GIANTS NOTES
IRVING – How does it make a defense feel when the opponent has no fear about going for the first down on fourth down not once, but twice in a close game?
“It’s almost an insult for a defense,” DE Michael Strahan said.
If so, then consider the Giants defense insulted by Bill Parcells’ tactics yesterday in the Giants’ 26-10 victory over the Cowboys.
Parcells loves going for broke on fourth down; his club this season was successful three of four times on fourth down before going 0-2 against the Giants.
The first defensive stand came late in the first quarter on fourth-and-inches from the Giants 5-yard line. Trailing 3-0, Parcells eschewed a chip-shot field goal, but Eddie George was dropped for a two-yard loss on a solid hit by linebacker Kevin Lewis.
“You got to give the credit to up top, [defensive coordinator] Tim [Lewis] calling the play, and we executed it, the way it came off what they ran, it was a perfect call,” Lewis said. “Barrett Green came off, blew up the fullback and cleared it up, the front took the guys off of me, cleared up a lane, there was only one place for him to go, he had to go through me to get there.”
A true game-turning play came with 10:14 left, with the Giants leading 16-10. Parcells on fourth-and-1 from the Dallas 43 opted not to punt and came up a loser when cornerback Will Allen made an expert tackle to drag fullback Darian Barnes down for no gain after the catch.
“I was waiting on it, actually,” Allen said. “That’s a play that most people run, especially when they got that back sitting out there so they can cheat to get out there. The defense we had called is actually designed to stop something quick in the flat
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Tom Coughlin originally had the Giants working three days this week heading into the bye with no three-day weekend, but as a reward for winning the game he gave the players off on Friday . . . WR Tim Carter did not play in the second half because of a hip injury. DT Fred Robbins left in the second quarter with an injured shoulder. He was replaced by William Joseph.
Jeremy Shockey was playing in front of about 25 family members and friends. He is from Ada, Okla. . . . Replays indicated that Shockey pushed off S Roy Williams on a 1-yard TD leap and catch. Shockey did not argue. “It was a great throw,” he said. “I thought I pushed off a little bit. It happens in football, nothing’s going to be perfect. Things happen, people hold, you push off, it’s football.”
