Approach to the Game – Tennessee Titans at New York Giants, December 1, 2002: For all intents and purposes, every game the Giants play from here on out is a playoff game. Don’t feel sorry for them. They’ve painted themselves into this ugly corner by losing to such teams at the Texans, Cardinals, and Vick-less Falcons. Odds are the Giants will bumble and stumble their way down the stretch and only win two or three more games, finishing with a 8-8 or 9-7 record. The closest they’ll get to the playoffs is watching from their couches at home in January.
But they aren’t dead yet so they still have a chance. And the funny thing about the Fassel-led Giants is that every time they are written off as dead, they come back to surprise you. But they have to beat the Titans on Sunday and that won’t be easy. Like New York, Tennessee is 6-5 and coming off a very disappointing loss. Like New York, they are a banged up football team who is just trying to stay alive in a tight playoff race.
Both teams know that their season is on the line on Sunday. Both are desperate. Expect a tough, low-scoring slug-fest with the team playing the more physical game and making the fewer turnovers to win. It won’t be pretty, but there will be some hitting going on.
Giants on Special Teams: This will be the type of game where the Giants will need a perfect or near-perfect performance from PK Matt Bryant. Last week’s missed 33-yarder was extremely costly. The Giants also need a much better effort from P Matt Allen. Chris Bober should be back and that will help with the long snaps on the field goal unit. It will be interesting to see if Dan O’Leary is signed to the active roster to replace Bob Jones.
Giants on Offense: The Titans play a very aggressive and physical-style of defense. They like to come after you and no doubt Head Coach Jeff Fisher noted how the aggressive blitzes and tight coverage employed by the Texans last week rattled QB Kerry Collins and thus disrupted the entire Giants’ offense. The Titans will attempt to shut down the running game and dare Collins to beat them. Isn’t that what you would do?
The good news for New York is it looks like DE Jevon Kearse (foot) will still be out, but the bad news is that MLB Randall Godfrey (ankle) is set to return. He is a play-maker from the middle linebacking spot. Weakside linebacker Keith Bulluock is a former first rounder who runs like a deer and he really has stepped up his game this season. Both Godfrey and Bulluck are three-down linebackers who can play the run and cover – they will be quite a challenge for Tiki Barber and Jeremy Shockey on pass plays.
The good news for the Giants is that Chris Bober (biceps) should be back at center and this will enable Jason Whittle to return to right guard. Let’s hope that Bober won’t be limited in what he can do. The Titans play a physical game and last week the Texans dominated the line of scrimmage against New York because the Giants were not aggressive or physical enough up front. The real troubling match-up for the Giants is DE Kevin Carter (7 sacks) against RT Mike Rosenthal. The Giants also need LG Rich Seubert, Bober, and Whittle to do a good job on DT Henry Ford, Godfrey, and DT John Thorton, respectively in order to get the ground game going. Seubert and Whittle are coming off of a poor effort against the Texans.
The great battle will be in the secondary as the Titans’ best defensive back – CB Samari Rolle – will be lined up against the Giants’ best receiver – Amani Toomer. Toomer must come through this week for the Giants. Having WR Ron Dixon (knee) back will certainly help the passing attack. Dixon will face CB Andre Dyson. And WR Daryl Jones may benefit from being moved to the 3rd receiver spot in the slot.
The primary offensive key to the game? Kerry Collins of course. Yes, the offensive line needs to play a physical game up front and the running backs need to produce, but Fisher and the Titan defense is going to put the onus on Collins to perform. They’ll load up against the run and come after Kerry with the blitz. If Collins doesn’t respond well, then the Giants won’t win. If he does, they will. It’s that simple.
Another key will be the Giants receivers ability or inability to get open against tight coverage. When I’m talking about the receivers, I’m also talking about Shockey and Barber. The Rosenthal-Carter match-up is huge as are the offensive guards/defensive tackle battles.
Giants on Defense: There is a chance that QB Steve McNair (toe/ribs) won’t play. That shouldn’t matter. Not only is Neil O’Donnell one of the better back-ups in the league, but the Giants have already demonstrated this year that they can’t take the back-up quarterback on any team lightly.
But the key defensively is so obvious that it hardly warrants mentioning. The Titans are a power-running team and the Giants have two journeymen defensive tackles, a weakside defensive end who struggles at times against the run, and a weakside linebacker who struggles at times against the run. The whole world knows what is coming – a Eddie George up the gut and Eddie George off left tackle. George was benched last week against the Ravens in favor of Robert Holcombe so you know his pride is hurt and he will come out like gangbusters. The Giants are going to have to play SS Shaun Williams up close to the line of scrimmage and gamble that the secondary can handle a Titans’ receiving corps that will be missing Kevin Dyson.
Everything will depend on the match-ups up front – the Giants’ front seven against LT Brad Hopkins (Holmes), LG Zach Piller (Legree), OC Gennaro DiNapoli (Barrow), RG Benji Olson (Johnson), and RT Fred Miller (Strahan). Obviously, Lance Legree and Dwight Johnson have bulls-eyes on their chests – especially after their 0-tackle performance against the Texans of all teams. But the Hopkins-Holmes match-up is big too. This is a game where the Giants need the linebackers to come up and play the run aggressively too as well as Shaun Williams. This will be an old-fashioned, physical slug-fest.
With New York’s focus being up front, the last thing the Giants need is for the coverage to give way against the Titan passing attack. I’ve always thought WR Derrick Mason was one of the most underrated players in the league. The Giants’ corners really need to keep him under wraps. H-Back Frank Wychek (31 catches) has long been a go-to guy in clutch situations for Tennessee and he will be a challenge for the linebackers – particularly Brandon Short. Every now and then the Titans like to sneak a pass to TE Erron Kinney – who is a very good blocker. That will be a good battle on running plays – Kinney versus the outside linebacker (probably Short again). Most of the time this year, Barrow has had the primary responsibility to cover the halfback out of the backfield (George has 27 receptions).
Stop the run and the Giants will be OK. But if the Titans get the ground game moving, it’s home for the playoffs.