1993 Giants vs Cardinals

Week 13

The Setup


One of the great things about sports is that it is not always the superstar who can win a game.  Sure, there is a reason why the biggest/best atheletes in a sport get the big money and endorsements.  Baseball is a stat driven sport.  And over the course of 162 games, teams pretty much well know who their best guys are as the stats will bear it out.  Those are the guys who end up being All Stars and get the $100-$200 million long term contracts.  But in what's called a small sample size, the guy who is a .150 hitter with a crappy OPS might end up hitting a game winning home run.  In football, stats are important, but with only 16 games, and so many other variations thrown in (injuries, weather, new offensive/defensive schemes, etc), the chance for someone who is not considered to be a star to make an impact to win a game is more pronounced.

If you go back to the Giants recent past, particularly in the post season, you can look at 3 games which guys you didn't think about, guys who were not considered to be "stars" made plays to win games.

In 1990, you actually had this happen in 2 games.  In the playoff win over the Bears, you see a 31-3 final score and figure it was a cake walk.  However, the game was close early on and it got out of hand in the 2nd half.  The Bears game was defined by fourth down plays.  In the Giants case, they would end up converting on 3 fourth down plays.  Two were scrambles from Jeff Hostetler (backup QB who no one expected much from) to get first downs.  On the other one, the Giants went 3 TEs on a 4th and short.  The Giants had Mark Bavaro, a shadow of his former self due to knee injuries, but still effective.  Howard Cross, a blocking TE who was becoming more involved in the passing game.  And last was a Plan B free agent pure blocking TE who was signed from the Houston Oilers once they went full run and shoot and ditched the TE position, named Bob Mrosko.  Mrosko caught 3 passes the entire season and none since Week 8 against the Colts.  Hostetler would fake a handoff to OJ Anderson and then hit Mrosko for a 6 yard gain and a big first down.  The next play, Stephen Baker caught a touchdown and the Giants started rolling.

The fouth down which really finished the Bears came a few series later.  Down 10-0, the Bears had driven down inside the 5 yard line.  Mike Ditka tried to power his way in but didn't work.  He tried to get a quick pass off, but Mike Tomzack was rushed by Pepper Johnson and forced a floater.  Down at the 1 yard line, Ditka decided to forego the field goal and try to punch it in.  The Giants defense, filled with big name players like Lawrence Taylor, Carl Banks, Pepper, Leonard Marshall, Erik Howard, etc. lined up against the Bears.  The ball went to fullback Brad Muster and people remember that Pepper would get his helmet knocked off and keep going after the ball carrier.  But the guy who made the play?  John Washington.  A solid/unspectacular 2 way DE who shot the gap to meet Muster and hold him up.  No score for the Bears.  Before the play, John Madden actually said that if the Bears scored, they would have a game, if not, they could be in for a long day.  He was right.

The 2nd time in 1990 was in Super Bowl XXV.  The Bills team was filled with Pro Bowlers.  The Giants, no slouch, had 8 of their own.  The Giants who were down 12-3, and got late TD from Baker to make it 12-10 at the half.  The Giants would embark on a massive 9:39 drive, that would end with an Anderson TD and featured him throw a stiff arm/punch to Mark Kelso that underscored the physical play of the Giants and give them a lead.  But what kept that drive alive was a 3rd and 13 conversion which WR Mark Ingram caught a pass over the middle, dodged about 5 Bill defenders and dragged his way past the first down marker to keep the drive going.  In the Parcells offense in 1990, WRs were an after thought.  The Giants were a power running team, going with Anderson and Rodney Hampton.  Any big plays were reserved for Dave Meggett as a mismatch out of the backfield.  Ingram, a former first rounder, only caught 26 passes in 1990.  But there he was making one of the biggest plays in Super Bowl history to help the Giants win.

