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Inside the NFL
Posted: Tuesday December 14, 1999 02:48 PM An unlikely trio has the Giants in the middle of the NFC playoff chase By Peter King
When the year began, the three men who would ultimately give new life to the Giants' playoff run were about as far from being saviors as they could possibly be. One was in a rehab center. Another was looking for work after having left that noted NFL juggernaut in Philadelphia. The third was trying to convince teams that an oft-injured, backup running back in college was worth risking a draft pick on.
"Oh, we're a playoff team," wideout Amani Toomer said in the locker room on Sunday. "Everyone in this room knows it. I just hope we've got time to show the rest of the league." Time isn't the problem; the schedule is. The Giants probably have to win at least two of their remaining three games -- at St. Louis (11-2), home against Minnesota (7-6) and at Dallas (7-6) -- to make the playoffs in the watered-down NFC. But considering where they were a couple of weeks ago, at 5-6 after following a 5-3 start with three straight losses, it's amazing the Giants are even talking about the playoffs. Give Montgomery a lot of credit for the turnaround. After suffering a knee injury in his sophomore year at Ohio State that was so serious a doctor told him his career was over, Montgomery worked himself back into football shape. As a senior in '98 he had 118 carries for 766 yards. Though he's hardly been Joe Durable since arriving at training camp (since July he's had two hamstring injuries and a broken foot), Montgomery proved to be a workhorse when coach Jim Fassel gave him his first start. It came against the Jets, and Mongomery carried 38 times for 111 yards and a touchdown. "Coach Fassel asked me if I was ready to carry the ball all day," the 5'10", 228-pound Montgomery said. "He gave it to me 38 times and said, 'What's the big deal? The ball's not heavy.' I love how he showed so much faith in me." Give Payton a lot of credit. Because Fassel left the team to attend his mother's funeral in California early in the week leading up to the Jets game, he turned the play calling over to Payton. It was a bold move, considering that the 35-year-old Payton had bounced around the college ranks from 1988 through '96 and had spent the last two years as the quarterbacks coach in Philly. The Giants' offense had been stuck in quicksand all season, but on the second series against the Jets, Payton called a double reverse that went for 27 yards. The Giants scored 27 first-half points, their highest scoring half since 1993, and Collins and Toomer hooked up on touchdown passes of 61, 9 and 80 yards. "There's an ebb and flow to the game I'm starting to feel," Payton said after Sunday's game. The play calling could be a touchy subject with Fassel because his assistant is calling a better game than he did. But Fassel has handled it well. "I really like his poise," Fassel says of Payton. In fact, in the third quarter on Sunday, when Payton was getting bombarded with suggestions by players and coaches, Fassel got in the middle, pointed to Payton and said, "Hey! You call the game!" But give most of the credit to Collins. A year ago he was fighting his reputation as a quitter; Carolina cut him in October 1998 after coach Dom Capers said Collins had asked out of the starting lineup. Then Collins struggled through a short stay in New Orleans, impressing no one as a woeful 49% passer who threw 10 interceptions and only four touchdown passes. In an interview with SI in November '98, Collins appeared nervous, shifty and devoid of confidence, his eyes darting around the room. He had shied from admitting that he had an alcohol problem. Then last January he entered the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kans., where he spent seven weeks. He says he hasn't had a drink since his rehab began. Last February the Giants signed him to a four-year, $16.9 million contract, which included a $5 million signing bonus. Many around the league thought New York was crazy to throw that kind of money at a free agent who wasn't attracting much interest. Thanks to hands-on tutoring by Fassel, Collins has stopped throwing off his back foot. His drop-back, once herky-jerky and inconsistent, is rock steady. He has learned when to throw the ball away instead of trying to make a heroic -- and stupid -- throw. When Payton asked him late in Sunday's game what play he wanted to run, Collins shrugged. "Just call one," the quarterback said. "We'll make it work." He completed 23 of 44 attempts for 240 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. He threw the ball confidently, on a line, all afternoon. "He is a work in progress," Fassel said, "but I love what I see." After the win in chilly Buffalo, Collins exuded a calm that his old teammates in Carolina and New Orleans wouldn't have recognized. "The bottom line," Collins said, eyes focused on his questioner, "is I'm a much healthier person, a much happier person. The most important thing in the world to me now is being a good quarterback." Issue date: December 20, 1999
For more Inside the NFL see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, December 15. Click here to subscribe to SI.
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