Tennessee Titans 32 – New York Giants 29 (OT)
Game Overview: What a difference two weeks make! Two weeks ago, the Giants were sitting at 6-4, a game behind the McNabb-less Eagles. It looked as if the Giants had a legitimate shot to overtake Philadelphia and steal the NFC East title. But an unforgivable loss to the expansion Texans due to poor special teams and quarterbacking, and a devastating loss to the Titans due to poor defense, have all but ended the 2002 season for New York. Meanwhile, the Eagles continue to demonstrate what an aggressive, take-no-prisoners defense and good special teams can do.
An unbelievable series of injuries to an already paper thin team depth-wise sabotaged the 2002 Giants. The wide receiving corps (Ike Hilliard, Ron Dixon, Tim Carter), the offensive line (Dusty Zeigler, Chris Bober, Jason Whittle), the defensive line (Keith Hamilton, Cornelius Griffin, Kenny Holmes), the linebacking corps (Mike Barrow, Dhani Jones), and the secondary (Will Peterson, Will Allen) have been hard hit. A gimpy Jeremy Shockey has hurt.
Poor offensive play-calling contributed to defeats against the 49ers, Cardinals, and Falcons. Poor quarterbacking hurt against the Eagles and Texans. Poor defense killed the Giants against the Eagles and Titans.
The Giants did not turn the ball over against the Titans and only punted twice in regulation – yet they found a way to lose the football game.
Defensive Schemes: The Giants’ pass defense was embarrassing. Steve McNair passed for 334 yards, completing 30-of-43 passes. This despite the fact that McNair was ailing and the Titans were missing WR Kevin Dyson. Why were they so bad? First, the pass rush was pathetic. DT Dwight Johnson, DT Lance Legree, and DE Kenny Holmes are not good pass rushers. So the Titans could concentrate on Strahan. Defensive Coordinator Johnnie Lynn often made things worse by sometimes only rushing three linemen and not blitzing. Second, the coverage men (both defensive backs and linebackers) played too soft. Thus, McNair usually had loads of time to find an open receiver who was usually running his route unopposed. What a recipe for disaster!
The most frustrating thing for me was watching the Titans empty their backfield time-and-time again and then seeing the Giants not take advantage of this by blitzing. With no back in the backfield, an adequately disguised blitz can often lead to disaster for an offense as the blitzer will come free. Aggressive defenses attack in such a situation. Instead, the Giants let the Titans dictate to them. The other frustrating thing was that for much of the game – and especially when the Titans were facing the wind – was that it was obvious that their game plan was to employ the short passing game. Quick throws to the wide receivers, or a pass to the tight end or back were called over and over. Yet, the Giants’ coverage men seemed surprised by this and never really adjusted.
Part of the problem if you listen to the coaches after the game was the players did not playing as tight as they should have been playing in coverage. Jim Fassel said on WFAN that some of his players were too afraid of getting beat deep. I can only guess that he was talking about guy like Jason Sehorn, Ralph Brown, and Brandon Short. Also, when the Giants did blitz near the end of the first half (bringing both a linebacker and safety), Brown was beaten easily in coverage for a touchdown. So perhaps the personnel short-comings dramatically altered the game plan (rightly or wrongly). Keep in mind that not only were the Giants missing Hamilton, Griffin, and Peterson on defense, but Mike Barrow (concussion) was forced out of the game and CB Will Allen (shoulder) and LB Dhani Jones (ankle) were ailing. The biggest problem the Giants had on defense on Sunday was a talent problem. A poor pass rush/coverage scheme only made matters worse.
I’m going to break down the game a bit differently this week in order to provide a feel for the flow of the game:
- Titans’ First Offensive Possession: HB Eddie George is only able to manage 5 yards on 2 carries. On 3rd-and-5, Strahan sacks McNair and forces a fumble. Dhani Jones recovers.
- Titans’ Second Offensive Possession: Jason Sehorn “tackles” WR Justin McCareins after a gain of 2 yards (incidentally, for a big defensive back, Sehorn is the biggest wuss of a tackler I’ve seen since Percy Ellsworth). Strahan pressures McNair into an incompletion. Ralph Brown is beaten to the inside on 3rd-and-8, but a sure tackle by Shaun Williams prevents the first down. Titans punt.
