Regular Season: Giants lead series 75-54-4
Post Season: Series tied at 1-1
Approach to the Game – New York Giants at Washington Redskins, November 21, 1999: It is these kind of games that make football the great game that it is. Giants and Redskins – two historic foes battling out for first place in November. What more could you want? What more do you need to get up for this game? To say this contest will have huge ramifications is an understatement. If the Giants are to entertain any hopes of winning the division, they simply cannot afford to be swept by the Skins. That would give the Giants three losses in the division and, more importantly, they would lose all tie-breakers to Washington.
But there are even deeper ramifications for the franchise. If the Giants don’t win the division, they might have hard time making the playoffs as a Wild Card. In the short-term, QB Kent Graham’s starting job would be in jeapordy. In the long term, so might Jim Fassel’s head coaching position.
Let’s crank it up and play some football. May the better team win.
Giants on Defense: 50 points? The hurt from that will take a long time to go away. Yes, the Giants were missing some important cogs on defense that day, but they also didn’t play very well or with emotion. The Redskins poured salt in the wounds by running up the score. Don’t believe otherwise. It’s payback time.
This game, as most NFC East games, will be decided by strength in the trenches and passion on the playing field. Cedric Jones, Keith Hamilton, Christian Peter, Michael Strahan, Jessie Armstead, Corey Widmer, and Ryan Phillips – these are the guys who have to dominate. Control the line of scrimmage and brutalize your opponent. Take no prisoners. The Redskins have a fantastic passing game with a number of viable targets such as WR Albert Connell, WR Michael Westbrook, TE Stephen Alexander, and FB Larry Centers. But it is their strong running game that makes it all work. HB Stephen Davis is having a monster year running behind an offensive line that has surprisingly played very well. As much as the Giants should fear the passing game, if they don’t stuff Davis, then they will be in for a world of hurt. A key match-up will be back-up OG Brad Badger versus DT Keith Hamilton. DE Michael Strahan needs to have an impact game. Last time these two teams met, rookie RT Jon Jansen embarrassed him. DT Christian Peter will face the very big and very tough Tre Johnson. The Skins like to pull Tre to the left and WLB Jessie Armstead will have to do a better job of playing off the blocks than he did last time too. DE Cedric Jones will match up against LT Andy Heck. Jones should be able to do some damage there – it is time for Cedric to make some impact plays.
Two guys on the spot will be MLB Corey Widmer and SLB Ryan Phillips. Both need to be active against Davis, but both also have to be very aware of Centers and Alexander on short-to-intermediate passes. Redskin Head Coach Norv Turner has targeted the underneath coverage of the Giants the last couple of times these teams have faced. He is very confident that Centers and Alexander can expose the Giants there. Alexander had a huge game against the Jints earlier in the season. Centers has been calling for the ball more and Turner may grant him his wish this week. Watch out for these match-ups. In passing situations, I’d rather see guys like Marcus Buckley and Scott Galyon in there.
QB Brad Johnson is one of the very best quarterbacks in the league. He can (and has) put up huge numbers. Johnson is a veteran who does a good job of reading defenses, has a quick release, and is accurate. The Giants absolutely must make life difficult for him by getting into his face. The onus will lie heavily with Strahan, Jones, Hamilton, and Peter. The more the Giants blitz, the more chances they will have to take in coverage. That means Alexander or Connell might get free. This game will be won or lost in the trenches.
In the secondary, the presence of Alexander will probably keep SS Sam Garnes busy. Garnes should be a factor in run support too. The gimpy FS Percy Ellsworth returns to the starting line-up. Brandon Sanders was nowhere to be found on two deep passes last week and the presence of Percy should help to stabilize things. Let’s hope he doesn’t re-injure the foot. Westbrook has a broken wrist, but says he will play. Michael has given CB Phillippi Sparks fits in the past. Two years ago, the Giants had Jason Sehorn follow him with great success. I wonder if they will do that if Westbrook plays. Connell is having a breakout season and can get deep. He had his way with CB Jeremy Lincoln back in September. Lincoln will have his chance for redemption with CB Andre Weathers and S Shaun Williams out. Jeremy is now the nickel corner. You know the Skins will be looking to target him with passes to wide receivers Irvin Friar or James Thrash.