So, an unknown WR making a huge play in the Super Bowl to help the Giants win.  Of course, this list has to have David Tyree on it.  Tyree was known as a special teamer.  And he was so good in fact that he made the Pro Bowl in 2005 as a cover man.  As a WR however, he was very much an afterthought on the 2007 Giants.  Tyree would only catch 4 passes the entire season.  Much of the Giants offense in 2007 came from Plaxico Burress and a rookie WR named Steve Smith.  As the Giants defense smothered the unbeaten Patriots and beat up Tom Brady in particular, the Giants offense hung in the game.  In the 4th quarter down 7-3, the first Giants TD was caught by...Tyree.  Tyree hadn't scored a TD since Week 13 of the 2006 season in a 27-13 win at Carolina.  And, of course, you had the helmet catch on 3rd and 5 from the Giants' 44 yard line.  The play was called "76 Union Y sail" and as the defensive line collapsed around Eli and nearly sacked him, he pulled free, fired a 32 yard duck up the field, which Tyree caught and secured with his helmet as Rodney Harrison was all over him.  Of course, that led to the Plaxico TD and made the Patriots the only 18-1 team to not win a Super Bowl.

So we've seen games that were won thanks to the contributions of little used WRs, backup blocking TEs, and lunchpail DEs.  How about a game won thanks to a strong legged kicker who was used as a kickoff specialist and long range howitzer hoping for the best.  That's what ended up happening in this game between the Giants and Cardinals in 1993.  The Giants came into this Week 13 matchup with a 7-3 record, and shockingly had a half game lead on the heavily favored Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East.  They got that lead thanks to Leon Lett screwing up at the end of the Thanksgiving game against the Miami Dolphins when he lumbered over to try to recover a blocked field goal that had gone beyond the line of scrimmage.  However, the field in Dallas that day was a sheet of ice and of course a DT trying to recover a lose ball in those conditions, it was easy to see why he blew the recovery, touched the ball and let Miami fall on it just short of the end zone, allowing Pete Stoyanovich to hit a 19 yard field goal to win the game 16-14.  The Giants were a team going in the right direction after 2 straight losses following their 2nd bye of the season (in 1993, they had 2 bye weeks).  They had beaten Redskins at Giants Stadium, 20-6, and then won slugfest in Philly 7-3 on a 4th quarter TD to Mark Jackson.  In their way was a Cardinal team which never played well in Giants Stadium.  They hadn't won there since 1980.  And Joe Bugel had put a scare in the Giants in 1990, in a game I previously reviewed which the Giants won 20-19 on a late Matt Bahr field goal at the gun.

So the Giants went into this game, seemingly with a gift wrapped up for them.  A laughably bad Dallas loss in front of a nationwide audience a few days before and playing against a team that they had pretty much owned for the better part of a decade at the Meadowlands.  It should be a cake walk..right?

The Game Highlights

Brad Daluiso came on to kick off as the wind immediately blew the ball off the tee, which was a theme going into this game with 40 mph winds predicted along with rain for this game.  Chris Calloway acting as the holder on the kickoff, Daluiso’s boot went to Johnny Bailey at the goal line and he set the Cardinals up in a big way, accelerating past his blockers, nearly untouched all the way out to the 45 yard line, where only Dalusio was waiting, and the kicker grabbed on to the return man and dragged him down near midfield, and by grabbing his facemask.  With the penalty added on, the 48 yard return, plus the 15 yards all the way to the Giants’ 36 yard line, but it was still better than giving up a TD.  On came Steve Beuerlein at QB, and he handed off to Ron Moore, running to the right side and pounded his way to the 28 yard line, dragging Carlton Bailey.  2nd and 2, a draw to Moore up the gut, but this time he was stacked up by Michael Brooks after a 1 yard gain.  

3rd and a long 1, the Cardinals again gave the ball to Moore, but Mike Fox just plowed Mark May, the former Redskin, about 4 yards deep in the backfield and right into Moore, who was then swallowed up by Fox, Jesse Armstead, Myron Guyton and Brooks.  The loss on the play ruined a chance at what could have been a TD after such great field position and on came Greg Davis with a 47 yarder into the wind and he put it down the middle to make the score 3-0 Phoenix with 12:45 to go in the first quarter.

