Giants - Cards
1999 Game 6 - 9PM ET

Keeping it Simple

Kent Graham, back in the saddle again.
This is it, the big Monday night game against the Cowboys, and for the Giants, Kent Graham is in the saddle again. The major problem of course is that this saddle gets placed on a crazy stallion which can be described as follows:
The big head of this noble horse (Center Brian Williams) sometimes looks out though eyes seeing double vision when it glances down.
The left front hoof has a brand new shoe (LG Luke Petitgout) so some times the horse's center balance is off, as it leans to the left for support.
The right front hoof (RT Scott Galyon) has a twitch and sometimes flinches past the fence post and draws the rest of the horse offsides.
The rear of this horse has more reliable support (FB Charles Way), though one rear leg was injured for the longest time and is just getting up to speed (RB Gary Brown).
QB Kent Graham tries to ride this quirky steed, while throwing cowchips at his scurrying ranch hands (WR Toomer, Hilliard, Jurevicius), but he gets thrown off many times, and is usually seen running on either side in a mad scramble to stay atop.
This is what will be traveling up and down the field in the name of the NY offense against the corralling ranch hands of the Dallas Cowboys.

To finish this section off and to add some balance, let's remember that the Cowboys got knocked off their high horse last week.
They were riding pretty high, coming off a division championship last year, and winning all their games this season.
They even rode Arizona into the ground 35-7 for knocking them out of the wild card playoffs last year, so everything was going their way.
Then suddenly last week, the lowly 0-4 Eagles descended on them and though Aikman waved his arms wildly (21-39 for 177 yards, 2 INT, 1 TD) , he couldn't shoo them away and the Cowboys were slowly clawed into submission and handed their first loss of the season.

Anyway, let's just say that Jim Fassel has been concerned about things of late, so this week, he has fed his horse a simple uncomplicated diet and has fitted it with a plain simple saddle that will fit nice and comfy and not scare it like the old one that had all kinds of colorful trimmings and things hanging off it.
What all this gibberish means, is that the Giants are going with a back-to-basics, easy-to-play offense against the Cowboys.
This way they will go with their strengths, nobody will make dumb mistakes at the wrong time, offensive drives will be able to be sustained, and they will get back on "track".
Does this sound like good horse sense to you?
I know, that was the last "straw", and I promise no more talk like this for the rest of the review, if you're still reading.

On keeping it simple
Jim Fassel says that the solution lies in making things simple for the players. Charles Way had this to say about coach Jim Fassel's idea to scale down the offensive game plan: "You don't need an offense from MIT to win in the NFL."
OK, so maybe they did get ahead of themselves this year when everything was working so well in the preseason games. Maybe this week it won't look like the entire offensive line of the Giants was drafted from the MIT honor roll.
All this talk made me think back to 1988 to the last of a string of years when the Cowboys went into decline under Head Coach Tom Landry.
They finished the season with a 3-13 record and were 5th in the NFC East.
Landry was replaced by Jimmy Johnson in 1989 who also finished 5th with an even worse record of 1-15. That's interesting, but it's not my point here. When I watched the Cowboys against the Giants in those last Landry years I wondered what had gone wrong with a team that was coached by someone who had lots of 10, 11, and 12 game wins seasons under his belt.

Landry was a coaching genius, but it seemed to me that the superior gameplans he had were getting too complex for the players.
It was probably simplistic stuff to a man like him, but football players like to play football more than they like to study playbooks. It's just added work to have all the players on the the line move at the exact same time. Teams don't always get it right on the simple snap of the ball as it is.
You have to wonder about dissension setting in as players drew penalties and ran wrong routes that killed drives.
Players don't always blame themselves and maybe some thought that their leader was losing touch. There was already a nice size age gap. Don Shula also had a great record even in his later years and he was known to form a game plan around his talent, and not the other way around.
Funny how it worked out that Jimmy Johnson replaced him also.

Where Fassel stands on his Quarterbacks
The Head Coach has said," Kent Graham gives us the best chance to win this football game."
He also said, "Kerry has the potential to be an outstanding quarterback, but Kent is further ahead today to give us a chance to win this game."
He also, "told Kent not to worry about looking over his shoulder."
Then he went on to say, "Right now everything is under evaluation on a weekly basis, but I want to get a guy in at quarterback on a consistent basis."

