New York Giants 44 – Indianapolis Colts 27
Game Overview: The Giants dominated this game from start to finish. Things were a lot closer than they should have been at halftime (due to two untimely fumbles) and in the 4th quarter (due to defensive and special teams letdowns). But the Giants controlled the line of scrimmages and the tempo of the game. What was particularly impressive was the intensity that they played with – it was obvious that they were taking this game much more seriously than the Colts despite the fact that the Colts needed to win the game as well for their own playoff hopes. Love, hate, or feel indifferently to Head Coach Jim Fassel, but this team has played hard for him in every game this season. Looking around the League, there are not many teams who play hard for their coaches during the course of an entire 16-game schedule.
What impressed me most defensively was the Giants’ defense against the run, led by the linebackers; the play of CB Will Allen against WR Marvin Harrison until late in the game; and the Giants’ ability to handle the audibles by Peyton Manning and the no-huddle offense. Offensively, you can’t ask for more than 44 points and 6 touchdowns. The Giants scored a touchdown on EVERY offensive possession in the second half of the game. QB Kerry Collins was practically flawless, WR Amani Toomer dominated, the offensive line didn’t give up a sack, and TE Jeremy Shockey continues to present problems for opposing defenses. It still baffles me how the Giants are being this productive on offense in recent weeks despite having no wide receiver threat opposite of Toomer. Fassel is doing a great job of moving Toomer, Shockey, and Barber around to create mismatches. Fassel was also particularly aggressive with some play calls in this game such as the flea flicker to start the second half, the 3rd-and-1 play-action pass to FB Charles Stackhouse, and the decision to throw on 3rd-and-11 with just over 4 minutes left in the game. All three plays were higher risk plays that resulted in touchdowns.
Special Teams: What is getting somewhat worrisome is that the kick-off coverage, which had been improving throughout the season, has now taken a step backwards for the second week in a row. The Colts are not renowned for their return game, yet there were far too many good returns given up. Playing inside a dome this week, Matt Bryant was better on his kick-offs (to the 5, 10, 5, 3, 9, 13, 2, and 4), but not real strong. Colt returns went for 23 (Johnnie Harris making the tackle), 27 (Kevin Lewis and Ralph Brown), 24 (Kato Serwanga), 48 (holding brought this back to the 28), 33 (DeWayne Patmon), 25 (Johnnie Harris), 21 (Wes Mallard), and 28 (Kevin Lewis). The Giants need to get better here again fast.
Bryant kicked a 20-yard field goal, but missed an extra point. Chris Bober’s snap was wide on the play, but I thought Allen did a good job of getting the ball down in time for Bryant.
The Giants only punted three times…all three coming in the first half. Matt Allen’s punts all had good hang-time, but only the last had good distance (33, 34, and 49 yards). None were returned. The first fair catch was forced by Nick Greisen and Charles Stackhouse and the latter two fair catches were caused by Tony Simmons.
Delvin Joyce only had two chances to return a punt and both of these ended up being fair catches. The Giants blocked the first punt (Marcellus Rivers). The second punt was a touchback. The Giants came after the punter on the third punt and consequently there was no blocking and Joyce called for a fair catch. The fourth punt went out-of-bounds. The fifth was a pooch punt that was fair caught. The sixth punt landed inside the 10 and wasn’t fielded (Ralph Brown almost made a horrible play by accidentally touching the ball).
The Giants’ kick-off game was not real good this week. Daryl Jones managed returns of 20 and 18 and Delvin Joyce managed returns of 23 and 25 yards. Joyce fumbled away one onside kick and recovered another.
Defensive Line: Just a so-so game for this group. Aside from a few pass pressures, the defensive line never applied much heat against Manning. Part of this had to do with his short pass drops and quick release. The Giants had two sacks; both from Kenny Holmes (6 tackles, 2 sacks). But the first was a coverage sack and on the second he was unblocked. Where the line did a decent job was keeping opposing blockers off of the linebackers. This allowed the Giants to completely shut down Indianapolis’ running game.
