NFL Recap (Philadelphia-NY Giants)
Posted: Sun August 31, 1997 at 8:54 p.m. EDT
NY GIANTS 31, PHILADELPHIA 17
Rookie safety Sam Garnes returned an interception 95 yards for a
touchdown midway through the fourth quarter and Dave Brown threw
for a score and ran for another as the New York Giants defeated
the Philadelphia Eagles, 31-17, in Jim Fassel's debut as Giants
coach.
Fassel became the first coach to win his NFL debut on his
birthday. He turned 48 Sunday.
The Eagles rallied from a 24-3 deficit to pull within 24-17 and
were bidding for the tying touchdown when Garnes stepped in
front of a slant pass from Rodney Peete intended for Irving
Fryar and raced down the left sideline for the score.
Garnes, a New York native, was one of five rookies in the Giants
starting lineup. Running back Tiki Barber gained 88 yards on 20
carries. Along with Garnes and Barber, Ike Hilliard started at
wide receiver, Derek Engler at center and Brad Maynard punted.
"I never scored a defensive touchdown before and it felt good to
get there (the end zone)," said Garnes. "Not even in college or
high school did I ever score on defense."
"I thought the whole team came out ready to play," said Barber.
"We all came in today, worked real hard, never quit and it all
paid off."
Brown scored from three yards out on a quarterback draw midway
through the first quarter to give the Giants a 7-0 lead. He then
connected with Chris Calloway on a nine-yard scoring play with
just six seconds left in the first half to increase the
advantage to 14-3. Brown was 13-of-27 for 193 yards.
"I'll take that (the lead) for the next 15 games," said the
Giants head coach. "I think that's critical. It was going to be
interesting to see how we were going to play today. "
The first Giant touchdown was set up when Brown hit fullback
Charles Way on a 64-yard screen play. It was the longest
completion and reception in the careers of the two players.
The 290 yards of offense for the Giants was more than last
season's two games combined against the Eagles. The win broke
Philadelphia's four-game winning streak in the series.
Thomas Lewis took the second half kickoff 84 yards to the Eagles
8-yard line. Two plays later, Barber scored on a one-yard run.
"Any time you get a win you are more comfortable," said Brown.
"I think at times our offense looked like it was rolling. And
at times I certainly have to play a little better if we want to
win a lot of games. I was kind of like a pitcher without his
good stuff today but we still got the win and I'll take it any
time I can get it."
After a 39-yard field goal by Brad Daluiso put the Giants up by
21, Peete replaced an ineffective Ty Detmer and led the Eagles
on a 10-play, 81-yard scoring drive to cut the lead to 24-10.
Peete completed 4-of-5 passes for 71 yards in the drive.
The Eagles scored again on their next possession. Fullback
Kevin Turner outjumped two Giants defenders for a 14-yard
touchdown with 8:15 left in the fourth quarter to cap a
nine-play, 54-yard drive.
Eagle head coach Ray Rhodes pulled Detmer after he completed
just 9-of-25 passes for 103 yards. Peete finished the day
17-of-23 for 260 yards.
Following the game Rhodes did not want to declare a starting
quarterback for next week's game against Green Bay.
"That hasn't been decided yet," said Rhodes. "We're not going
to talk about the quarterback situation right now. I want to go
back and look at the film."
Chris Boniol kicked a 48-yard field goal for the Eagles, his
28th straight, leaving the ex-Cowboy four shy of breaking Fuad
Reveiz's NFL record of 31 consecutive field goals.
The Giants recorded nine sacks, nearly one-third of their total
(30) all of last year.
"I think that everyone went all out for four whole quarters,"
said defensive end Michael Strahan, who led the Giants with 2
1/2 sacks. "We haven't done that this year. There has been a
lot of pressure on the defensive line as far as the pass rush.
But this new system allows us to play reckless."
"This is a disappointing loss for our team," said Rhodes. "Our
play was very dismal at times. The beginning of the game we
made just enough errors to give them the big plays. And when I
say errors, we had some busted coverages. Offensively we weren't
able to move the football or get anything accomplished."
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