Maybe someone should ask Fassel what the definition of "is" is?

He did finally wrap things up with, "Kent's the starting quarterback right now, and unless I sense there is something wrong, like against Philadelphia, he will remain the quarterback."
Now that last sentence has some bite to it, but with all the preamble before it, I wouldn't stock up on extra orders of #10 Giants jerseys if I was Kent Graham.
Also Jim will be giving Collins some reps with the first team in practice from now on, and that speaks for itself. I guess I wouldn't be looking over my shoulder if I was Kent Graham. I would just install a rear view mirror.

Final notes on quarterbacks
Fassel is completely right in starting Graham over Collins.
Deion Sanders plays too good a game for a quarterback without much playing experience to go up against. He's a crafty player who purposely hangs back, plods along, and makes it look too tempting to go his way, and then he pounces on you for the big play.
Collins without recent reps and playing experience, would have been taken in easily.
Also, Kent Graham is the locker room favorite, and the players accept him more as their leader. Collins said last week when he stepped in for that one game that he felt that the offense wasn't working together as a unit.
Maybe not all of them wanted it to work with him. If that's the real case, then Fassel is right again for starting these practice sessions with Collins and the first unit.
Maybe this head coach knows how to run a football team after all.

Fassel's reply on building teams
"It's easier to build a strong defense because with some high draft picks and some trades you can specifically build how you want your defense to be.
The key thing to building a high-scoring offense is the quarterback.
It's the hardest player to get in the draft and the great, experienced QBs aren't on the market so you have to take a young guy and be patient with him and hope he develops."

Don't mess with Texas
Jim Fassel started off with a good first season. The New York Giants won the NFC East in 1997 under his direction, and it looked like maybe the Dallas days were over.
The Giants had a young team and the Cowboys and their big stars, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin, were aging.
However, in 1998 with their new head coach, Chan Gailey, they came back at the Giants sweeping them for the first time since 1995, and went on to win their 6th division title in 7 years.

Chan Gailey is only the fourth head coach in Cowboys franchise history.
We know you're going to ask it, so we'll say it.
The others were Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson, and Barry Switzer.
All except the current coach have won Superbowls for Dallas, but he's just getting started here.
Chan finished his rookie season with a 10-6 record, and lead the Cowboys to become the first team in NFC Eastern Division history to register a perfect, 8-0 record in divisional play.
None of those other coaches ever did that.
Gailey used to be the offensive coordinator (1996-97) and receivers coach (1994-95) for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Before that, he was an assistant with the Denver Broncos (1985-1990), including serving as the offensive coordinator from 1989-90.
He has a lot of experience under his belt and has appeared in 4 Super Bowls, and 6 AFC Championship Games. Gailey runs the show now and is being put to the test this year, first having to field the team without Deion Sanders (back again), and now having to do without Michael Irvin who won't play because of a spinal injury.
Chan Gailey already lost a division game to the Eagles, so that streak is over, but we're sure he'll trade it for a Dallas Superbowl win like those other three guys have.

More on Michael Irvin
Michael Irvin who was temporarily paralyzed after that neck injury, is considering giving up football. He said,"When you go through something like this, there's no way you can say that you won't think, 'Hey, that's it. I'm not playing again.' "That's the initial reaction. Then, after you calm down, you kind of weigh it to yourself and see what happens, see what the doctor says and see what everyone else says. That's kind of where I'm at right now."
Irvin's wearing a neck brace now, and understands he's lucky to have only a swollen spinal cord and a herniated disk. He also wondered whether he would be as lucky next time, if there is a next time.
Giants DE Michael Strahan was asked if the Giants will have an advantage with Irvin being out.
"Whenever a team loses a player as great as Irvin, you're not as good an offense. But you've got a veteran like Ernie Mills. He's proven what he can do. You got a guy like (Wane) McGarity, he's played extremely well. They still have weapons. Anytime you have Aikman, I don't count you out. Anytime you have Emmitt Smith and that offensive line, I don't count you out. We don't take them lightly at all."

