Mon Nov 19, 9:00 pm (ABC) - Giants at Minnesota
The rematch.
This is the Vikings big chance to get back at the Giants. Last year the Giants chewed them up and spit them out on their march to the Super Bowl. The Giants led in time of possession 42:22 to 17:38 and racked up total net yards of 518 to the Vikings 114 in that big 41-0 win.
The Giants were on a roll then, winning six games straight before slicing and dicing the Vikings for win number 7. That was last year. This year the Giants had to put together back to back wins over two weaker division teams just to crawl back over the .500 mark. They are a 5-4 team still trying to correct the same things that have plagued them from day one.
The Problems.
The Giants have had trouble establishing the running game. Kerry Collins is inconsistent behind an aging offensive line, that's been accused of using obvious gameplans. Special teams is in sorry shape, and even though Michael Strahan has been credited with all those sacks, the opposing quarterbacks still seem to have enough time to exploit the Giants secondary when it counts.
The Giants haven't come near putting some kind of distance between them and their opponents on the scoreboard they way they did in that Championship game last year. In that game, the Giants were up over the Vikings 34-0 at halftime. By the end of the game, they had Randy Moss crying that he wanted to play somewhere else because he felt the Vikings could never win, and Cris Carter was thinking
about retiring.
Cris Carter.
The Vikings are coming off big back-to-back losses to Tampa Bay and Philadelphia. Speaking about the last game and the 48-17 beating the Vikings took, Cris Carter says, ""To be a professional, to work hard, and not even be close in the fourth quarter, that's embarrassing. To
be dominated the way we have, it's difficult. It's not mistakes. We're just being dominated. ... I've got a lot of pride, and you just get tired of being whupped. We just have to really put up a better fight than we have. That's the thing that's discouraging.".
He has thoughts on why the offense isn't clicking, "We can't do some things that we have done before, because we have struggled with protection and we have struggled to run the ball. When you struggle to run the ball, it hurts the play-action pass where you can get deeper routes down the field when you get a linebacker tucked up and throw behind him. Offensively,
we don't have as many great players as we used to have."
Korey Stringer.
One player the Minnesota Vikings are missing is Korey Stringer, who was only 27 when he died in training camp due to complications from heat stroke. Michael Strahan commented at the time, "Last year he had the best year he'd ever had. I'm pretty sure he was very excited about getting this year going.
He and I have had some very good games against each other. Trust me, I wish we were going to have more."
They will retire Stringer's No. 77 jersey during a halftime ceremony. The ceremony will include adding Stringer to the Vikings Ring of Fame, a moment of silence, and McCombs presenting Kelci, Stringer's widow, with the retired jersey.
The Strahan watch.
Michael Strahan is way out in front, leading the NFL with 15 sacks, 5 more than runner-up Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila of Green Bay. He also leads the league in sack yardage with 136 yards, and 5 forced fumbles. Strahan started the season with 8 career forced fumbles, and his sack in Arizona last week gave him 15 in seven games, tying Lawrence Taylor's NFL record for a seven-game
stretch.
On Monday, Strahan will automatically share the record for sacks in an eight-game stretch, which is also 15. Lawrence Taylor did it in 1986, and Reggie White did it in 1986 and 1987.
The Viking attitude.
The players should be up for this, if not for the revenge factor for that last championship game, well then just to show honor and respect a former fellow player. They do seem to respond well to their fans and familiar surroundings.
Head coach Dennis Green points out, "We're going to rely on the fact that we've played considerably better at home than on the road." The fact is, the Vikings have lost all four games on the road this season, and 9 of their past 10 away from the Metrodome.
What's been happening.
The Vikings have been playing poorly, and tend to let down when things start to go wrong. Last week the Eagles scored on six consecutive possessions, including their last five in the first half. Eagles running back, Duce Staley, had 146 yards rushing and 85 yards
on six receptions including a 44-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
The Eagles rushed for a total of 272 yards, averaging 7.8 yards per carry, and finished with 487 yards of offense and 33 first downs. The Vikings did see both Carter and Moss score for the first time in a game, but most all of their offense came when it mattered little to the Eagles.
What I'd like to see.
I'd like the Giants to come away with a win of course, but I also expect to see the Vikings play this particular game with the same spirit the Giants do all the time. Their fans are getting tired of watching them play without emotion and like they just don't care, and would like them to show some pride, win
or lose.
The Minnesota players have every reason to put out a hundred percent this game. They have big play makers, and that's where the danger factor lies for the Giants, who tend to keep their opponents in a game from start to finish.
Notes:
Giants tight ends have only five receptions this season.
Howard Cross, drafted in the sixth round out of Alabama in 1989,.will play in his 201st game, and tie George Martin's record.
Cross, a 13-year veteran, is the team's last remaining member of the 1990 Super Bowl championship.
Giants special teams coach Fred von Appen coached the Vikings defensive line in 2000.
Giants linebackers coach Tom Olivadotti coached Vikings linebackers from 1996-99.
Vikings RB Michael Bennett backed up Giants RB Dayne at Wisconsin.
Cris Carter ranks fourth in NFL history with 129 touchdowns and second with 128 receiving TDs.
Minnesota's Gary Anderson and the Giants Morten Andersen, ywo of the NFL's oldest players will play in this game
The last time Morten Andersen kicked at the Metrodome (Jan. 17, 1999), his 38-yard field goal in overtime gave the Falcons a 30-27 upset victory in the NFC Championship Game.
Next Game
Nov 25, Raiders at Giants at 4PM.
For those very organized fans.
If you use a Palm Pilot and want to keep the Giants schedule, and actually the whole NFL schedule on it, there is a free download available here at PFL.
Last Week's review, game 9 - Giants 17- Arizona 10
|