Davis would come on to kickoff and going into the wind got off a short kick that was taken by Dave Meggett at the 11 yard line and he would run to his right and was angled out of bounds at the 29 yard line.  With Aaron Pierce in motion, the ball went to Rodney Hampton, running to his right, would end up getting stacked up by the Cards defensive line and dropped for a 2 yard loss by Rueben Davis.  2nd and 12, Phil Simms would pitch to Hampton running to his left, but on the pitch he bobbled it and allowed Chris Oldham to come up and grab him, actually forcing a fumble, but it was recovered by Hampton at the 25, for another loss.  Now 3rd and 14, Simms in the shotgun, would get a good pocket and fire a deep pass over the middle towards Ed McCaffrey, who was open at midfield, but Simms sailed the ball over the 6’5” WR’s head.  On would come Mike Horan, who got off a poor punt that was angled by the sidelines (which was why Horan replaced Sean Landeta to begin with), and bounced at the 36 and went to Bailey, who grabbed it at the 26, and his momentum took him out of bounds.  In all, a 48 yard punt with no return, so it looked like a boomer in the box score.

The Cardinals started off with another handoff to Moore running to his right, and he picked his way through the line and carried Bailey and Brooks all the way to the 31 yard line.  2nd and 5, Beuerline back, with a rush from LT forcing him up in the pocket, but because of his bulky knee brace, he couldn’t run and dumped it off toward Moore, but the ball was at his feet and hit the ground.  3rd and 5, the Cards gave the ball to their scat back, Bailey, who followed the pulling Luis Sharpe and May into the hole and he cut back up the middle to the 37 yard line, tackled by Corey Raymond for a first down.  Phoenix would again hand off, and again to Bailey, who burst up the middle again, and gained 11 yards out to the 47 yard line for another first down, taken down by Bailey.  A third straight run went to Bailey, again running towards the right side, but the Giants were better prepared and he taken down by Keith Hamilton and Bailey at the Giants’ 49.  2nd and 6, Beuerlein back, dumped off to Bailey at the 47 yard line, he juked around the Giants’ Bailey and took it to the 41, stopped by Mark Collins, but good for another first down.  The Cardinals would go back to the ground, give to Moore, this time running to his left, and he cut inside a block on Fox, and through an arm tackle by Guyton, where he fell forward to the 30, ridden down by Miller as the Giants’ fans began booing as it was yet another first down.  Beuerlein would try a hard count and give it to Moore, who picked his way up the middle and was corralled by Bailey, Greg Jackson, and Lawrence Taylor at the 26 yard line.  2nd and 6, another run to Moore, who tried to go to his right, but Erik Howard shoved Lance Smith in the backfield and messed up the scheme, allowing Guyton and Fox to finish him off at the 27 for a loss.  3rd and 7, Beuerlein on a 5 step drop, slung a pass to Randall Hill at the 24 yard line and he tried to fight his way to the first down sticks, but was met hard by David Tate and Armstead at the 21 and short of the first down.  Rather than go for the field goal, Bugle decided to try to go for it, and sent out Garth Jax, a linebacker, as a blocking fullback.  As the Cards tried to get their plan together, they ran out of time and had to call a timeout.  

So on 4th and 1, Moore made Bugle looks smart, taking the ball to the left side and through the line as Brooks was sealed off and he got the ball all the way down to the 14 yard line, hit by Miller and Jackson.  On first down, Howard jumped offsides, but the Cards dumped the ball off to Bailey on a screen, and he picked his way to the 4 yard line, stopped by Guyton, Raymond and Collins on what was a free play and made it first and goal.  On first down, Phoenix gave the ball to Larry Centers, running to his left and crashed his way to the one yard line, stopped just short by Brooks and Willie Beamon.  Just a few inches away, the Cards would give to Moore, and as he tried to jump over the pile, the Giants got through the line and he was caught in the air by LT and Michael Strahan and was pushed back, short of a TD and he would get shaken up on the play.  After Moore had left the field, the Cards were in a 3rd and goal to go situation and they would cash in

The Cardinals put Jax back in at fullback and the Giants sold out for the run and bought the play action fake to Centers (so did the camera man), that left Butch Rolle, the former Buffalo Bill, able to find his way to the corner of the end zone, with LT in pursuit, for an easy touchdown as the Giants’ crowd was silent.  Davis would add the extra point was good and made the score 10-0 with 2:19 to go in the first quarter as the boo birds began to make their mating call at the Meadowlands.

