D ALLAS — The Giants should be in the playoffs instead of the prayoffs today. So they sit inside Texas Stadium and wait for a miracle in Green Bay from the Cardinals, and then they try to give Wellington Mara and their fans their money’s worth for a change against the Cowboys on Prayoff Sunday.
Given the sorry state of the NFC, the Giants not making the playoffs can be called The Fumble every bit as much as that fateful day in 1978 that Joe Pisarcik remembers only too well.
At the end of a week in which the head coach and then the legendary owner warned that heads may soon roll, we examine this issue: How and why the Giants crashed and burned in 1999.
Quarterback: Jim Fassel played it safe and stayed too long with Kent Graham. With the defense showing chinks in its armor, the play-it-safe formula that got Fassel the division title and Coach of the Year honors in 1997 should have been scrapped. Fassel probably sacrificed the short term for the long term by coddling Kerry Collins. Collins would have been further advanced and in better control of the offense if he had been handed the reins weeks earlier, and if Fassel had surrendered the play-calling to Sean Payton. The comeback victory over the Eagles that made the Giants 5-3 prior to the bye week only delayed the start of the Collins Era.
Michael Strahan: I nominated Strahan for Best Player in New York before the season. Strahan has 5½ sacks, and three came in one game against Lonnie Palelei, the ex-Jet castoff. Star defensive ends are not paid $32 million for pressures, or their work against the run. They are paid to intimidate and sack the quarterback, especially in the fourth quarter with the game on the line. Especially with Phillippi Sparks and Jason Sehorn out and Jeremy Lincoln and Emmanuel McDaniel in at the corners.
Sehorn: Superman never came back. Fassel cut him slack following a painful divorce and let Sehorn work out on his own, far from the club’s offseason conditioning program. If it wasn’t Sehorn’s knee, it was his hamstring. When opposing quarterbacks quickly realized that the year off had reduced him to just another white cornerback, they went after him. Once upon a time, the Giants depended on Sehorn to close down one side of the field, a la Deion. He needed the old Strahan more than ever, and Strahan needed the old Sehorn more than ever. Take two dominant players off any defense and you have what you had this season. Not all was lost: At least Sehorn made GQ’s Pro Bowl.
Calling Joe Morris: Gary Brown never recovered from that off-season motorcycle accident and was never a factor. There went 1,000 yards on the ground, although with this offensive line, he wouldn’t have come close anyway. The brass overestimated Brian Williams’ impact at center. Williams was understandably rusty after two years away from the game. Rookie Luke Petitgout wasn’t ready to replace disabled Lance Scott at left guard.
Fassel trusted RB LeShon Johnson too much and didn’t get Tiki Barber, his only playmaker, into the mix soon enough for fear of wearing him down. Three yards and a cloud of turf. It was the worst Giant rushing attack since 1953. Whatever happened to smashmouth? Maybe the young Dan Marino could overcome it, but not Graham and not Collins. Rookie LG Mike Rosenthal and rookie RB Joe Montgomery have been upgrades, but it’s too little, too late.
And so that brings the Giants to the Prayoff Sunday, when they need Jake Plummer to suddenly remember he was supposed to be The Next Joe Montana, and Brett Favre to miss Mike Holmgren more than he has ever missed him. Then they need to beat Jerry Jones’ desperate Cowboys, and there will be a Second Season for a team that doesn’t deserve one.
Do you believe in miracles?
“I do believe in miracles and the reason I do is because we saw it happen with the Olympic team and Kirk Gibson and some of these other sports events,” Barber said. “But, also, miracles happen when you take advantage of opportunities. Miracles aren’t just gonna come from nowhere. They happen when you capitalize on opportunities. We’re gonna have an opportunity. If we capitalize on it, some people will look at it as a miracle.”
If the Cardinals beat the Packers at Lambeau Field, do you think you will be in the playoffs when you wake up tomorrow morning?
“I expect to be in the playoffs Monday morning; I’m gonna play like we’re going to the playoffs Monday morning,” Barber said. “I think that when guys get the news that the Cardinals do beat ’em, if they get that news, they’re gonna expect to be in the playoffs Monday morning.”
Do you believe in miracles?
“Uh huh. Yup,” Fassel said.
Why?
“What are miracles?” Fassel asked. “Miracles are something that happen that are highly unusual, and the reason we have the word miracles and they do happen is because there’s a lot of things that happen that way in this world.”
There have been all kinds of sports miracles. There was the U.S. hockey team beating the Russians at Lake Placid. Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson in Tokyo. The Miracle Mets in 1969. Mookie’s grounder rolling through Buckner’s legs. Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary to beat Miami. Franco Harris’ Immaculate Reception. Bobby Thomson hitting that home run off Ralph Branca. Broadway Joe shocking the Colts.
Do you believe in sports miracles?
“Anything can happen, right?” Collins said.
Anything and everything already has. The Giants have only themselves to blame for Prayoff Sunday.