- Titans’ Third Offensive Possession: This was a killer 18-play, 86-yard, 9 and a half minute drive that resulted in a touchdown. On this drive, the Titans overcame a 3rd-and-7, 3rd-and-1, 4th-and-5, and 3rd-and-12. The 4-man rush gave McNair too much time and the stunts the defensive line were using didn’t work. Kenny Holmes gave the Titans 5-yards when he jumped offsides. Then George ran right as Strahan and Sehorn were effectively blocked and Short over-pursued. After George was stopped for 3-yards by Strahan, both Short and Barrow stopped George for no gain. On 3rd-and-7, the Giants rushed only three and Barrow was blocked on a middle screen as Robert Holcombe picked up the first down (this was the same type of play Atlanta used to great effect against the Giants; incidentally, the play should never had counted – the Titan blocking Barrow was illegally down field before the pass was thrown). Lance Legree made a nice play coming down the line to tackle George, but on the next play Sehorn was playing far too soft, setting up a 3rd-and-1. On that play, Strahan took himself out of the play and Short and Williams got blocked. First down. Short was then beaten badly by TE Erron Kinney for 10 yards. George picked up 6 as the left tackle on the Titans grabbed Holmes around the waist in a very blatant manner and the refs never called it. Barrow then stuffed George for a 1-yard gain and Short made a superb play tackling Holcombe for a 2-yard loss on 3rd-and-3. But on 4th-and-5, Allen got beat by Derrick Mason on a crossing pattern for the first down. The Giants lucked out as a pass to the 1-yard line was called back due to an illegal formation penalty (Ralph Brown got beat on the play). But on 3rd-and-12, Sehorn got beat by Mason for 11 yards and McNair picked up the first down with an easy sneak. Two plays later, Sehorn and Barrow were beaten by Mason for the touchdown. Too much time for McNair, crappy pass coverage.
- Titans’ Fourth Offensive Possession: This possession didn’t start off well for the Giants either. Holmes and Jones were fooled on a end around for 16 yards. Then McCareins picked up 12 yards as the Titans again when with an empty backfield set and the defensive backs were far too off (Allen missed a tackle too). Then Legree and Williams combined to tackle George for a 2-yard loss. Empty backfield again – easy pass to Wychek for 7 yards with no pass pressure (a constant theme). On 3rd-and-5, Sehorn was beaten by Mason for a 32-yard touchdown but the play was brought back due to a delay of game penalty. McNair’s 3rd-and-10 pass fell incomplete (decent coverage by Allen) and the field goal attempt was no good.
- Titans’ Fifth Offensive Possession: This was the last drive before halftime and perhaps the most damning. The Titans went 63-yards in 4 plays and 51 seconds (with only 1:05 left on the clock). McNair took advantage of a 3-man rush to scramble up the middle for 13. Two plays later, facing another 3-man rush, Mason beat Sehorn for 24-yards (and Sehorn missed the tackle). On the next play, the Giants blitzed both Stoutmire and Barrow, but Ralph Brown was easily beaten down the left sideline for 26 yards and the touchdown. Instead of leading 10-7 at halftime, the Giants were trailing 14-10.
- Titans’ Sixth Offensive Possession: Things started off well for the defense in the second half. Legree, Holmes, Barrow, and Short were all effectively blocked on a George run to the left for 7 yards. Holmes then did a good job of holding the point-of-attack and Dhani Jones finally made a good play in the backfield, tackling George for a 1-yard loss. On 3rd-and-4, Sehorn, Barrow, and Short did a superb job of defending a wide receiver screen and nailing Mason for a 5-yard loss. Punt.
- Titans’ Seventh Offensive Possession: George is tackled by Shaun Williams after a gain of 3 yards. A pass to Mason picks up 10 as Sehorn is playing too soft. Some Giant (probably Barrow) blows his coverage assignment on George as George is left wide open over the middle for a 10-yard completion. George picks up 7 yards as Legree and Ferrara are easily blocked. Barrow hits Holcombe in the hole, but suffers a concussion, causing him to miss the tackle. Barrow – the leader of the defense – is done for the day. A personal foul penalty on the Titans prematurely ends this drive for Tennessee. The Giants luck out and the Titans punt.
