Approach to the Game – New York Giants at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, October 4, 1998: The Giants are currently in a three-way tie for first place in the NFC East, along with Dallas and Arizona. The Giants are beat up physically right now, especially at linebacker and safety. They also face a talented, desperate team this week in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa has to win this game or their playoff hopes may be over. At the same time, their confidence is shaken somewhat. The Giants need to jump on top of them early and keep the Bucs doubting themselves. Offensively, the Giants want to continue to improve upon the running game and keep the penalties to a minimum. Defensively, they want to stuff the run and force Trent Dilfer to beat them. As always, the Giants need a good game from their special teams. Head Coach Jim Fassel has publicly said he thinks this will be the Giants toughest game this year.
Giants on Offense: We would stick to the same game plan that the Giants used last week: simpler, more straight-ahead run blocking; getting to the line of scrimmage at a faster pace and snapping the ball on a quick count; and running HB Gary Brown often up the gut behind FB Charles Way. Tampa Bay has a very aggressive and quick defense. We don’t anticipate the Giants making a living by attempting to run the ball outside or utilizing a lot of slow developing running plays. Get to the line of scrimmage quickly, snap the ball, and plow straight ahead with Gary Brown. The Giants simply do not want to face a lot of obvious pass rush situations against the Bucs — their defensive line is very adept at rushing the passer. The big match-up is between DT Warren Sapp and LG Greg Bishop and OC Lance Scott. Bishop will be under the gun. But DE Chidi Ahanotu is no slouch and will test RT Scott Gragg as will DE Regan Upshaw against LT Roman Oben. DT Brad Culpepper isn’t big, but he is quick and can rush the passer. RG Ron Stone needs to wear him down. At linebacker, WLB Derrick Brooks is Tampa’s version of Jessie Armstead. MLB Hardy Nickerson has a Pro Bowl past and is the heart of the defense. FB Charles Way needs a good game blocking against him.
Like the Giants’ defense, these guys are very tough, but they are also becoming very frustrated with their own offense’s inability to move the ball and generate points. Thus, they may start to gamble more than they should in order to create turnovers and field position for the offense. Ball security will be of utmost importance for the G-Men. What Danny Kanell and his offensive teammates want to do is to keep Tampa off-balance with a steady combination of passing and running plays. We wouldn’t try anything fancy. Play for field position and take advantage of ANY possible scoring opportunity. This game is likely to be low scoring and the team that makes the fewest mistakes in the end will likely come out on top.
That being said, this might be the game to surprise an opponent with some timely passes to the tight end (either Howard Cross or Alfred Pupunu). Tampa won’t be expecting that. CB Donnie Abraham and SS John Lynch are very good players, but the rest of the secondary is ordinary. The Giants might be able to do some damage there. We expect Ike Hilliard, who is returning to his old collegiate territory, to have a good game. Same with QB Danny Kanell. If Kanell doesn’t outplay QB Trent Dilfer, the Giants will be in trouble. Is this the game we start seeing more of Joe Jurevicius, or will Amani Toomer continue to hold him off?
Giants on Defense: The Giants are really banged up on defense right now. Key players like CB Jason Sehorn, WLB Jessie Armstead, FS Tito Wooten, WLB Scott Galyon, DT Robert Harris, SS Sam Garnes, and S/CB Shaun Williams are missing or ailing. But the defense has kept it together and played well regardless this season. Tampa’s offense is really struggling right now. The Giants need to keep them and their fans frustrated. The way to approach a Tampa Bay game right now is simple: stop the run and force Trent Dilfer to beat you. The good news for the Giants is that Dilfer has been terrible. The bad news is that a key weapon, WR Jacquez Green, who has been out with an injury, will return this week. The Bucs also have a very tough combination of runners in HB Warrick Dunn, FB Mike Alstott, and FB Lorenzo Neal. The Giants need to crowd the line of scrimmage, swarm to the ball carrier, and make sure, crisp tackles. The tackling of the secondary may prove decisive in this game. Dunn is a very powerful running back for his size and can break the big run. All three runners can be a factor in the passing game as well — especially Dunn.
Where the Bucs have also been struggling on offense is with their offensive line. These guys are not playing as well as they did last year. DE Chad Bratzke faces a tough test against LT Paul Gruber. DE Michael Strahan must and should handle RT Jason Odom. But the focus will be on the interior trio of DT Keith Hamilton, DT Christian Peter, and MLB Corey Widmer inside against Tampa’s inside running game. The Bucs are also bound to test the Giants’ weakside linebacker, be it Jessie Armstead or Marcus Buckley and SLB Ryan Phillips. The Bucs may try to isolate someone like Dunn or TE Dave Moore on Phillips, who is still learning the game.
Stuff the run — force the Bucs to pass. If the Giants can’t do this. They likely won’t win.
When Tampa does pass, they do have some quality weapons to throw to. Dunn and the fullbacks are good targets out of the backfield. Moore has made some outstanding catches at tight end. WR’s Reidel Anthony and Jacquez Green are very fast and dangerous targets. WR Karl Williams is solid. The Giants’ secondary will have their hands full. What the defense would like to do is to force Tampa into obvious passing situations and then get after Dilfer. The more Dilfer throws, the more likely something bad for the Bucs will happen. Get into his face, fluster him, rattle him. Don’t allow him to get untracked.
Giants on Special Teams: Brad Daluiso did a great job of kicking the ball off into the endzone and preventing returns last week, but the Giants can’t count on him to do this every kick. It almost seems that each time he isn’t able to do this, a big return results. The Giants absolutely need to get their kick and punt coverage teams in order. Jacquez Green is an EXTREMELY dangerous returner and has already returned punts/kicks for touchdowns in the preseason and regular season. At the same time, it’s time for Amani Toomer and/or David Patten to break a big return again. They have come close, but such a special teams play could prove to be the difference in the ball game.