Approach to the Game – Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants, December 15, 2002: I’m trying hard not to get my hopes up, but it’s difficult. My head tells me the Giants’ playoff hopes are for all intents and purposes dead. However, my heart keeps saying, “The Giants could win the next two games and Philly could lose to their divisional rivals Washington and Dallas, setting up a winner-take-all season finale between the Giants and Eagles.” I see this as a more viable option than the Giants catching Atlanta or New Orleans for the last Wild Card spot because of the powder puffs those two teams play. Is it likely this scenario can happen? Hell no. But I can dream.
But lets not get ahead of ourselves. First things first. The Giants have to beat Dallas. That is NEVER easy. Dallas plays good special teams, has a very good defense, and an improving offense. In recent years, Giants-Cowboys games have always been close battles right down to the finish. The Giants have beaten Dallas 4-out-of-the-last-5 games, but all have been nail-biters.
And keep in mind, despite the fact that the Giants are getting some injured players back, they are still without Ike Hilliard, Ron Dixon, Tim Carter, Keith Hamilton, Dusty Zeigler, and possibly Will Allen and Dhani Jones. The injuries to the receiving corps really limit the offense.
Giants on Special Teams: Close games are often decided by special teams and Dallas has one of the best special teams coaches in the business. Rookie kick returner Woody Dantzler returned a kickoff for a touchdown last week. The speedster Joey Galloway is now returning punts for Dallas. Both players are obviously threats to go all the way. The Giants will need high and deep kicks from Matt Bryant and Matt Allen as well as solid coverage across the board.
Delvin Joyce is getting close to breaking one. Let’s do it this week guys!
Giants on Offense: The problem for the Giants is that the Cowboys have athletic coverage men at linebacker and safety to cover TE Jeremy Shockey and HB Tiki Barber. Weakside linebacker Dexter Coakley is perhaps the best cover linebacker in the NFL and an outstanding player. Rookie safety Roy Williams is a star in the making and is coming on. He will likely be lined up on Shockey much of the day and he personally feels that covering Shockey won’t be a problem for him. He may be right. MLB Dat Nguyen is a mobile, high effort player and SLB Kevin Hardy is a good player. This is a strong set of linebackers. They will also make it very tough for the Giants to run wide – which unfortunately is the strength of the Giants’ running game (outside runs with Tiki Barber). Dallas linebackers will be able run and chase Barber and beat the blockers to the point-of-attack. New York will not be able to make a living off of these outside runs.
Basically, what I’m trying to say is that the Giants’ offense doesn’t match up well with the Cowboys’ defense. The Giants are a finesse running team and the ideal way to attack Dallas is with a power running game. With the offensive line not being strong drive blockers and Ron Dayne an afterthought, that option is out the window.
The Giants will have to attempt to grind it out at Dallas and hope that Petitgout, Seubert, Bober, Whittle, Rosenthal, Campbell, Shockey, and Stackhouse can get the job down at the point-of-attack. Whittle faces the toughest test as he will be playing against DT La’Roi Glover (6.5 sacks). Rosenthal will battle DE Greg Ellis who also has 6.5 sacks. But a big key will be the ability of the blockers to get out and sustain blocks on the speedy, mobile linebackers of Dallas. That won’t be easy.
Dallas’ right cornerback is Mario Edwards, a good press corner who will most likely line up on WR Amani Toomer much of the day. Daryl Jones will get a break this week as he will face rookie CB Derek Ross. This would be a good time for a breakout game by Jones. The Giants also need to start getting some production out of Derek Dorris or Tony Simmons.
The onus will be on Kerry Collins to perform. He can be the difference in this game if his accuracy is on.
Giants on Defense: The good news is that the Giants may be getting some reinforcements back in the form of CB Will Peterson, CB Will Allen (maybe), and MLB Michael Barrow. That will help. If both corners can play, Sehorn will move back to his normal nickel back role.
If I’m Dallas, I run, run, run at New York. The front seven is going to have to buckle down and take on the power running game. This will be man-on-man, macho stuff up front. DE Kenny Holmes, DT Lance Legree, and WLB Dhani Jones/Kevin Lewis will be the obvious targets. Holmes will face LT Flozell Adams, who weighs almost a 100 pounds more than Holmes. Lance Legree didn’t play much last week due to injuries and hasn’t been a factor in most games. The good news is that he will be facing journeyman LG Ross Tucker. DE Michael Strahan will battle RT Solomon Page and DE Cornelius Griffin will face RG Andre Gurode, a rookie, but a strong guy who can maul people in the running game. The Giants will have to play a physical, aggressive game up front; play with leverage and get off blocks quickly. Good efforts from Brandon Short and Michael Barrow will be necessary to stop the run.
This might be the last time the Giants face HB Emmitt Smith. Smith is slowing down, but as he demonstrated on Thankgiving Day, he is still capable of hurting a defense. He will likely be spelled quite a bit by Troy Hambrick, the guy who will take over his job next season. Hambrick is a bigger and faster back, but lacks Smith’s savvy.
When Dallas puts the ball up, they have some decent players to throw to. WR Joey Galloway is a speedster has given Will Allen problems in the past. Rookie WR Antonio Bryant is an athlete with good hands. Receivers Ken-Yon Rambo and Reggie Swinton can run; WR Darnay Scott is a solid veteran back-up. Linebacker coverage on tight ends Tony McGee and James Whalen will be important as well as the backs out of the backfield.
Chad Hutchinson is Dallas’ new quarterback. He’s your typical pocket passer with a strong arm. Chad is playing better each week and it will be important for the Giants to get pressure on him and force him to make some mistakes. Chad is especially dangerous on play-action – the Giants need to be wary of that.