Approach to the Game – New York Giants at New York Jets, November 2, 2003: The Giants beat the undefeated Vikings last Sunday after losing three games in a row, and all of the sudden, if you listen to a lot of fans and the press, the Giants have turned the corner. I don’t buy it. Other than the 2000 season and the end of the 2002 regular season, Jim Fassel teams tend lose games you expected them to win – especially after some impressive victory over a quality opponent. And keep this important statistic in mind: the Giants are 9-14-1 in the month of November under Fassel.
Too many Giants’ fans are penciling in this game and the following game against the Falcons as wins. I don’t buy it. The Giants are a losing football team that has lost three games in the Meadowlands already this year. The Giants’ players and coaching staff have to prove me and other doubters that they are made of stronger metal.
Giants on Special Teams: The need here is two-fold: (1) stop the dangerous Jets’ return game, and (2) get the Giants’ own anemic return game going. Santana Moss is a very shifty and fast punt returner who can go the distance. Michael Bates may be nearing the end of his career, but he has proven to be one of the League’s best kick returners. Obviously, the punting of Jeff Feagles and kickoffs of Brett Conway will affect the coverage, but the Giants’ cover teams must also play disciplined football in maintaining their lanes when rushing down the field. Break down properly and make sure tackles.
The poor punt and kick returns by Brian Mitchell are not all his fault as blocking on returns and a lack of opportunity on punts has affected his game. However, Brian certainly hasn’t flashed any great return skills. Worse, he has made some pretty poor decisions the last two games in allowing punts to hit the turf in front of him. Head Coach Jim Fassel said this week that it is possible that Delvin Joyce will replace him. Personally, I would like to see the Giants also give Tim Carter another shot on kick returns. Regardless of the return man, the Giants’ special teams need to do a much better job of providing the offense with better starting field position.
Giants on Defense: The Jets are going nowhere this year and they know it. So this game – against the cross-town team that elicits the most support from the local crowd – will de facto be their Super Bowl. Combine that with the fact that not only will Chad Pennington be starting for the first time this year, but starting against the team that injured him in the first place, then you have the makings of one fired up opponent. Pennington may be rusty, but knowing Giants’ history the way I do, I expect him to look sharp as a razor blade against the G-Men.
As always, the key is to stop the run first and foremost. HB Curtis Martin is still capable of beating you, and despite the fact that he has had a rough start, I’ve always been impressed with reserve HB LaMont Jordan. Martin is the shifty back, Jordan the bull. With DT Cornelius Griffin out, the Jets will test the inside run defense of the Giants against DT Lance Legree and a fading DT Keith Hamilton.
The Giants must also be wary of reverses to WR Santana Moss.
If the Giants are able to put the breaks on the run game, then getting after Pennington is key. That’s tough because he has a quick release and is very accurate on his short throws. The Giants aren’t likely to get much of pass rush from Legree or Hamilton, so the pressure must come from Kenny Holmes (who will be facing LT Jason Fabini) and DE Michael Strahan (who will be facing RT Kareem McKenzie). Contrary to popular belief, the Giants have blitzed quite a bit this year, but the blitzers just are not getting to the quarterback. I don’t know if it is a talent or scheme problem.
The pass coverage match-ups against the accurate Pennington are key. As Pennington is more of a West Coast system quarterback, the undercoverage by the linebackers and strong safety is important. The Jets will throw to their tight ends (Anthony Becht and Chris Baker), fullback (Jerald Sowell), and halfbacks (Martin and Jordan). How the linebacking corps of Brandon Short, Mike Barrow, and Dhani Jones perform in coverage will be crucial.
When the Jets throw down the field, I would expect Will Allen to stay with the speedy Santana Moss. Allen has experience covering Moss not only in the preseason, but also in college (Miami-Syracuse games). Ralph Brown will cover the shifty Wayne Chrebet, who always seems to give the Giants problems. Frank Walker will be challenged by the very experienced Curtis Conway.
Stop the run, cover the short stuff, and make Pennington’s first start uncomfortable by getting hits on him.
Giants on Offense: The temptation for the Giants will be play it more conservative this week by attacking the Jets with the running game. The Jets rank dead last in the NFL in run defense, but lead the League in sacks. With an inexperienced offensive line, Fassel may feel this is a game to force feed the run. He may be right, but I wouldn’t play it like that.
It usually seems when you attack a team that has been terrible at doing something, because they concentrate on it so much in practice, that they quickly improve. I expect the Jets to come out looking for Tiki Barber and gang up on the running game with 8-men in the box. Also, as I’ve harped on for a few weeks now, touchdowns come out of big plays in the passing game. The Giants have not been very good at sustaining long, clock-consuming drives without somewhere along the line shooting themselves in the foot. Go after the Jets aggressively through the air. Get a lead. Then come back and hit them with the running game. That’s what I would do.
The big worrisome match-up for the Giants up front is NFL sack leader DE Shaun Ellis versus RT Ian Allen, who will only be starting his third game. The Giants left Allen alone with rookie DE Kevin Williams of the Vikings for much of the game last week, but I doubt they can do that this week. Another potential problem area is DT Jason Ferguson on rookie LG Wayne Lucier (who has missed most of practice this week with the flu). Ferguson is one of the NFL’s more underrated players. I would think Chris Bober will have to help out again at times. The Giants need RG David Diehl to handle high #1 pick DT DeWayne Robertson and LT Luke Petitgout to handle former first round DE Bryan Thomas. The Giants are fortunate that DE John Abraham is out this week with a groin injury.
The Jets are have a pretty physical linebacking corps, but they are not terribly fast. SLB Mo Lewis may not play due to hamstring/hip problems and rookie Victor Hobson may start in his place. I think the Giants may be able to attack this unit with Barber, the tight ends (Jeremy Shockey and Marcellus Rivers), and FB Jim Finn via the pass.
The Jets’ secondary is also hurting. CB Donnie Abraham and FS Jon McGraw will not play. Look for WR Amani Toomer to present a lot of problems for CB Aaron Beasley. I also think we may see WR Tim Carter continue to be more involved in the downfield passing game. Of course, much of this depends on the pass protection.
Protect Collins, throw deep and get ahead early, then run the ball on the Jets.