- Titans’ Eighth Offensive Possession: Giants allow a 14-play, 72-yard drive that results in a touchdown. Titans overcome a 3rd-and-10, 3rd-and-9, and 3rd-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Jones wasn’t able to hold onto a pass that might have finished it for the Titans on the first play. Pressure by Mitrione forced an incompletion. On 3rd-and-10, the Giants rushed only 3 again and got burned again as McNair scrambled up the middle for 12 yards (Jones didn’t attack this play like he should have). George picks up 5 yards as Strahan, Kevin Lewis, and Short are blocked. George then catches a pass for 6. On 1st-and-10, the Giants blitz Short. Sehorn comes too, but I don’t think he is supposed to blitz here as the man he was covering was left wide open and no one picked him up (reminiscent of his snafu against the Vikings last year). The open receiver picked up 17 yards, but fortunately for the Giants, another personal foul on Tennessee brings back the play. It doesn’t matter however as the defense continues to collapse. Sehorn has good coverage (finally) on Mason and the ball falls incomplete. Holmes, Sehorn, and Short all stand their ground on the run to the left and Holcombe is stuffed. On 3rd-and-9, Lynn still hasn’t learned his lesson. He only brings 3-men again and McNair makes a great throw running away from Dwight Johnson for 25 yards. Allen then makes a nice play against a run to the right. Strahan pressures McNair, but Sehorn is beaten again by Mason – this time for 13 yards. Johnson (no tackles in the game) and Legree are blown out of the middle as George carries the ball to the 4-yard line. Johnson is blown out again as George gets to the 1. On 3rd-and-goal, Strahan and Short are blocked, and Williams doesn’t attack the play aggressively enough. George scores, cutting the Giants lead to 26-21.
- Titans’ Ninth Offensive Possession: With only 2:13 left in the game, the defense allows the Titans to march 81 yards in 12 plays to not only score a touchdown, but the 2-point conversion. Sickening! The first two plays were fine. The Titans were at their own 19 and the first two passes were short (6 and 8 yards) and were completed in-bounds. On the next pass, Sehorn was beat but the pass was thrown too high. On the next two passes, Sehorn was beaten by Mason for 8 and 5 yards (the latter being on 3rd-and-2). The Giants luck out (in the short-term) as for some reason Brandon Short is being called upon to cover John Simon all by himself deep down the right sideline. The pass goes through Simon’s hands. Brown then does a nice job of covering Bennett deep. On 3rd-and-10, Reggie Stephens is playing a mile off of WR Eddie Berlin and Berlin picks up 14 yards (this is an inexcusable play by Stephens). After a incomplete pass, McNair breaks tackles by Mitrione and Jones (just sickening) en route to a 11 yard scramble out-of-bounds that stops the clock with 23 seconds left. McNair then hits Bennett as Will Allen is now playing far too off the ball (at least Allen has an excuse – his very injured shoulder). On the next play, Wycheck beats Kevin Lewis for a 9-yard touchdown. On the two point conversion, the formation screams “look out for a QB draw” and the Giants’ coaches are yelling the same from the sideline. But Holmes and Legree get blocked out of their lanes and Dhani Jones doesn’t step up aggressively enough to fill the hole. Game tied.
- Titans’ Tenth Offensive Possession: The Giants’ defense finishes the game off ever so nicely in overtime, by easily allowing Tennessee to move the ball 60-yards in 7 plays to set up the game-winning field goal. The collapse was complete. The Giants were playing what amounted to a prevent defense in overtime. Un-friggin-believable!!! Brown gets beat for 12 yards as he is not even in the picture when the ball is completed! Sehorn makes a nice play, but then Short gets beat for 23 yards as he isn’t even in the picture! Mason picks up12 yards as both Jones (who simply sucked in this game) and Sehorn (ditto) missed tackles. Holcombe then runs right into a Giants’ blitz by Jones and Short, but both of these two get blocked and the halfback picks up 14 yards. Two plays later, Joe Nedney kicks the game winner. Nice job defense! Nice job Johnnie Lynn!
Giants on Offense: The Titans played the Giants exactly like I expected them to: they crowded the box and dared Collins and the passing game to beat them. The Titans have a good, aggressive run defense and that showed as Tiki Barber finished the half with -4 yards on 10 carries. Much of that was the defensive scheme employed by the Titans, but there were a lot of missed blocks up front too. But to Jim Fassel’s credit, he took what the Titans gave him and attacked through the air. Collins, the receivers, and the offensive line – for the most part – delivered far better than I expected they would be able to. The Giants only punted three times in the game – twice in the first half and once in overtime. And they did not turn the ball over. The biggest snafu for the Giants offensively – and this cost them the game – was their inability to punch the ball in from the 1-yard line late in the 4th quarter. One of the things that bothers me about the Giants on offense is that instead of keeping things simple and drive blocking in short-yardage, they always seem to be pulling people that often get in the way of the halfback. Thus the plays are often slow developing and vulnerable to penetration. Also, based on Fassel’s comments, it would seem that Collins now has some freedom to change the play at the line of scrimmage when the defense is expecting what is coming. What did he say about PE majors coaching football?