More on Emmitt Smith
Last year at Texas Stadium in Week 10, Emmitt ran for 163 yards and the Dallas defense kept the Giants out of the end zone. Dallas came away with a 16-6 victory. Emmitt has seven career 100 yard games against the Giants, but in the past 6 games, Smith has had only that one big one, and is averaging 69.2 yards with only two touchdowns.
Emmitt has scored five TDs and run for 409 yards in four games so far, but he will face a Giants run defense that has allowed only one team to reach the 100-yard mark on the ground this season.
LB Jessie Armstead and Giants DE Michael Strahan are both Texans and view every game with the Cowboys as something special.
"I love our games with the Cowboys," Strahan said. "I love what it means -- Emmitt Smith, Erik Williams, Troy Aikman. It's a way to measure ourselves. Especially this year since we're supposed to be a good run-stopping team and they're the best running team in the league."
Let's say the Giants deal with Emmit this week. The Giants can stop him, the question is will it do them any good?
"The thing is with Dallas," Strahan says, "you stop Emmitt, you still have Troy."

More on Troy Aikman
Aikman has thrown for 840 yards, 8 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, but 5 of the TD passes came in that wild season opener against Washington.
Aikman will miss Michael Irvin, and that could make a difference.
It allows the Giants to concentrate more on Smith and wideout Raghib Ismail.
Safety Sam Garnes says, "When you've got Irvin on the field you got to triple-team him. People say his production is down. That's because every time he steps on the field he's double-teamed and triple-teamed.
When he's not there, you have an extra defender to use against somebody else. When you double-team Irvin, leave Rocket one-on-one with somebody, sooner or later he's going to break open.
Without Michael Irvin, we can double-team Ismail in certain situations."
Definitely, it's a tougher game for Aikman without Michael Irvin, but after missing Deion Sanders for the first part of the season, he getting back in form.

Move on to Deion
In that first loss to Dallas last season on Monday night football, it was all Deion Sanders. It was week 3 at the Meadowlands, as Deion returned a 2nd quarter punt 59 yards for a score and later returned an interception 71 yards for a touchdown, and a 55-yard reception, to set up a TD followed that.
The Giants went down in that game 31-7. All that Monday night excitement gave Deion an upset stomach that caused him to sit out some of the game. Sanders won the first-ever NFC Prime-Time Award for his efforts that game.
Deion makes a big impact on a game just by his mere presence.
Last week, the Cards made a point of avoiding his side of the field and that worked out poorly for them.
Avoiding Deion last year was exactly the problem for Giants punter Brad Maynard who was instructed to kick out of bounds.
This is not something Maynard usually does, and in going off from his normal gameplay, he botched one and it flew straight down the middle of the field into Deion's anxious hands.
Maynard feels it would be better to work on Sanders with "good hang time and good coverages" rather than having him do something he normally doesn't do. Last week Sanders fielded 6 kicks for 32 yards against the Cards without any sideline tactics used against him.

Deion against the Giants
Deion Sanders has scored more touchdowns against the New York Giants than any other team in the NFL. Of his 21 career-scores, 3 have come against the Giants. He had an 8-yard reception in 1996, a 59-yard punt return in 1998 and later that game, he had a 71-yard interception return. So what's the plan against Deion?
Both Jim Fassel and Kent Graham don't care that this is only Sanders third game back after off-season surgery on his big toe. They say the Giants have to walk a fine line in challenging Deion. They don't want to stay away from him completely, allowing the Cowboys to cut the field in half on them, but they know it is dangerous to test him.
Kent Graham says, "A lot of teams don't challenge him at all.
He can make you look real bad. We've gotta pick our spots."
Jim Fassel adds, "You have to be smart. Some routes he plays real well."

So what do they do? It's been said that Sanders avoids contact more than ever as he has gotten older.
Graham says that the Cowboys linebackers are fast enough to cover for him in stopping a sweep. "He's way out on the corner," said Graham, "and their linebackers are fast, so their linebackers get over there first."
Kent Graham will carefully try Deion's side, but Maynard will adjust a successful punting style that has placed him fifth in the NFL and second in the NFC with a gross average of 45.2 yards per.
Maynard will aim to put it out of bounds, where Sanders can't possibly catch it, and hopefully will avoid kicking a low shank down the middle right to Deion like he did last year.
Deion has taken no "fair catches", and has returned 11 punts for a 7.9 yard average, and is said to have no plans to play offense this week, but I wouldn't bet on that with it Irvin out, and it being Monday night.

