Dec 7, 1:00 pm (FOX) - Washington at Giants
Why aren't the Giants playing well?
Head coach Jim Fassel can't figure it out. "I have been coaching a long time and I've never been around a team that will work so hard during the week, pay attention, and then go out and play
that way," Fassel said after last week's loss to the Bills.
Defensive end Michael Strahan doesn't have a clue. "I don't understand why it's happening," Strahan said. "There's an
answer somewhere, but I don't know. We practice well. That's the disheartening thing about it. We've just got to transfer it. Practice means zero. The only thing that matters is what you do
on Sundays and right now, we're not doing it on Sundays."
The answer is simple.
The Giants are just not good enough for the competition. Sure they look fine in practice. They're playing against each other. College teams look good in practice too, but I wouldn't put them
up against an NFL team. Right now the Giants are not what you would call a real NFL team. With rookies spread across the offensive line, and backups at tight end, the offense is in real trouble.
The defense is in the same situation. Basically the Giants have some recently graduated college kids and rookies at key positions going up against real live NFL veteran players, who actually
know what they're doing. They do it on instinct. They're fast and know how to do it well.
The level of competition.
Last week in the preview we said that if the Giants and the Redskins both lost their games to face each other with 4-8 records, they might as well let both
head coaches, Jim Fassel and Steve Spurrier, cross fields and coach the opposing team for the remaining four meaningless games of the season. It would be much more exciting for both sets of
fans that way.
And so, this will be the third week in a row that the Giants play against a team with an equally bad record. First it was the 4-6 Giants / Buccaneers game,
followed by the 4-7 Giants / Bills matchup, and now we get this 4-8 Giants / Redskins extravaganza. The trend won't continue next week because win or lose, the Giants will be overmatched at
least record wise, by the 6-6 New Orleans Saints when they play their Sunday night 8:30 ESPN game.
One team is sure to improve in one of their worst areas, while the other will suffer. The Redskins are 1-5 on the road, and the Giants are 1-5 at home.
Bruce Smith and Jessie Armstead.
OK, so some of the veteran players aren't quite as fast as they used to be, but just like 'paper - rock - scissors', put out the right thing at the right time, and you win the matchup. Defensive
end Bruce Smith has been playing his own game of 'paper - rock - sack' for a long time now, and he tied Reggie White last week with 198 career sacks. Bruce,
with 3 sacks this season, has complained about playing time.
Former Giant and current Redskins linebacker, Jessie Armstead, will aid Bruce in his cause this week. This will be Jessie's second appearance at Giants Stadium since leaving after the 2001
season. Jessie leads the Redskins with 3.5 sacks, and he will bring it against the Giants. Last time out against his former teammates, he had a game-high tying 8 tackles.
Last week - the offense.
Luke Petitgout was out due to a back injury, and the Giants used four rookies on the offensive line. The Giants rushed for a season low of 24 yards, and Kerry Collins was sacked a season high
6 times. Bills running back Travis Henry outdid the entire Giants rushing output of the whole game with just one 32-yard fourth-quarter run.
Kerry Collins was either hit or hurried on almost all his pass plays, and they had the ball for less than 21 minutes, which was a new season low. The
Giants were only 4-for-14 on third-down conversions, and gained just 222 total yards. That doesn't come close to representing the game flow, since 77 of those yards came off one pass completion
to Amani Toomer. Overall, the Giants ran 54 plays and 32 of them gained 3 or fewer yards.
Last week - the defense.
The Bills, playing against the Giants defense, were able to score 3 touchdowns. Previously, their offense had scored only 2 over the past 4 games. They had
gone 17 quarters without a passing touchdown. Quarterback Drew Bledsoe (19-for-29, 252 yards) was recovering from a concussion
and missed practice time, and running back Travis Henry (113 yards on 26 carries), was playing with a cracked bone in his lower right leg. The Bills had
403 total yards, 23 first downs and ran 74 offensive plays.
This week.
Washington quarterback Patrick Ramsey missed last week's game, and reinjured himself in practice this week, so Tim Hasselbeck will make his second career
start. Hasselbeck completed 22 of 42 passes for 231 yards last week in Washington's 24-20 loss to the Saints.
The Giants secondary is missing three starters, cornerbacks Will Allen and William Peterson and strong safety Shaun Williams. After placing Will Allen on injured reserve this week, the Giants
now have six offensive and defensive starters on injured reserve. Left tackle Luke Petitgou will miss his second consecutive game, and tight end Jeremy Shockey will be out as well.
If the Giants lose.
They will finish below .500. If you're one of those fans who thinks it's good if a team loses at this point because they get higher draft picks, consider that cornerback
Will Allen was the only Giants first-round draft pick from the past six years to dress for the game last week. Losses come easy enough. Take your wins when
you can.
Notes.
Jim Fassel has lost 4 consecutive games for the first time as the Giants coach.
Giants are 40-5 under Fassel when leading at halftime.
Giants are 0-for-10 on fourth downs this season.
Giants 24 rushing yards last week was their fewest in a home game since they had 4 in a 16-7 loss to the Browns on Nov. 28, 1954.
No team since the 1981 Washington Redskins had started three rookies on the offensive line.
The Giants have done it twice this season
Kerry Collins was sacked 6 times last week.
The last time he was sacked 6 times in one game was when he was quarterbacking the New Orleans Saints in a loss at Miami on Nov. 29, 1998.
Tiki Barber has 5,186 rushing yards and needs 111 to pass Joe Morris for second place on the franchise's career list.
Washington running back Trung Canidate rushed for 115 yards last week.
It was the only 100-yard game by a Redskins running back this year.
Next Game
Giants at New Orleans Dec 14, 8:30PM.
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