Michael Strahan (3 tackles) and Dhani Jones got good pass pressure on the flea flicker attempt by Manning on Indy’s third offensive play. Two plays later, Cornelius Griffen (7 tackles) and Michael Barrow stopped a screen pass in the backfield for a 4-yard loss. On the next drive, Griffin tackled Edgerrin James in the backfield for a 1-yard loss and then demonstrated his athleticism by making a tackle in coverage. On the next drive, Strahan helped to force an incompletion on 3rd-and-9 by pressuring Manning. Griffen got pressure on Manning on the play where Dhani Jones picked him off. In the 2nd quarter, Strahan and Griffen combined to nail James right at the line of scrimmage. Later, Strahan got another good pressure on Manning, but the ball was completed. At the end of the half, both ends made great run plays during a goal line stand. First, Strahan came down the line to tackle James Mungro and save a touchdown. Then on the very next play, Holmes did the same thing from his end.
In the second half, Strahan and Brandon Short combined to hold James to a 1-yard gain. On the 3rd-and-1 play right before the Giants stopped the Colts on 4th-and-1, DT Lance Legree (2 tackles) help to hold Mungro short of the first down. DE Byron Frisch got burned on a WR-reverse at the end of the 3rd quarter. There was not enough pressure on Manning in the second half from both the starters and the back-ups.
Linebackers: This was probably the strongest combined effort from this group all year as all three starters made plays defending both the run and the pass. SLB Brandon Short (8 tackles, 1 interception) was very noticeable. On the first series, he disrupted the blocking scheme on a run off left tackle that went nowhere. Two series later, he made a nice open field tackle on WR Marvin Harrison after a short completion. In the 3rd quarter, he did a good job of covering James out of the backfield and holding him to a 1-yard gain. Two plays later, he nailed James along with Strahan at the line of scrimmage. Three plays later, on 4th-and-inches, Short shot a gap and tackled Mungro for a 1-yard loss. This was a huge play in the game. Later in the quarter, Short did a superb job of covering the athletic TE Marcus Pollard on a pass down the middle into the end zone. When the Colts scored a touchdown on their next drive, it was Short who tackled Mungro short of the end zone on the 2-point conversion attempt. Short ended the Colts’ last scoring drive by intercepting Manning.
Michael Barrow (6 tackles) made an impact as well. But just as important as the plays he made on the field was his largely successful effort to direct defensive traffic and make defensive audibles against Manning & Company. Barrow matched wits with Manning all day and came up the champion for three quarters. As for the plays he made: On the first series, he combined with Griffen to tackle James in the backfield on a screen pass. On the Colts’ second series, Barrow tackled James for no gain on a run off left tackle. Barrow had decent coverage on Pollard on a 2nd quarter pass play, but Manning threw a perfect pass that was completed for a 40-yard gain. In the 3rd quarter, Barrow made two excellent plays against James out of the backfield. First he sniffed out a middle screen pass that fell incomplete. Then he was in James’ face on a swing pass that was dropped.
Dhani Jones (4 tackles, 1 interception) came down with his first interception of the season. He got heat on Manning on a blitz early in the game and looked like a much faster player on the artificial turf. A lot of Manning’s passing attempts were foiled by Jones in coverage. You could see him looking in the direction that Jones was dropping and then going to his secondary receiver. Jones was a factor on the 3rd-and-1 play right before the failed 4th-and-1 gamble by the Colts (he and Legree combining to make the tackle).
Kevin Lewis, who for some reason was in the game on the first defensive play of the game for Michael Barrow, nailed James at the line for no gain.
Defensive Backs: This group really did a number on the high-powered Colts’ passing game until the 4th quarter. Very impressive when you consider that Will Peterson was out of the line-up. The star was CB Will Allen (6 tackles) who really kept All-Star Marvin Harrison under control until one drive in the 4th quarter. Harrison’s numbers look far more impressive than they really were. Harrison caught quite a few short passes, but didn’t make the killer play down the field as he has time and time again against so many opponents. I saw Allen give up plays of 11, 3, 11, 8, and 7 yards. Every thing in Harrison’s direction was either covered, incomplete, or short. The only time Allen faltered was on a 4th quarter drive where he gave up two big pass plays: a 24-yarder and a 25-yarder for a touchdown, cutting the score to 37-20.