Maybe when the Cowboys play Indianapolis on Oct 31, with Halloween rules in effect, they should open up with all the defenders wearing Deion Sanders masks.
That would leave Peyton Manning with no areas of the field to throw to.

Recent Quote about Dallas from Jim Fassel
He was asked if Cowboys are a better team this year.
"Yes, I feel Dallas is a better team this year.
It looks like Emmitt Smith is running the ball as well as ever as he's rushed for over 100 yards in both of his first two games.
Troy Aikman remains consistent and Michael Irvin looks to be back to his Pro Bowl form. Also, the addition of Raghib "Rocket" Ismail at wide receiver has been a big help for them and their offensive line is playing better than last year. The Cowboys just seem to be quicker and more confident on offense.
As for their defense, they are just solid. They'll always be solid defensively. It's just the way they play."

Michael Strahan on going up against Erik Williams
"You can't go out with Erik and go halfway. He doesn't care about the referees throwing a flag. He doesn't care about anything. He just cares about winning. He'll do anything it takes to win. That's the great part about Erik and that's why I like the way he plays on Sundays."

NOTES

Cowboys
Offensive line led the NFL in fewest sacks allowed (19) in 1998.
Lead the NFL with 141.0 rushing yards per game.
Leads the all-time series against the Giants, 46-25-2
Defense has held opponents to 62 total first downs, 2nd fewest in NFC.
Rank 18th in the NFL in total defense - 7th in the NFC.
Rank 17th in the NFL in rushing defense - 6th in the NFC.
Rank 21st in the NFL in passing defense - 11th in the NFC.
Are 50-20 vs. NFC East competition Including playoffs.
Are making their 57th appearance on Monday Night Football, 2nd most in NFL history next to the Dolphins (62).
Are 33-23 all-time, including 1-0 this season.
Can tie 49ers for most MNF wins with 34.

Emmitt Smith is leading the NFL with 409 yards rushing.
Emmitt Smith has rushed for over 100 yards in 3 of the Cowboys' first four games.
Emmitt Smith (3,018) needs 4 rushing attempts to tie Marcus Allen (3,022) for 3rd place on the NFL's all-time rushing attempts list.
Emmitt Smith (12,975) needs 25 yards to become the 4th player in NFL history with 13,000 career rushing yards.
Rocket Ismail leads the Cowboys with 20 catches for 376 yards and two touchdowns.

Streaks
Last week the Eagles snapped a 10-game regular season winning streak that the Cowboys had going against NFC East opponents.
Giants have a 0-7 Monday night record vs. the Cowboys

Giants
Rank 26th in the NFL in total offense, averaging only 276.8 yards per game, including just 80.6 on the ground.
Rank 2nd in NFC in pass (84.6) defense, 3rd in overall (263.8) & rush (84.6) defense.
Passing attack that is averaging 196.2 yards per game (17th in the league).
In their 2 wins, forced 8 turnovers.
In their 3 losses didn't force a single turnover.
Defense held Cardinals to only 31 rushing yards.

Have lost 3 straight and 5 of their last 6 appearances on Monday Night Football, with 3 of the defeats coming against the Cowboys by a combined score of 104-17.

Gary Brown in his first game of the season had 27 carries, and ran for 87 of the 128 rushing yards the Giants gained on the Eagles.
Gary Brown was held to 67 yards last week against Arizona.

Amani Toomer has caught 29 passes for 367 yards.
Amani Toomer is tied for 1st for receptions with Bears Curtis Conway.

Michael Strahan has 4 sacks in his last two games after failing to get one in the first three.

Next week
The Giants play New Orleans at home on Sunday, Oct 24 at 1 PM.
The Cowboys play Washington at home on Sunday, Oct 24 at 1 PM.

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1999 NFC EAST - Week 5
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Home	Away	AFC	NFC	DIV	Streak
Dallas	3	1	0	.750	110	62	2-0	1-1	0-0	3-1	2-1	L1
Washington	3	1	0	.750	150	118	1-1	2-0	1-0	2-1	1-1	W3
Arizona	2	3	0	.400	72	105	1-1	1-2	0-1	2-2	2-1	W1
NY Giants	2	3	0	.400	71	108	1-1	1-2	0-1	2-2	1-2	L1
Philadelphia	1	4	0	.200	57	96	1-2	0-2	0-1	1-3	1-2	W1