Davis to kick off again and it would be a little better, taken by Meggett at the 6 yard line, and he would dance his way up to the 27 yard line, stopped by Lorenzo Lynch.  The crowd tried to get the Giants going and they started with a fake to Hampton, and Simms rolled into a blitz by Oldham, and was able to just throw the ball away, somehow intentional grounding was not called.  On 2nd and 10, the Giants finally were able to get something going their way

Simms dropped back and again had a pocket to throw in.  Hampton had come out of the backfield and got behind the linebackers to take in the catch at the 36 yard line, with lots of room to run.  And run he did, cutting up the field and breaking a tackle attempt by Chuck Cecil at the 42 yard line and then sprinting up the left sidelines, all the way down to the 11 yard line, shoved out by Aeneas Williams.  All in all, a 62 yard gain.  First and 10, Hampton took the carry on a quick handoff and powered his way to the 7 yard line, stopped by Tyrone Stowe.  2nd and 6, Simms would again give to Hampton running to his right, and he ran into the line, tackled at the 5 yard line by hit by Eric Hill.  3rd and 4, Simms in the gun, and had some time to throw early on, but as the protection broke down, he tried to hit Keith Crawford in the right corner of the end zone, but it was over thrown.  David Treadwell came on to kick a 22 yard FG and he was able to bang it through to make the score 10-3 with :04 to go in the first quarter.

Daluiso on to kick off, and again the ball blew off the tee which brought Calloway on to hold it,  and he was able to bang it 7 yards into the end zone for a touchback on the final play of the first quarter.  First down, the ball went to Moore, who cut back to his left and ran smack into Brooks at the 23 yard line.  2nd and 7, Beuerlein back, with pressure up the middle, he gimped his way to his right and was tattooed by Raymond as he got the ball away to Ricky Proehl at the 32 yard line, and he fought his way to the 37 yard line, stopped by Collins and Stacey Dillard.  1st and 10, again to Moore, and he took it up the middle, hit by Bailey but surged forward to the 43 yard line.  2nd and 5, Beuerlein back, with time, tried to throw an out to Hill, but the ball floated out of bounds.  3rd and 5, on what was a busted shovel pass attempt to Centers, the play was scraped as the Giants got in the passing lane, forcing Beuerlein to roll to his right and look to do anything with the pass.  What ended up happening was he got sacked by Hamilton and LT at the 39 yard line and fumbled the ball.  Luckily for the Cardinals, the officials called him down and negated Howard’s recovery of the ball.  Rich Camarillo came on to punt and he boomed one to Meggett that took him deep in the left corner to field it at the 6 yard line, and Meggett just avoided stepping out of bounds and danced his way to the 15 yard line, hit down by Jax after a 55 yard punt.  

Simms led the team out and dropped back on a 3 step drop and attempted an out pass to Mark Jackson, but the ball was tipped at the line and bounced off his hands.  2nd and 10, Simms again back, with a blitz in his face that was picked up, and he threw a pass to Jarrod Bunch which was just a little too far from his out stretched arms, and it bounced off of him as he took a shot from Hill.  3rd and 10, Simms in the gun, and again the Cardinals blitzed, and again it was picked up, and his deep pass towards Crawford went a little too far to the inside as the young WR cut off his route over the middle and it hit Lynch in the gut and he dropped an easy INT.  On came Horan to punt away and it chased Anthony Edwards all the way to the 35 yard line and he lost his balance and went out of bounds at the 34 for a 52 yard punt.

