Giants
- Bills
1999 Game 13 - 1PM ET
Bring
on the Bills
Last
week, the Giants beat the Jets 41-28
Just
two games ago, Buffalo lost to these same Jets, 17-7.
Well, if the Jets can beat the Bills by 10 points, and the
Giants can beat the Jets by 13,
that puts Sunday's score at something like Giants 33 - Bills
10.
This is very simplistic thinking making it look like the Giants
have the edge based on recent results. I guess knowing that
the Giants are considered something like 8 point underdogs,
makes us have to look a little bit deeper into the situation.
Maybe one telling point is that the Bills have allowed only
54 points in their 6 games at home. That stands as the lowest
allowed by any team.
Another point might be that the Bills have lost only once
after a bye since 1990, and that's the year they were introduced
in. That stands as the best record in the league.
Another point could be made that the Buffalo defense has given
up only 5 TDs in the last 5 games.
What
the Giants have going for them
lt's
time for the Giants offense to pay back a Giants defense that
has carried the team all season. Everyone applauds the fact
that Kerry Collins was 17-29 for 341 yards and 3 TDs last
week.
They forget that the week before that he threw for 298 yards,
and one TD. That's an average of just over 319 yards per game.
Kerry Collins and the Giants receiving group might just be
for real.
Not to leave out any facts, but Kerry also had 3 INTs in that
losing effort against the Cards. That could be dismissed as
it was his first game after weeks of bench sitting, and he
also had no benefit from the running game in that start.
With Joe Mongomery in there last week against the Jets, with
the running game blazing, there were 0 INTs.
Montgomery carried the ball 38 times for 111 yards, and his
ability to gain yards forced the Jets to respect the running
game, and made it easier for Collins to throw downfield.
What
the Giants have going against them
Aside
from all that good stuff we mentioned about the Bills earlier,
the Giants secondary is banged up real bad without Jason Sehorn,
with Phillippi Sparks as probable, and Shaun Williams returning
off an injury.
If you ever had a desire to play football, can run fast, and
can hit, get yourself out to the stadium for a tryout. As
a joke, I posted "11 Man Rush against the Bills!"
on the Giant
Insider Message board.
"With all the Giants regular secondary coverage players
out or injured, they might as well rush everybody with arms
waving to surround Flutie and crush the pocket down.
It may look stupid but if Flutie gets passes off this week,
we have nobody to bring down the Bills receivers anyway."
What the Giants will have, is Emmanuel McDaniel, fresh off
the scout team, and Jeremy Lincoln against Eric Moulds and
Andre Reed.
The Bills also have Thurman Thomas back for the first time
since the opening game of the season. Even if he plays for
only part of the game, that has to be a big emotional lift
for them.
Of course, there is also the matter of Bills QB Doug Flutie.
Linebacker Jessie Armstead and defensive end Michael Strahan
will both be playing hurt against the elusive Flutie.
Some
What Ifs.
What
if - Fassel had decided to let Sean Payton call all the games
this season after seeing what a good job he did calling against
Minnesota in that preseason game?
What if - Sean Payton called all the games Kent Graham played
in?
What if - Kerry Collins was awarded the starting position
at the start of the season?
What if - Gary Brown fell off his bicycle at an early age,
decided never to ride a motorcycle, and was healthy for the
1999 season?
What if - The Giants win all the rest of the games to finish
10-6?
Why
so surprised?
Why is everyone so surprised that when Jim Fassel handed the
play calling over to Sean Payton things worked better? Don't
you all have jobs?
Doesn't everyone know that the less you let the boss do for
himself, the better off everyone is?
After scoring the most points they have ever scored with Jim
Fassel as the head coach, the Giants have decided that Payton,
will call the plays from now on.
Coach Fassel will be an advisor and an overall strategist.
Meanwhile, a modest Payton referring to last week said, "The
reason we had 41 points is because everyone did their job,
and we didn't turn the ball over."
Notes
Giants
QB Kerry Collins has passed for 639 yards and 4 TDs in the
last 2 games.
Bills
QB Doug Flutie has TD pass in 10 consecutive games.
Giants
Head Coach Jim Fassel is 8-0 in December.
Bills
are 3-0 against the Giants since the Super Bowl XXV loss in
1991.
Bills
have won the last 10 games vs. NFC East teams.
Bills
defense is ranked 3rd in the league against the rush, 2nd
against the pass and 2nd overall.
Last
week -
Giants allowed the Jets only 15 yards rushing.
The only day worse was a 5 yard day against the Bills in 1966.
Jets
had given up a total of only 44 points in their previous 4
games before facing the Giants, and gave up 41 points to them.
Strahan
had 2 tackles and no sacks even though Jets QB Ray Lucas was
throwing 48 times.
Next
week
The Giants play at St Louis on Sunday Dec 19, at 1 PM.
The Bills play at Arizona on Sunday Dec 19, at 8 PM.
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Previous
Stories
1999
NFC EAST - Week 13
|
Team |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
PF |
PA |
Home |
Away |
AFC |
NFC |
DIV |
Streak |
Washington |
7 |
5 |
0 |
.583 |
347 |
320 |
4-2 |
3-3 |
1-1 |
6-4 |
4-3 |
L1 |
Arizona |
6 |
6 |
0 |
.500 |
183 |
237 |
4-3 |
2-3 |
0-3 |
6-3 |
5-2 |
W4 |
Dallas |
6 |
6 |
0 |
.500 |
261 |
195 |
5-0 |
1-6 |
1-2 |
5-4 |
3-3 |
L1 |
NY Giants |
6 |
6 |
0 |
.500 |
235 |
250 |
4-3 |
2-3 |
1-2 |
5-4 |
3-4 |
W1 |
Philadelphia |
3 |
10 |
0 |
.231 |
200 |
297 |
2-4 |
1-6 |
0-3 |
3-7 |
2-5 |
L3 |
|