Approach to the Game – Cincinnati Bengals at New York Giants, August 8, 1998: The biggest key is to pray everyone stays healthy. These games don’t count. Preseason, and the first game in particular, is a time to evaluate the young talent. Don’t expect to see anything flashy and certainly don’t expect to see too many of Head Coach Jim Fassel’s good stuff. The Giants have already started scouting the Redskins and you can bet the house that the Redskins are already scouting the Giants. Expect the Giants to keep things very vanilla on both offense and defense. Also expect the starters to get pulled relatively early.
Giants on Offense: It will be tough for us fans to get a real good read of the offense in the preseason. Fassel undoubtably will use overall strategy and tactics to attack many opponents in 1998 and he is unlikely to show his cards at this early stage. Moreover, since the running game is still largely the bread-and-butter of this offense and since the running game takes the longest to get into sync, look for the Giants to run the ball a lot on Saturday. It may not be exciting, but it is necessary in order for the team to be ready on opening day. The offensive line and running backs need the reps and, like most teams, these guys are not there yet. Basically, what we are trying to say is to not expect any offensive fireworks.
On the line, it will be interesting to see if Greg Bishop remains at left guard or if he is moved to center when the rest of the starting unit is in there. The Giants have used Jerry Reynolds some at left guard and Bishop at center in camp. We also want to see Toby Myles in action, but he still may be ailing from his knee sprain. The Giants have some tough decisions as to whom to keep as back-ups. Guys like Rob Zatechka, Darryl Gilliam, Jason Whittle, Marc Lamb, and Ben Fricke are fighting for roster spots. Unless the Bengals do a lot of blitzing (blitzing in the first game is usually taboo, but we’ve seen some teams do it already), then we hope to see the Giants’ line do a decent job in pass protection. The Bengals are not strong up front.
At halfback, there is a big battle brewing for the starting halfback job. Gary Brown has been impressive in camp, but Tyrone Wheatley has received favorable reports as of late too. Then there is Tiki Barber, a guy who was limited last year due to hamstring and knee injuries. We want to see Tiki do a better job of catching the ball and not fumbling.
Charles Way is the man at fullback, but there is a tight contest for the back-up fullback job between rookie Greg Comella and second-year man Eric Lane. Keep an eye on their blocking as much as their pass receiving and running skills.
At tight end, Al Pupunu has been limited this week due to injury and it is unknown how much he will play. He looks like he will help the offense however. Howard Cross has looked better catching the ball in camp — let’s see if that translates to actions on the playing field. Andy Haase has been provided a wonderful opportunity to win a roster spot, given Todd Pollack’s injury woes (hamstring, knee).
At camp, the Giants look like they really have upgraded themselves at wide receiver. However, this is the first real test in order to determine if that is true. Will camp stars like Amani Toomer and David Patten wilt under the spot light? The Bengals’ secondary isn’t that good. Joe Jurevicius has been impressive, but was limited this week due to a bad bout with the flu. He’s probably not 100 percent yet. Ike Hilliard will face his first real test against guys who will be looking to knock his block off.
Danny Kanell is the man on the hot seat. The Giants need him to take another step forward this year and make some plays. This game will give us more information to go on, but don’t read too much into the results if they are negative. The offense still needs to get in sync, the play-calling will not be sophisticated, and Fassel is likely to have him try some things he didn’t do well at last year in order to see if he has improved (i.e., the deep out). What we’d like to see is some quick decision-making, good technique, and improved accuracy. As for the back-ups, Kent Graham makes his official return to the Meadowlands. We hope to see better and more consistent play from him than we saw at camp. This game will also afford Giants’ fans their first opportunity to see Mike Cherry play for an extended period of time (he was hurt most of last preseason).
Giants on Defense: Same story here — Defensive Coordinator John Fox will most likely keep things very basic. Don’t look for more involved blitzing schemes and coverages the Giants will show the Redskins on opening night. The big thing to key on is the Giants play against the run. Cincinnati has a very good running back and improving offensive line. This will be a good test for new starting strongside linebacker Marcus Buckley
On the defensive line, the interesting battles to watch will be at right defensive end and back-up defensive tackle. We want to watch Chad Bratzke, Cedric Jones, Bernard Holsey, Christian Peter, Nate Hobgood-Chittick, Brad Keeney, and George Williams more closely. Bratzke looks like he has the starting job on the right side, but we are praying to see some life out of Cedric. He’s getting darn close to that “bust” label. The Giants need a back-up defensive tackle to step up and replace Ray Agnew’s presence. Christian has looked good in camp, but we want to see him do it in games. Hobgood-Chittick, Keeney, and Williams are all competing for that final DT spot. Fassel, if you are listening, get Michael Strahan, Keith Hamilton, and Robert Harris out of the game early!
At linebacker, the focus will be on Buckley and Ryan Phillips on the strongside. They need to step it up or the Giants may have some problems. We really hope that Jessie Armstead and Corey Widmer don’t see too much action…no need to risk getting them hurt. The four guys we want to see more of are Phillips, Scott Galyon, Pete Monty, and Doug Colman. Watch Phillips in pass coverage and shedding at the point of attack.
The Bengals have some quality receivers so this will be a good initial test for Jason Sehorn and Phillippi Sparks. But again, we hope Fassel takes them out early. We don’t care if the Giants lose this game — we care if we lose these guys. The players we really want to watch are Shaun Williams, Percy Ellsworth, Rodney Young (who is having a good camp), and Jeremy Lincoln. The strength of Williams’ game is his hitting — something camp did not afford us much of an opportunity to see. Ellsworth is having a great camp, but we want to see if his tackling has improved. Young may end up being caught in a number’s game, but we still like him. Lincoln has a good shot at the 4th cornerback spot behind Sparks, Sehorn, and Conrad Hamilton. Speaking of Hamilton, we hope he sees a lot of playing time. We like him and he will be an important part of the Giants’ depth situation this year.
Giants on Special Teams: This is where we hope to see the Giants make some big strides — not just in the return game, but in coverage. The tough thing about specials in the preseason is that since the coaches are usually experimenting a great deal with young players (on both teams), breakdowns and big plays often result. In the return game, Tiki Barber gets his first chance as the regular punt returner. Successfully catching and holding onto the ball will be our focus. So will be his blocking. In the kick return game, Fassel has said he will not use Jason Sehorn to return kicks in the game. Instead, look for Tyrone Wheatley, Tiki Barber, and David Patten to do so. Has David Patten and Tyrone Wheatley improved as kick returners? Is Tiki well-suited to do so? Has the blocking on returns improved? In coverage, we want to see someone else step forward besides Brandon Sanders. Hopefully, Shaun Williams will be one of those guys. Lastly, we want to see much more consistency and production out of Brad Maynard.