The Cardinals would start with a counter play to Moore, who cut back up the middle and was met by LT and knocked backwards for a 1 yard gain.  2nd and 9, on another mess of a play, the Cards tried to run a counter to the left, but the pulling guards actually knocked into Beuerlein, who fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Centers at the 33.  However, the reason by he got hit by Lance Smith was because of a false start, when Smith came out of his stance too soon.  So the penalty made it 2nd and 14.  Beuerlein back, with time, and as he tried to hit Proehl over the middle, the ball was tipped down at the line by Dillard.  3rd and 14, Beuerlein dropped back with time, and had to dump it over the middle to Centers, but he was well short of the first and dropped the ball on the hit by Armstead.  So on came Camarillo, got off a high punt, but not that far, taken on a fair catch by Meggett at the 24 yard line with 10:42 to go in the first half.

First and 10, a pitch to Hampton running right, and he was able to get 4 yards, corralled by Jones.  2nd and 6, again Simms had his pass knocked down by Davis at the line, which put Simms line a 1-8, for 62 yards.  3rd and 6, Simms in the gun, with time to throw, and he tried to hit Calloway on an in cut, but the ball was just out of his reach.  However, an offsides on the Cardinals made it 3rd and 1.  In the jumbo package, the Giants tried to cross them up with a pass, but no one was open and Stowe barged in for a big sack at the 22, as Bunch completely whiffed on the block.  Horan again on to punt, and he narrowly missed a block and got it off to Edwards at the 32.  Beamon actually got to him as the ball did and moved to avoid him so he wouldn’t get the interference call.  But Edwards didn’t call for a fair catch either and tried to sneak his way up the field, but was met by Marcus Buckley at the 33.  

First and 10 for Phoenix, a play action fake to Moore and Beuerlein rolled right into LT.  However, he was able to get around him (something that would never have happened in his prime), and found Proehl over the middle at the 47 yard line, and he hit the ground at the 48, downed by Collins, but a big first down.  Moore would take the next carry right up the middle, but was met by Brooks and Fox for no gain.  2nd and 10, Beuerlein dropped back, with a rush coming on him from Fox, and his pass would get batted down by Hamilton.  3rd and 10, Beuerlein back again, with plenty of time to throw and Centers made a diving catch at the Giants’ 43 yard line, hit down by Armstead just short of a first down.  Bugel decided not to gamble and sent out Camarillo, and we got some controversy

The Pro Bowl punter Camarillo got off a beauty of a kick, a high punt that was angled and hit down at the 8 yard line and bounced towards Edwards, who looked to make a great play fielding it at the 1 yard line.  However, he did not control the ball and hit the pylon in the end zone, making it a touchback.  The Cardinals were livid, Garth Jax in particular, but Tom White described what had happened, in that inside the 5 yard line, he wasn’t touched and rolled into the end zone.  By rule it was a touchback.  But as Dan Fouts would point out, he might have gone out of bounds before his butt hit the pylon.  But no instant replay in 1993, we moved on.  

The Giants had the ball at the 20 and the draw went to Hampton up the gut, who was hit and danced around in the backfield, but he eventually was tackled by Michael Bankston for no gain.  2nd and 10, Simms dropped back and dumped off a little shovel pass to Meggett at the line of scrimmage and he picked his way up to the 28 yard line, hit by Mike Zordich.  3rd and a short 2, Simms back with time and was able to drill a pass into Mark Jackson over the middle at the 38 yard line and he was able to make it to the 43 yard line, taken down by Oldham for a first down.  Coming out with 2 TEs, Simms faked a pitch to Hampton and rolled to his right and smack into a blitz.  He was able to float a pass over Aaron Pierce’s head to avoid the sack.  2nd and 10, Simms back again, with plenty of time, was able to find Calloway, who sat down in the zone at the 48 yard line, and he turned up the field and got to the Cardinals’ 42 yard line, taken down by Oldham.  First down, Simms again back, and after a pump fake to bring up the linebackers, he was able to hit Jackson on a corner route and out of bounds at the 25 yard line (which if he didn’t just stroll out of bounds, he could have gotten another 5 yards if he turned up the field).  However, still another first down, and the ball went to Hampton running on a sweep to the right, past Eric Hill, and turned the corner to the 22 yard line, tackled by Zordich and Lynch.  2nd and 7, Simms dropped back, with a rush coming in on him, dumped the ball to Hampton in the flat at the 22 yard line, and he was able to get past Stowe in a one on one matchup in the open field  and was tripped up at the 17, however a hold on Doug Reisenberg, who grabbed Freddie Joe Nunn, set the Giants back.  2nd and 17 at the 32, Simms back, and he tried to throw a low pass in to Jackson, but he dropped the ball as he started to dive.  3rd and 17, Simms in the gun, he rolled out to his right and looked to set up to throw a deep pass.  However, the Cardinals covered it all, so he would dump it off back over the middle to Jarrod Bunch at the 32, and the big fullback rumbled his way out to the 20 yard line, ridden down by Zordich, but short of the first as the clock wound down to the 2 minute warning.  Treadwell would come on to hit a 37 yarder to make the score 10-6 with 1:55 to go in the half.

