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Beating the Birds To stop Ravens, Giants must forget about the run
Have a comment or question for Dr. Z? Click here. Important things first. Three letters have been forwarded to me, and I will dutifully forward them to my buddy, Artie, who wanted to know where John Madden got the sandwich he displayed on TV during the Eagles-Giants game. But I will forward them with a note of caution, because no one likes to get poisoned. Brett of Marlboro, N.J., says that it came from Harold's in Lyndhurst, right by the Meadowlands. Matthew of Edison, N.J., says it came from Harold's Deli in Edison. This led me to suspect that the item originated in Harold's, which was confirmed by Cori of Tranquility, N.J., who chastised me for not recognizing my own neighborhood deli, Harold's New York, right down the road from me on Route 46 in Parsippany. Ding! Lightbulb! Ohhh, thaaaat Harold's. My son, Mike, loves Harold's. The Flaming Redhead says it's a good place to bring her 6-foot-8, 280-pound son (my stepson), Nathan. Me? I can't stand the place. Now, don't get me wrong, I love to eat. I love to eat too much. When some chi-chi restaurant reviewer complains about portions that are "embarrassingly large," I give it the old Bronx cheer. Go ahead, embarrass me! But Harold's is something else. The food flatly stinks, but you're blinded by the mammoth portions. The formula is simple. Everything's about three times the size it should be, and so are the prices, so divide by three and you'd get a normal deli. The food is awful. Corned beef that comes out with a green patina on it, thinly sliced brisket with that high school cafeteria flavor, pastrami that tastes of some evil chemicals. And you're right, Cori, Harold's is the place that got busted for food poisoning a few years ago. On second thought, maybe I won't tell Artie where John Madden got that sandwich. "Doctor, my head hurts," writes Julie. Guess where Julie's from. You're right, St. Paul, Minn. Wants an explanation. Giants' offensive coordinator Sean Payton was banking on Robert Griffith moving up near the line ("in the paint," was Payton's way of putting it) right away to stop the pounding runs that would surely open the game for the Giants. No pounding runs. Not much fallback position for the Vikes or Griffith. Pass, pass, pass. When would New York start running? Well, how about in the second half, after Collins threw for four TDs and the Giants opened a 34-0 lead? Vikes had two DBs out. Nickel package a joke. Giants made 'em go nickel by using multiple wides. The capper was that the Giants' O-line nullified the Vikings' rush and the great John Randle, giving Collins all the time he needed to pick a weak secondary apart. OK, OK. So why wasn't it a 38-35 shootout? you ask. Jason Sehorn played the game of his life on Randy Moss and basically closed him down. Ditto nickel back Emmanuel McDaniel, a better cover guy than I or anybody else ever suspected, on Cris Carter when he worked from the slot. That was the surprising thing to me. Officiating crew was stingy in interference calls, good for the Giants, bad for the Vikes receivers, who whine a lot downfield. Game snowballed. Grass field didn't help the Vikings, a predominantly turf team. Catch-up situation. Panic mode. Not too fired up coming in, anyway, and add to that the fact that Dennis Green is a notoriously poor game-day coach and you have a 41-0 blowout. All this kind of answers the next Vikings question, from Mark of Minneapolis, who wants to know if Green is a weakie in big games. I don't like blanket statements. Let's just say that I've seen him outcoached more often than not after the opening whistle blows. The Redhead thanks you for your noticing her 2-0 record. If our institution permitted serious wagering by its employees, I just might have made a little tap on a double-underdog parlay and been able to finance our long-awaited trip to Secaucus. On the same subject, Michael of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, says he's a true believer in the ESP abilities of Flaming Redhead, Butterknife, Kitchen Territory, N.J. Would like her Super Bowl pick, plus final score. Warning: The Surgeon General has ruled that the following is for recreational purposes only. Got that? OK, here goes. Giants, 14-3. And he added that if she could guess where he was from he would send a box of cigars. OK, honey, take your time. This is big. What place is flashing through your brain cells? "Chicago," she says. Phhhtttt, give her the hook! Next psychic! Don of Bloomington, Ill., asks if there's any truth to the rumor that the Giants were stealing the Eagles' radio transmissions. See that, those rowdy Eagles' fans are too chicken to face me like men (or women) and are now planting mole-in-the-rosebush rumors. Give them the hook, too. The answer: Just as fighters do, an NFL team sometimes just seems to have another team's number. I give John Fox all the credit, even if he was seen consorting with Kim Philby Saturday night. As for your remark about my living the American dream, thank you, and that goes for TFR, too. Paul of Calgary wonders how the Jets could run up 524 yards on the great Ravens' defense. I still hold to the theory that the Ravens were not playing with their normal intensity. You don't buy it? OK, how about this one: The way to beat Baltimore, I believe, is to forget about the run, except for later in the game, and open up with three- and four-wide receiver packages. Spread 'em, force them to play in space, make them bring in James Trapp and Robert Bailey and work on those guys, who aren't all that good. The Jets did some of that, but Vince Testaverde was hit one, miss one. I think that's what the Giants will do, and that's why I like the ... no, wait a minute, I picked the Ravens, didn't I? Well, I think their D will force at least three turnovers and give Dilfer and the boys a short field. Thanks, incidentally, for