- Giants’ First Offensive Possession: Great call by Fassel after McNair’s turnover. Go deep on the first play – I love it. The protection was on and the pass was there, the only problem is that Ron Dixon dropped the ball. A 2nd-and-10 run lost a yard as Luke Petitgout was pushed back into Barber. After a first down reception by Dixon was nullified by Petitgout’s illegal formation penalty, Collins and Dixon did a great job converting again for the first down. On 1st-and-10 from the 19, Barber lost a yard as OC Chris Bober missed a block on the defensive tackle. Then two poor passes from Collins (one too wide, one too high) forced the field goal attempt that was good. The drop by Dixon on the first play hurt.
- Giants’ Second Offensive Possession: Collins started things off with his third poor pass in a row – this one was thrown at the feet of Barber. Barber was then only able to pick up 1-yard as Petitgout didn’t sustain on his block and Mike Rosenthal watched the linebacker run right past him (as good as the pass blocking was on Sunday, the run blocking was poor). On 3rd-and-9, Collins hit Jeremy Shockey over the middle for 23 yards and a first down. The next play was the best run blocked play by the Giants in the first half as the line and tight ends did a good job of enabling Barber to pick up 5 yards up the middle. LB Randall Godfrey then made a superb play hustling down the line to stuff Barber to a 1-yard gain. On 3rd-and-4, a quick pass to Shockey is behind the tight end – this causes him to slow down and adjust to the ball. The play comes up 1-yard short and the Giants have to punt. At this point, Collins looks off again. Punt.
- Giants’ Third Offensive Possession: Barber loses a yard as FB Charles Stackhouse misses his block. Collins makes a really nice throw with a free blitzing linebacker in his face and Dixon picks up 13 yards. Jason Whittle misses his block on a strongside run and Barber is tackled for a 1-yard loss when he reverses his field. Jeremy Shockey drops what should have been an easy reception, causing a 3rd-and-11 (these drops by Shockey in each game are troublesome). On 3rd-and-11, the Titans blitz a safety, disrupting the timing of the screen pass. Punt.
- Giants’ Fourth Offensive Possession: This is a 10-play, 55-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown. Four straight pass plays to Shockey, three of them completed for a total of 14 yards. The one that falls incomplete is caused by Bober getting run over by the defensive tackle. On 3rd-and-6, the Giants make a great play. The Titans come with a blitz. Tiki picks it up. Amani Toomer gets jammed in the face at the line of scrimmage but manages to get free. Collins does a great job of reading the blitz opportunity and throws a perfect pass to Toomer who beats CB Samari Rolle for 26-yards. Great effort by Barber, Toomer, and Collins! 1st-and-10. Petitgout misses another block and Barber loses 5 yards. A pass to Daryl Jones near the goal line is then knocked away by the defensive back. On 3rd-and-15, the refs ignore an obvious pass interference penalty against Dixon, yet flag Rosenthal for holding. On 3rd-and-25, TE Dan Campbell doesn’t do a good job picking up the blitz and Collins is hit as he throws. The ball is a duck, but fortunately for the Giants, Dixon is interfered with again. 1st-and-goal from the 1. Barber loses two yards as Stackhouse is stuffed in front of him (again, too much pulling for my taste – just drive block). On 2nd-and-3, Toomer is interfered with in the end zone. From the one, Barber is stuffed again as Shockey and Marcellus Rivers can’t make their blocks. On 2nd-and-goal, Collins finds a wide open Campbell for a touchdown.
- Giants’ Fifth Offensive Possession: Giants start things off right at the start of the 3rd quarter by going 62 yards in 3 plays for the touchdown. Barber is tackled for a 2-yard loss as CB Samari Rolle makes a great play by sacrificing his body to blow the play up. Collins then hits Toomer over the middle for 25 yards and a face mask penalty adds another 15. Collins then throws a superb deep pass to Dixon in the end zone (against double-coverage and right over the safety’s shoulder) for a 24-yard touchdown.
- Giants’ Sixth Offensive Possession: Giants move the ball 40 yards in 7-plays to set up Matt Bryant’s 36-yard field goal. Dayne picks up 10 yards on two back-to-back passes (the latter being a nice effort as he finished off the play with some power). Giants luck out on the next play as Collins’ pass is right in the hands of a linebacker, but it bounces off and finds Dixon for 28 yards (nice concentration by Dixon). Collins throws to the end zone for Dixon who has a step, but his pass is too high (Collins received some late pressure as Seubert lost control of his man). Collins makes a nice throw into double coverage to Toomer along the right sideline, but the pass is just out of his reach. The Giants kick the field goal.