Daluiso’s kickoff, this time into the wind, was taken at the 1 yard line by Edwards and he weaved his way to the 17 yard line, stopped by Armstead.  On the play there were actually 3 penalties and a caucus with Tom White to sort it all out. An offsides on the Giants was declined, as a 15 yard facemask on the Giants and a hold on the Cardinals had some arcane rule that 2 fouls on a change of possession put the ball at the spot of the Cardinals penalty and it was their ball at the 17.  I don’t know, never really saw that before.  Cards ball with 1:48 to go, and a draw went to Centers up the gut to the 21 yard line, tackled by Hamilton and Fox.  The next play was another handoff to Center up the gut, and this time he was dragged down by LT at the 25.  In this semi-hurry up, the Cards had to burn a timeout because they couldn’t get the signal in on a 3rd and 2 with 1:07.  What they came up with was a trap to Centers, who got around Hamilton in the backfield, and he cut up the field and got all the way to the 35, stopped by Brooks.  But with the clock running, Beuerlein back to throw, had a rush coming in on him from Dillard and he scrambled up to the 34, where he was taken down by Dillard and Fox for a sack.  With the clock running on 2nd and 12, Beuerlein dumped it off to Proehl over the middle at the 41, and he got past Brooks and took it out of bounds at the 45 to stop the clock with :24, but it was good enough for a first down.  Beuerlein back again, and as the pass rush started to close in on him, he dumped it to Moore at the 50, where he was taken down by Bailey almost immediately.  Beuerlein would spike the ball with :08 to go and just one time out.  Beuerlein back and threw to Proehl over the middle at the 38, and he was nailed by Jackson and Tate with :01 to go as the Cards called their last time out as Proehl got hurt on the play, with what looked like a concussion.  On came Greg Davis for a 54 yarder with the wind at his back.  

Verne Lundquist said that Davis was nearing hitting 63 yarders in warmups with the wind at his back.  So 54 yards was within his range.  However, we’d never find out, as Pat Beach’s long snap came too far in on Beuerlein’s body, so the whole timing of the kick was screwed up as he tried to put the ball down.  As Beuerlein fumbled, he got up and someone must have yelled “fire” to have the blockers scramble to get open, but Beuerlein playing on a bad knee was tackled by Armstead and Fox to end the half at 10-6 with the Cardinals in the lead.  

The Cardinals would kick off to start the 2nd half, with Davis sending it deep to Meggett at the 1 and he cut his way up the sidelines all the way to the 31, shoved out of bounds by Lynch.  The Giants offense began with a handoff to Hampton running to his left, and only got a 1 yard gain, hit by Hill and Stowe.  2nd and 9, Simms back and tried to throw to Meggett on a wheel route, but Simms was buried by Lynch on a corner blitz and made the ball float off course.  3rd and 9, Simms in the gun, the Cards would blitz and because of the rush his pass was underthrown on an out route and was nearly picked by Lynch.  Horan’s punt was a poor effort, that bounced out of bounds at the 36 yard line, a weak 31 yard kick.