CB Jason Sehorn (1 tackle) did a decent job until the 4th quarter as well. On the third play of the game, Sehorn stayed deep with Qadry Ismail, thwarting a flea flicker. Sehorn got a big hit on James on a 3rd-and-10 pass that was completed, but failed to wrap up James and bring him down. On the next series, he was playing far too soft on a 14-yard completion to Ismail. In the 3rd quarter, Sehorn came darn close to intercepting a deep sideline pass to Harrison that Sehorn did knock away. Later on the drive however, Sehorn got beat over the middle for 9 yards on 3rd-and-6. Up until that point, Sehorn was playing very well. However, he gave up a 19-yard completion to WR Reggie Wayne on the drive where Allen struggled. Then after the Colts recovered the onside kick, Sehorn got beat badly down the middle of the field by Wayne for a 40-yard touchdown pass that cut the score to 37-27.
Ralph Brown wasn’t exposed in coverage, but was forced to leave the game with a concussion after a big hit on Ismail after a short completion. Reggie Stephens was flagged for an 11-yard pass interference penalty.
Shaun Williams (2 tackles) got a hit on Mungro on the 3rd-and-1 attempt that was held to no gain where Jones and Legree cleaned up. But both Williams and Omar Stoutmire (5 tackles) looked very confused on the 21-yard seam pass for a touchdown to Wayne in the 4th quarter. Johnnie Harris was right with the tight end on a 3rd-and-5 throw that fell incomplete in the 2nd quarter.
Quarterback: You can’t argue with perfection and that is what Kerry was on Sunday (a perfect 158.3 QB rating). He went 23-of-29 (and two of those passes were dropped and I would argue another should have been caught by Shockey) for 366 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. Collins was obviously very, very accurate. His pass protection was superb, but a lot of potential sacks are also averted by Collins due to his ability to get rid of the ball with pressure in his face. A few of the stand out plays include: a 13-yard out to Amani Toomer on 3rd-and-7 on the first touchdown drive; a picture perfect, incredibly accurate deep throw on the 82-yard flea flicker to Toomer for a touchdown; a wonderfully-thrown touch pass to FB Charles Stackhouse out of the backfield on 3rd-and-1 for an 18-yard touchdown; a 17-yard, strong throw to Jeremy Shockey despite pressure causing Collins to throw off his back foot; a 9-yard slant to Toomer on 3rd-and-8 on the fourth touchdown drive; a 10-yard completion to Toomer on 3rd-and-8 on the fifth scoring drive; a 21-yard touchdown pass to Toomer on the same drive; and a 27-yard touchdown pass on the next drive. An All-Pro effort.
Wide Receivers: Talk about All-Pro efforts. WR Amani Toomer, who apparently is the only healthy viable receiver on the roster and the focus of constant attention by opposing defenses, came up with an incredible 10 catch, 204 yard, 3 touchdown performance. The big plays are highlighted in the quarterback review. Rather than sulk because he didn’t make the Pro Bowl, Amani made a statement. When he is double-covered, he is still making catches and when he is singled-covered, he’s toying with lesser corners now. He completely turned around the corners on his last two touchdown receptions.
Daryl Jones is embarrassingly quiet. Coaches and players say he is doing well in practice, but aside from the 32-yard pass play against the Skins, he’s not making any plays. He dropped a pass from Collins on a 3rd-and-9 play where the Giants successfully picked up the blitz, but he dropped the ball. Collins didn’t throw in his direction again.
