best run defender on the line – DT Chad Eaton. This isn’t a group that should scare the Giants as long as the Giants keep mistakes to a minimum and play a physical game.
So why not run the ball first and foremost? Because the Giants are a damn good passing team now and I want them to put the Seahawks away early.
Giants on Defense: New York has to get into a different mind set this week. While Seattle Coach Mike Holmgren is a West Coast Offense guy, Seattle is more of a running team than the 49ers and Rams. Now the Giants’ linebackers and defensive linemen have to play with a stop-the-run-first attitude. That transition may not be smooth and New York has to guard against giving up big plays on the ground. HB Shaun Alexander has been up-and-down, but he is a dangerous runner and receiver out of the backfield. Last year, he gave the Giants a lot of problems.
Stop the run. Make Trent Dilfer beat you. If he does, kudos to him.
The bad news is that All Pro LT Walter Jones just re-signed in time to face the Giants. DE Kenny Holmes is not amused, but to his credit, Holmes played well last week. Let’s see if he can keep it up. Who DE Michael Strahan faces a bit up in the air. RT Jerry Wunsch has started the past two games, but there is talk that “Pork Chop” Floyd Womack may start there soon – perhaps as early as this week. Defensive tackles Keith Hamilton and Cornelius Griffin need to elevate their games. Hamilton faces the tough Chris Hutchinson. Griffen will battle the inconsistent Chris Gray. The strength of the Seattle line is obviously on the left side and guys like Holmes, Hamilton, and Dhani Jones need to play the run tough to that side. At the same time, Strahan and Griffen need to take advantage of what should be mismatches on their side of the line of scrimmage.
The Giants’ linebackers need to play well for the Giants’ defense to play well this week. Not only do they need to play the run strong, but Seattle will test the undercoverage big time with passes to Alexander as well as impressive rookie TE Jerramy Stevens and veteran TE Itulu Mili. Brandon Short, Mike Barrow, and Dhani Jones have to be wary off all three of these guys in coverage. Seattle also likes to throw to FB Mack Strong every now and then to keep defenses honest.
I’ve never been a fan of Trent Dilfer. But you have to give the guy credit in that he continues to improve and is now playing the best football of his life. He can look terrible, but then burn you with a perfectly thrown pass. The Giants should not take him lightly, but if they can get in his face, Trent will still make some boneheaded mistakes.
Personally, I don’t want to see any letdown from the secondary this week at all. These guys had better not think things will get a lot easier on them with the 49ers and Rams in the review mirror now. Any letdown could result in a quick six. And if this secondary wants to be considered one of the best in football, this is the kind of game it must dominate. The Seahawk receivers are decent, but not exceptional. Koren Robinson has great ability, but is still developing. The other starter Darrell Jackson is coming off a huge week (10 catches for 174 yards). Third receiver Bobby Engram is a precise route runner and has great hands, but he lacks speed – Jason Sehorn should be able to handle him.
Giants on Special Teams: The Matt Bryant-Matt Allen experiment continues.
Daryl Jones didn’t get a chance to return a punt last week and he made a bonehead decision to fair catch a punt inside his own 10 yard line. Hopefully, the jitters are gone. Interestingly, he and Damon Washington were the kick returners against the Rams.
As always, the Giants must do a good job of covering kicks and punts in order to win the field position battle.