After a brief delay from an official tripping and falling down after setting the ball for play, Phoenix started with a play action fake and a deep out to Proehl, which was under thrown and dropped.  2nd and 10, an inside handoff to Moore was met at the line of scrimmage by Dillard and Fox for a one yard gain.  3rd and 9, Beuerlein would drop back and roll to his right, set up and found Proehl over the middle, but the possession WR had to come back for the ball and end up catching it short of a first down.  After a measurement showed they were a good yard short, and a moment of thought, Bugel sent out the punt unit.  Camarillo’s kick went to Meggett at the 9 yard line, with no fair catch, and he wiggled his way to the 14.  A flag on the play and after a lengthy discussion that involved 5 officials, the refs decided there was no penalty, with no explanation as to what was going on.

The Giants began deep in their own end again, and on first down, Simms back on a 3 step drop, tried a quick slant, but Keith Rucker jumped and batted it down (not bad for a 360 pound guy).  On 2nd and 10, the Giants were able to get a deep play

With Howard Cross coming in motion, Simms dropped back as Fritz Shurmur brought another blitz.  The Giants picked it up and Simms was given a lane to move out of the pocket to his left and set up a deep throw to Chris Calloway who got open at the 49 yard line.  Calloway would put his head down and take it to the Cardinals 47 yard line, tackled by Robert Massey and a 38 yard gain.  Replays would show if Simms might have led Calloway a little more, it could have gone for an even longer gain.  First down, Hampton took the carry up the middle, but again there wasn’t much to work with against the huge Cardinals DT, as Rucker dragged him down and nearly forced a fumble for only a 2 yard gain.  2nd and 8, Simms back, again a blitz, and hit Jackson over the middle, at the 42, where he was bounced backwards by Stowe.  3rd and 3, Simms in the gun, and on a hard count, the veteran QB got the Cards to jump, setting up a free play and a strike in to Jackson at the 35 yard line where he pushed Williams forward to the 33 and a first down so the Giants declined the penalty and took the catch and yardage.  First down, Simms again back, again with time, hit Calloway on a crossing route for a 4 yard gain, taken down by Stowe at the 29.  2nd and 6, Simms gave to Meggett on a draw up the gut and he picked his way through the Cards, absorbed a hit by Cecil, and pushed his way to the 20 for a first down.  The Giants would give to Bunch on the next play, and the big fullback tried a sweep to the left side and was met by Stowe for no gain.  The Giants decided that if the ground game wasn’t working, it was time to go back to the air

On 2nd and 10, Simms would again drop back as the Cardinals decided not to blitz.  Given a perfect pocket, Simms was able to rifle a deep pass in to Ed McCaffrey, found the lane between Cecil and Massey on a post pattern (it was actually a double post, with Jackson also cutting in, forcing Cecil to commit and leave someone open).  The big WR hauled it in and hit the ground in the end zone for a big 20 yard TD.  After a delay on the extra point because of an encroachment penalty on the Cardinals for jumping over the center too soon, Treadwell’s extra point gave the Giants a 13-10 lead on an 86 yard drive in 9 plays with 7:40 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

Daluiso’s kickoff was delayed as the ball was blown off the tee (again), and with the wind at his back, his kick would actually hit off the back blue wall in the end zone.  Cards first and 10 at the 20, the ball went to Moore up the gut, and he was tackled by Howard and Brooks for just 1 yard.  2nd and 9, the ball went to Centers, who looked to be stopped in the backfield by Fox, but he bounced off the hit and was able to get a head of steam up the field and ran over Willie Beamon at the 26 and rolled forward to the 29 yard line.  3rd and 1, again the ball went to Centers, and he just ran straight ahead for a 2 yard gain, stopped by Fox and Bailey, but good enough for a first down.  The Cards would stay on the ground, this time to Moore, running to his right, and he dragged Brooks out to the 37 yard line.  2nd and 5, Beuerlein back, with plenty of time in the pocket and the ball was rifled in to Gary Clark at the 44 yard line and he was hit down by Myron Guyton at the 40 for a big first down for the former Redskin.  The pitch to the right to Moore looked like it wouldn’t work as the Giants strung it out but he got around Jackson, and cut his way inside and fell forward for a 3 yard gain.  2nd and 7, Beuerlein back, tried to hit Clark on an out pattern, but he couldn’t get both feet down, so it was incomplete.  3rd and 7, Beuerlein back, with plenty of time again, and he was able to throw a bullet into Clark down the seam, and the ball just went past Collins and was hauled in by Clark at the 20, he would shake off a hit from Jackson, and make it to the 17, where he caught from behind by Armstead, but still good for a first down.  On the next play, the Cards would keep the momentum going

