Giants secondary overcoming injuries
Posted: Tuesday October 20, 1998 10:43 AM
This week's unsung coach is New York Giants secondary
coach Johnnie Lynn, who has the Giants defense making plays despite
numerous injuries that have radically changed his weekly lineup. Lynn
played for the Jets and was a summer intern for me in the early '90s. He
has lost cornerbacks Jason
Sehorn and Phillippi
Sparks and safeties Sam
Garnes and Rodney
Young, but still his backups held Jake Plummer to 12-of-21
passing for 139 yards and kept high-powered receivers Rob Moore and Frank Sanders out of the
end zone. Last year, in Lynn's first season working with the Giants
defensive backs, they led the NFL with 27 interceptions.
At 44, Atlanta Falcons
quarterback Steve DeBerg is every middle-aged guy's idol. But dreaming
about playing again and actually doing it are two different things. At
DeBerg's age, I can't wait too long to give him an award. He played the
second half against a good blitzing Saints team, overcame a sack, threw a
TD pass and finished up 7 of 10 for 60 yards.
Speaking of unsung veteran quarterbacks, what about Doug Flutie? I might rename
this column in his name. Every 10 years, Flutie inspires all the average
guys in America, except that Doug isn't average. Coaches, both his own and
those coaching against him, just shake their heads. He led the 2-3 Bills
over the previously undefeated Jaguars, going 18-for-39 for 228 yards,
including the game-winning touchdown run on fourth-and-goal with only 13
seconds remaining. In all those years he was in Canada, an awful lot of NFL
coaches were fired for not winning.
Another deserving unsung player is Tennessee receiver Kevin Dyson. Why honor a
high first-round pick on this list? Well, Dyson was inactive for three
games this season and didn't have any catches until Sunday. With the
emergence of Randy
Moss, Oilers coaches and front office people have been constantly asked
whether they made a mistake in selecting Dyson ahead of Moss. With Yancey Thigpen out with a
hip injury, Dyson had to step up Sunday in a divisional game with his team
dangerously close to elimination in the AFC Central playoff hunt. Dyson
came through in his first NFL start with four receptions for 82 yards,
including a 45-yard touchdown pass from Steve McNair.
Another rookie worth mentioning is Chicago Bears tight end Alonzo Mayes -- you know
the Bears are better than seven or eight teams in the NFL and beating
Dallas at home will go a long way to build confidence and enthusiasm.
Mayes, once thought to be the top tight end available in the draft, fell to
the fourth round before the Bears drafted him, but he came through Sunday,
catching two passes for 41 yards on the Bears' final drive to set up Jeff Jaeger's game-winning
field goal. Mayes finished with four catches for 57 yards, giving him 11
receptions for 118 yards on the season.
Indianapolis Colts rookie Steve McKinney is a
fourth-round pick who's started all seven games at left guard. The mighty
49ers sacked Colts quarterback Peyton Manning only once
on Sunday as the offensive line gave Manning enough time to put his team in
position for a major upset.
Pat Kirwan brings 12 years of NFL front office, coaching and scouting
experience to CNNSI.com and will offer up a new batch of unsung heroes
every Tuesday throughout the 1998 season.
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