A word of caution for the defense. They will be pumped up looking for revenge. They will be aggressive – perhaps too aggressive. There lies the danger. Turner is a big fan of misdirection and trick plays against aggressive defenses. Watch out for reverses, double-reverses, halfback options, screens, the option, and draws early. If the Giants can survive the early storm, then they can start to wear the Skins down by punishing them with physical play.
Giants on Offense: The Giants are not particularly well suited right now to take advantage of Washington’s biggest defensive weaknesses – which is run defense. This is a game where the presence of Gary Brown or Joe Montgomery would be very beneficial. Washington has two very talented cornerbacks who have the ability to limit the damage that WR Amani Toomer and WR Ike Hilliard can do. Thus, more pressure will be on the others to make plays. That is not to excuse Toomer and Hilliard either – both are being paid very handsomely to make plays against ALL competition. CB Darrell Green is not having one of his best season and Champ Bailey is a rookie who is prone to making mistakes at times.
The way I would attack Washington would be to go after their linebackers in pass defense. The one guy I’d tried to stay away from is WLB Shaun Barber – a former defensive back who can cover like Jessie Armstead. It was Barber who scored on the Giants earlier this year. But MLB Derek Smith and and SLB Greg Jones are not as strong in coverage. The Giants should try to lock up TE Pete Mitchell, HB Tiki Barber, or HB Sean Bennett on these guys. This is also a game where there will be pressure on Joe Jurevicius or David Patten make big plays against the nickel back – another weak area for Washington.
But obviously, the Giants need to put together at least a viable threat on the ground. Jim Fassel says that New York will continue to operate from the spread as long as the crowd noise is not too loud. The spread offense could help to open up holes up front if the line does it’s job. The big match-up there will be rookie LG Mike Rosenthal versus DT Dana Stubblefield. Mike has the bulk and strength to handle Dana, but he is green as you can be and the Skins will look to exploit this by running stunts and blitzes up front – not only to confuse Rosenthal, but to prevent Brian Williams from helping him out. LT Roman Oben should be able to control DE Marco Coleman. RT Scott Gragg faces DE Anthony Cook, who replaces Kenard Lang this week. Cook is a better run defender, but not as strong on the pass rush. It is absolutely essential for RG Ron Stone to keep DT Dan Wilkinson quiet. Wilkinson has suffered with back spasms this week.
Right now, Tiki Barber is the Giants best runner. The spread offense is better suited for him if he is to play a lot. LeShon Johnson ran very well last week, but must do a better job of holding onto to the ball. If these two can’t pick up important yardage on the ground with the help of the line, tight ends, and FB Charles Way, then the Skins will be able to shut down the receivers. It is essential to get the running game going. I would look for New York to come out passing, then switch back to the run – especially if they get the lead.
A lot of pressure will be on Kent Graham this week. This is probably the most important game of his career – even without a quarterback controversy. But he also knows that Kerry Collins is on the verge of taking his job. Graham needs to play with the kind of confidence and rhythm that he played with in the second half last week. Graham doesn’t want to make killer turnovers, but he has to put points on the board. The Giants simply cannot afford another slow start. The confidence of the Redskins’ defense is sagging. Don’t give them any hope.
Giants on Special Teams: The Redskins are having a rough year on special teams, especially on their coverage units. Bashir Levingston and Tiki Barber can make a real impact here. P Brad Maynard needs to get his act together and put together a complete game. PK Cary Blanchard is in position to haunt the team that cut him. Returner Brian Mitchell is having a down year. Let’s keep it that way.