Dec 12, 1:00 pm (FOX) - Giants at Baltimore
Jim Fasssel - former Giants head coach.
Jim gets to see what new toys he might have had to play with if he had somehow managed to hang in for another year. Unfortunately, a number of the new toys are broken for this game, like defensive
tackle Norman Hand (groin), and safety Gibril Wilson (burner). Some of the old ones don't seem to wind up and move about as well as they used to (Amani Toomer, Ike Hilliard). Others, usually
durable, like defensive end Keith Washington, safety Shaun Williams, and even the long time Tonka truck veteran of the team with 12 productive years, Michael Strahan, is broken and out for
the rest of the season.
The Ravens.
Jim Fassel is now a senior consultant with the Ravens. Despite the fact that he is working with second-year QB Kyle Boller, who has improved, the Ravens
are 32nd in the NFL in passing yards (134.6). Instead, they mostly do it on the ground, 13th in the league in rushing (122.8), and
with a strong defense that also puts up points. The defense has scored an NFL league-high 6 touchdowns on interception and fumble returns. They are ranked 8th in the league in total defense.
The Giants offense.
You think things are really bad? In the 12th game last season, Kerry Collins was sacked 5 times by the Bills. In the Giants, 13th game the Redskins sacked Kerry just one time before an aging
Bruce Smith ended Kerry's season. Jesse Palmer took the next 5 sacks, behind that offense sending 19 year veteran Bruce riding off into the sunset to play golf with an all time sack record
in his hands.
Eli Manning was sacked just 1 time last week against the Washington defense (what no Bruce Smith?) going into his 4th start and this upcoming 13th game for the Giants. Does that make you feel
more comfortable with the 2004 offense now?
Some say it's all relative to matchups.
Want to feel better? Look at three major Giants and Ravens team leader stats head-to-head. Quarterback Kurt Warner, who's not even starting now, has over a hundred more passing yards in just
9 games than Kyle Boller has had in all 12. Running back, Tiki Barber has 1183 rushing yards compared to Jamal Lewis with 651. In the air, Amani Toomer has more receiving yards (625) than
Travis Taylor (349). Why bother looking at other stats? In fact, I really encourage you not to go too deep here. Just smile a little for now and go off and watch the game.
Drama.
Long time fans know that drama is the name of the game for the Giants. OK, so here's the current setup. The Giants are one game behind St. Louis for the very last NFC wild-card spot. They
are tied with Carolina, Tampa Bay, Chicago, Detroit and Dallas, and they would lose a tiebreaker to all those teams except Dallas. The right combination of wins and losses by these struggling
teams over the next three weeks could lead to a real big finish. It might come down to the Giants having a shot to win the tiebreaker against the Cowboys in the last game of this season.
Notes.
This will be the Giants first regular season game in Baltimore since they defeated the Colts, 37-28, on Sept. 15, 1963.
Y.A Tittle threw 3 touchdown passes and Alex Webster rushed for 60 yards and another score.
Ravens kicker Matt Stover was a 12th-round draft choice in 1990 by the Giants, but he never played a regular season game for them.
Matt Stover is 4th in scoring among active players, and is 11th on the league’s career scoring list with 1,451 points.
Giants kicker Steve Christie was signed on by the Giants this season, and is 5th in scoring among active players, and 12th on the league's career scoring list
with 1,448 points, just 3 points behind Matt Stover.
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.
Next Game
Pittsburgh at Giants Dec 18, 1:30PM.
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