Tight Ends: A big day for Jeremy Shockey (7 catches for 116 yards). The Colts love to run “cover two” in the secondary. (Defensive coverage where both safeties are deep – 12-14 yards off the line of scrimmage. The two cornerbacks are in press coverage while the two safeties prepare to help the corners on passing plays and come forward on running plays). However, this coverage is vulnerable to a quality pass-catching tight end as the Colts found out on Sunday. They were forced to adjust to “cover one” and that’s when Toomer tore them up. (Defensive coverage where the free safety is 12-14 yards deep, the two cornerbacks are in press coverage, and the strong safety is about 5 yards deep over the tight end. Cover one is generally a man-to-man scheme). This is how these two fine players are now complementing each other and creating problems for defenses.
Shockey started the Giants off with a 15-yard completion on a slant. But near the end of the 1st quarter, on a deep pass over the middle that looked like an overthrow from Collins, I thought Shockey mistimed his jump on an accurately thrown pass. Later on the drive, Shockey redeemed himself on TE screen that picked up 24 yards on a play where Shockey ran over the safety (a play reminiscent of his play in the preseason). (Incidentally, Rich Seubert, Chris Bober, and Luke Petitgout all got good blocks on this well-executed screen). Two plays later, Shockey broke two tackles on a quick 10-yard strike to the 4-yard line. Shockey’s big snafu in the game was fumbling his 26-yard strike from Collins on a seam pass late in the 2nd quarter when it looked like the Giants were about to go up 17-0. (Shockey just dropped the ball). In the 3rd quarter, Shockey caught a 19-yarder over the middle unopposed on the third touchdown drive and later came down with a 17-yarder on the fourth touchdown drive.
Dan Campbell continues to be a major factor when run blocking. He got a great block on Barber’s easy 4-yard touchdown jaunt around left end. However, I did see Campbell miss one block at the end of the line on a Dayne run that was stuffed and Campbell still looks uncomfortable to me as the lead blocker from the fullback position. Campbell caught 2 passes for 19 yards including a 12-yarder on 2nd-and-11 where he carried the tackler past the first down marker. Campbell was flagged with a false start.
Running Backs: Tiki Barber (18 carries, 60 yards, 2 touchdowns; 2 catches for 5 yards) really wasn’t that much of a factor except for his two short touchdown runs. Also, Tiki very nearly cost the Giants dearly by fumbling the ball away at the Giants’ own six yard line with 1:25 left before halftime. He also wasn’t able to hold on to a pass from Collins on what looked to be a well-executed screen with plenty of running room. On the positive side, Barber was very sharp on his blitz pick-ups. He had a quality 15-yard run near the end of the 1st quarter behind good blocks from Mike Rosenthal, Jason Whittle, and Stackhouse. In the 3rd quarter, Tiki picked up 9 yards on a draw play where he stiffed armed a linebacker for extra yardage and another 9-yard run around right end behind good blocks from Campbell, Rosenthal, and Whittle.
Ron Dayne (13 carries for 46 yards; 1 catch for 4 yards) was a bit up-and-down. The negative was his inability to pick up a first down on short yardage efforts on 2nd-and-2 and 3rd-and-1 on back-to-back plays in the 2nd quarter. The blocking was not ideal, but Dayne also ran too high on both runs and didn’t bull his way into the line of scrimmage like a big back should. However, on the next drive, Dayne picked up 14 yards on a run around right end behind good blocks from Mike Rosenthal and a pulling Rich Seubert. On the same drive, Dayne did manage to pick up the first down on another short-yardage effort on 3rd-and-1. Late in the game, after the Colts had cut the score to 37-27, Dayne had an important run on the Giants first play as he picked up 16 yards around right end, making a nice cutback on the play.
Stackhouse (1 catch for 18 yards and a touchdown) looked pretty decent as a lead blocker and had that key touchdown reception on 3rd-and-1 in the 3rd quarter.
Offensive Line: The pass protection was near perfect and special praise is in order for both tackles as Luke Petitgout and Mike Rosenthal completely shut down the Colts’ dangerous edge pass rushers. Collins was not sacked and rarely pressured against a team known for its ability to rush the passer.
The run blocking, on the other hand, continues to be spotty at best. Rich Seubert was flagged for holding, but I thought it was bad call. Petitgout was flagged with a false start.