Giants - Ravens
1999 Preseason Game 4 - 12 pm ET
The Last Preseason Game

Buckle up for opening day
That's right. It's finally going to happen. Soon we'll get to watch football with all the real players on the field and most all of the games will be on a real football Sunday, instead of these crazy preseason days.
This time we have a Friday game, during working hours, against the Baltimore Ravens. How in heck did something like that happen?
Well, some of it is kind of the Giants doing.
The game originally was scheduled for Friday evening, but the Orioles were scheduled to play in the afternoon at a neighboring stadium, with shared parking lots.
The Ravens wanted to move the game to Saturday night to avoid traffic problems, but coach Fassel didn't want this preseason game to cut into his Tampa Bay preparation time.
So the game is at noon and the team will be back home at around 7 PM. Preseason will be over and they can get working on their gameplan for Tampa Bay.

For the record
The Ravens are undefeated this preseason, against the Eagles 10 - 7, Falcons 19 - 6, and Jaguars 28 - 24, but those were all cats and birds, and we're talking Giants here. For what it's worth, the first unit will play for only one quarter of this game and hopefully emerge all tuned up and healthy for opening day.
If the Giants lose this game, they will be a respectable preseason 2 - 2. If the Ravens lose, they will be 3 - 1, so there is not much of an incentive for either team to care much about a win over performance issues, unless the Ravens get all excited about hanging onto an "undefeated" title for their excited fans.

Last Week
The Ravens had a spectacular last-second win over the Carolina Panthers that came about when QB Stoney Case hit Billy Davis with a 41-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds remaining to nail down the 28-24 win.
The Giants lost to the Jets 16 - 10, and should be thankful to former coach Bill Parcells for pointing out their weaknesses.
The Giants offensive line, which did not allow a sack in the Giants first two games, yielded five to the Jets. Also, quarterbacks Graham and Kerry Collins were forced out of the pocket for much of the game.
This could show just how lost they can be when experienced Center, Brian Williams isn't playing. He left the game with a knee injury, and that's when things seemed to turn for the worse for the Giants QBs.

The Giants on defense were hit with draws and screen plays and found out that an aggressive all out attack does not always work.
They did learn their lesson in the first half, and held the Jets scoreless for the rest of the game.
Unfortunately, as mentioned above, the Giants scrambling offense managed to put just three points up during that same period of time and fell short. Look for a calmer and somewhat humbled defense to take the field on Friday.

Tie-ins
General Manager Ernie Accorsi began his NFL football career in Baltimore with the Colts and served as general manager of the team for the 1982 and 1983 seasons.
He served under Ravens owner Art Modell as general manager of the Cleveland Browns for eight seasons from 1985 to 1992.

Notes:
Fans should watch the gameplay of Jeremy Lincoln who has suddenly become very important to this team. He could well be the starting right cornerback on opening day due to the injuries of Jason Sehorn and Conrad Hamilton.
QB Kerry Collins will get the majority of playing time, after starter Kent Graham is done, partially because he missed playing time while sitting out game 2 with a bruised ankle, and maybe also for his bruised ego as he settles into the unfamiliar backup role.
This is a very important game for many hopeful players who need to make a good showing, and we wish them the best of luck in getting that big break they need.

Next week
The Giants open their regular season against Tampa Bay on September 12 at 4 PM.
The Ravens are at St. Louis at 1 PM.