- Giants’ Seventh Offensive Possession: Giants go 88 yards in 9 plays and score another touchdown. Barber breaks loose for 42 yards as Shockey, Dixon, and Toomer all get great blocks. Barber then picks up 12 behind good blocks from Shockey and Dixon again. Barber then picks up 4 yards behind Rosenthal, Whittle, and Bober. Two plays later, Collins hits Toomer on a 7-yard out pattern for the first down on 3rd-and-4. Shockey picks up 10 yards as he breaks a tackle after the reception. Collins then misses Shockey. Barber cuts back, but is tackled for no gain. On 3rd-and-goal from the 6, Shockey is interfered with, resulting in a first down. On the next play, Barber scores behind good blocks from Rosenthal, Whittle, Campbell, and Stackhouse. The Giants go for the 2-point conversion (I have no problem with that decision). For some reason, Barber is called upon to block the defensive end all by himself. The pressure causes an errant throw by Collins who misses a wide-open Shockey in the end zone.
- Giants’ Eighth Offensive Possession: Giants go 78 yards in 12 plays to set up another field goal. However, the tragedy is not being able to score the touchdown which would have salted the game away. What I loved on this drive was that Fassel was aggressive with the passing game despite the fact that the Giants were up by 5 points with less than a quarter to play. On the second play, Collins hit Shockey over the middle for 21 yards. Barber could find no running room to the right as Rosenthal was pushed back, but through great individual effort, Barber picked up 9-yards on his own by cutting back. Dayne then picked up the first down with a 2-yard carry. A pass to Dixon was tipped, but Collins found Toomer for 12 on the next play (Fassel is surprisingly continuing to attack with the passing game – great job). Two plays later, Collins throws a perfect deep pass to Toomer for 34 yards down to the 1-yard line. Barber is stuffed on 1st-and-goal despite an all-out effort on his part (a Titan linebacker did a great job of meeting him over the top). Then the tragedy. A 2nd-and-goal running play is well-blocked and should have resulted in a touchdown, but Barber trips over Seubert for a 2-yard loss. On 3rd-and-goal, the Giants tried to fool the Titans by playing a tight formation with Dayne in the backfield (this play screams run to the left as Campbell is line up over in that direction). The Giants try to sneak Stackhouse to the right, but LB Randall Godfrey makes a game-winning play by not being fooled. Nice call – but it didn’t work.
- Giants’ Ninth Offensive Possession: Giants have a chance to win it still as Joyce gets the ball out to the 40-yard line. Collins then throws a perfect pass to a well- and double-covered Dixon. Barber picks up 2 yards on a run to the left, but could have picked up more if Petitgout sustained his block better (Luke did not play a good game in terms of his run blocking). Then came the killer play on 2nd-and-8. Toomer caught a 12-yard pass down to the Titan 32-yard line, but he was called for offensive pass interference (the TV replay never showed the play so I don’t know if it was legit or not). Collins’ 2nd-and-18 pass to Barber was batted down. On 3rd-and-18, Collins is pressured by a defensive end who lined up offsides (wasn’t called) and Collins panicked a bit as he scrambled to his left and out-of-bounds. Last chance down the drain.
Special Teams: The big problem now is the punting game. Matt Allen sucks. Period. He’s the worst punter in the league. His punts on Sunday went for 37, 17, and 34 yards. Fortunately, for New York, the Giants never punted in the second half of the game. The last punt came in overtime. The Titans never returned a punt.
PK Matt Bryant hit all three of his field goals – from 38, 36, and 19. His kickoffs landed at 13 (19 yard return – Wes Mallard made the tackle), 8 (a 29-yard return was brought back due to holding on the Titans), 12 (25 yards – Mallard), 3 (32 yards – Johnnie Harris), 12 (8 yards – Damon Washington), 17 (11 yards – Washington), and 15 (a 24-yard return is brought back due to a holding penalty on the Titans).
Byron Frisch was flagged for unnecessary roughness at the end of the first half; Johnnie Harris was flagged for being offsides in the 3rd quarter.
Delvin Joyce’s punt returns went for 19 yards (a very costly holding penalty on Ralph Brown moved the ball from the 46 back to the 16), fair catch, and no gain. Damon Washington returned one kick off for 26 yards. Joyce’s kick returns went for 37 (excellent), 25, 21, and 38 (excellent return to start the Giants off in overtime – too bad it was wasted).