LONDON – When the Giants got their first glimpse of Wembley Stadium, they immediately noticed the grass was unlike the green stuff they’re accustomed to playing on back in the states. It was cut much tighter and seemed in a sense too thin.
“I guess they keep it like that because of soccer,” Plaxico Burress said.
Bingo.
The sun did not shine even once during the Giants’ four-day stay here and a steady and at times heavy rain began early yesterday and didn’t stop all night. That turned an already-suspect field into a completely-inadequate field and made it a detrimental factor in the Giants’ 13-10 victory over the Dolphins.
Any British fans expecting speed and agility instead saw trudging and immobility. The conditions were the same for both sides, of course, but the Giants have far more skilled players on offense and Eli Manning’s passing attack was reduced to a soggy wing and no prayer.
“The ball was slick,” Manning said. “I wish I would have had a few more completions.”
There were only eight completions in 22 attempts and, after hearing from his receivers, it was a wonder there were even that many.
“I’ve never been on a field that came up that quickly and that much,” Amani Toomer said. “It’s just different grass.”
Added Burress: “You could run straight, but running 15 yards full speed and then coming to a complete stop, that wasn’t going to happen. It’s kind of like a mud-based field, a lot of mud out there. It didn’t really have a lot of grass out there, the field was kind of spacey.”
Lawrence Tynes blamed his missed 29-yard field goal on the poor footing.
“I slipped about 18 inches,” he said. “I tried to be ginger with my plant leg and it just came out from under me.”
Michael Strahan blamed the wet track for the inability of he and Osi Umenyiora to get to Dolphins quarterback Cleo Lemon. Despite the conditions, the Giants at times forced the passing game, with awful results.
“They were basically playing coverages, I don’t think they would have played us man-to-man if we were playing in New York or Miami,” Burress said. “With the conditions you can do things like that. We really could not pass the ball.”