the nice things you said. Eric of Kingston, N.Y., wonders how the Giants can attack the D, and I believe I've answered that, huh? For further information, feel free to write again, and mark it UGRENT!, make that URGENT!, so Jimmy will be sure to put it through. Jason of Seymour, Wis., sees an overmatch in Michael Strahan vs. Harry Swayne. It won't be Strahan vs. Swayne, it'll be Strahan vs. Swayne -- plus Coates or plus Gash or plus Flynn or plus whomever else takes turns chipping on him. Brian Billick isn't exactly stupid. Elsewhere I think they'll try to nullify the rush by having Dilfer throw on rhythm, off a short drop. David of Winnipeg is my kind of guy. Loves good defense. Cites the fine work of the Niners D vs. the Dolphins in the '85 Super Bowl, and I couldn't agree more. I was an MVP voter in those days, and do you know who got my vote in that game? Well, I voted co-awards, Joe Montana and Gary, "Big Hands," Johnson. I can close my eyes and see it now, Big Hands running his stunts, barreling up the middle and screwing up Marino, who was on the verge of coming apart. Yep, the Niners sure put up a great defense that day. Thanks for your compliment, Dave. To Bill of Randolph, N.J.: First of all, thanks. Secondly, you say you met me in the Denville Post Office, so why didn't you say howdy-do? On second thought, I'm usually in an evil mood in that place because I can't stand the lines, and especially the ladies who indulge in all that neighborly chit-chat with the guy at the counter. C'mon, get movin' lady! Honk! Question No. 1: Why isn't Harry Carson in the Hall of Fame? Anti-New York bias, plus the fact that he always seems to be coming up against more popular LBs. Question No. 2: Can Bill Belichick make it as a head coach? Last August I'd have said yes. Now I'm not so sure. John of New Orleans claims that this is "the sixth or seventh" he has tried to infiltrate my mailbag. Keep trying, champ. The record is 42 by some guy in Bali. No, wait a minute, your streak is over because you finally made it. The prize is a box of sugar cookies knitted by my wife. Wants to reminisce about the Super Bowl Jets, which I'm ready to do in a minute, and wants a quick capsule on what made Joe Willie so great. Ranks with John Unitas as the greatest two-minute-drill QB I've ever seen. His first pass would strike terror into the hearts of the DBs. Finally, I am sincerely flattered by your comment that some day I should be in the Hall of Fame in some way. Well, John, if you ever go to Canton, you'll see my name there. In the writers' section. Honest, there is a small space allotted to us. Sean of Syracuse, and I thank you for the feelings you expressed, wants to know how the Jets match up with the Giants, in terms of talent. I just did a player-by-player breakdown and here are my results (sorry, but space does not permit me to discuss each player): Offense, Jets 6-5. Defense, a little hard because the Jets play a 3-4, but it came out 5-5, with one even. Special teams -- Giants, slightly. I think the Giants are better coached, though. Again, only slightly. Finally, Jets fans dress better. Jeff of Mattoon, Ill., brings a heavy load to the mill. Feels that it'll be the worst Super Bowl of all time. Not for me. I love defensive games. My favorite game this season was the Bills-Titans opener. He also feels that critics will refuse to lambaste this game because of the NYC bias in all major media outlets. Get a grip on yourself, man! The networks puff everything, but the writers rip. Daniel of Artesia, N.M., wants to know how Ray Lewis stacks up with the great MLBs of the past. Is it Lewis who is great, or is it the system? The answer to part two is a little of both. Part one -- I'd put him in the top 10 for a reason that might surprise you. His coverage ability. He's better than a lot of great ones in that department. But he doesn't attack blockers the way some of the old guys did.
Steve of London, Ontario, wonders how Lewis can get away with the head shot on McNair and how Fat Tony can give it the old squasheroo vs. Gannon and get away with it. Don't ask me about this stuff. I don't know how it works. Half the guys who get fined seven-and-a-half G's by the league never got flagged in the first place. Hey, thank you, Scott Polk of Philly, for your information on Leroy Roker, the guy who broke my jaw in that service bout. I've been trying to find out for 40-plus years what ever happened to him. You say that he was 0-1 as a pro and Sonny Banks knocked him out in 1963. Well, wasn't Banks a main-event fighter? So what was poor Leroy doing, meeting him in his first bout? I get the feeling that perhaps there were a few more fights hidden away somewhere. Boy, do I remember that night. One of my buddies said that he counted 32 unanswered punches that he hit me with. My girlfriend, Joni McCloud, a WAAC from Ketchikan, Alaska, got sick in the stands and threw up. When the ref finally stopped it, I tried to figure out what treatment I'd give it, and I decided to sort of throw my hands down in disgust, as I once saw Archie Moore do, without actually protesting his decision. That would have been ridiculous. I mean, he might have permitted the fight to continue. Scott's question: How do the Ravens match up with the Steel Curtain? Not at all. Not even close. I mean, let's do a man-to-man matchup and start with Joe Greene and Fats Holmes against Sam Adams and Tony Siragusa. You see my point? Alex of Miami has nice words to say about my matchups, with one exception, Burnett getting a standoff with Strahan. Perhaps you're right. Strahan is playing better now, but I'm kind of rewarding Burnett for past performance. Ted of Boston wonders if the Ravens' edge in special teams could turn the game. Yes. I close my eyes and see Jermaine Lewis breaking a couple of punt returns. Have a comment or question for Dr. Z? Click here.
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