The son of a family of Giants season ticket holders, Proehl came across the field and underneath the linebackers, Beuerlein hit him in stride, leading him ahead of the trailing Bailey, and Proehl easily beat Jackson to the end zone and in which put the Cardinals back in front.  Proehl would throw the ball into the stands, to his family, but some gavone Giants’ fan grabbed it and tried to chug his fat ass up the aisle, until he was held up by the Proehl family and he would eventually give the ball up to his mom.  Davis’ extra point made the score 17-13 with 2:24 remaining in the 3rd quarter.  

Davis’ kickoff would be of the short, pooch variety, taken by Howard Cross at the 24 yard line.  The usual blocking TE took the ball up to the 37 yard line and shoved out of bounds.  Meanwhile, after the play there was a skirmish by the Giants’ bench that lead to a personal foul and facemask penalty against Rodney Hampton on sidelines who got into a fight and brought the Giants back to the 23 yard line.  The Giants would begin with a draw to Hampton up the gut, and he was able to get 3 yards, stopped by Rucker.  2nd and 7, Simms back on a 3 step drop, threw a quick slant to a diving Jackson at the 34, covered up by Massey, but good for a first down.  Simms would fake the handoff to Hampton, and on a blitz would dump off to Cross at the 38 yard line where he was wide open and he would stiff arm Oldham all the way to the 45 and out of bounds, good for another first down.  In a change of pace, the Giants gave the ball to Lewis Tillman, and the slashing running back, started to his right, cut back up the middle and took the ball all the way to the 44 yard line, stopped by Cecil, but yet another first down.  On the final play of the quarter, Simms would drop back and throw an outlet to Calloway, who made a nice over the shoulder snag at the 45, but was met by Massey at the 44 and driven back.  2nd and 9, the Giants would stay in the air to start the 4th quarter

Simms went with a hard count and nearly got the Cards to jump, but they didn’t bite, and he would drop back with plenty of time to throw.  He was able to find Jackson, who beat Oldham on a post pattern and made a diving catch at the 7 yard line.  Not too bad for throwing into the wind.  First and goal at the 7, the ball was given to Tillman on a quick hitter to the right, and looked to have a hole, but it closed on him with Rucker and Stowe making the play at the 5.  2nd and goal, Simms would drop back, throw to Hampton in the flat at the 5, but he stopped to make the catch, allowing Williams to run up and hit him for no gain.  3rd and goal, the Giants ran out of time on the play clock and had to burn their first time out with 13:04 to go in the game.  With Calloway in motion, Simms dropped back and tried to hit Derek Brown in the end zone, but Oldham made a diving play on the ball to knock it down.  Treadwell would come on to put through the 22 yarder to make the score 17-16 with 12:56 to go in the game.

Daluiso on to kick, again the ball blew off the tee, and it would go to Edwards at the 5, he would go up the field and cut to his right, but would get driven out of bounds by Armstead at the 23.  The Cardinals would start out with a pass as Beuerlein would dump the ball off to Walter Reeves at the 23, and the big TE would run over Brooks and rumble out to the 30.  2nd and 3, Centers would take the draw up the gut, dodge around a few Giants, and fall forward to the 34 yard line, stopped by Howard, but good for a first down.  Centers would take the next carry, running to his right, would absorb a hit by Collins and was spun down at the 38 yard line.  2nd and 4, Beuerlein back, had the ball batted at the line by Howard, and on the deflection, Reeves tried to grab it, but he would also bat it in the air as he was hit by Brooks, which nearly resulted in an interception by Corey Raymond.  3rd and 4, Beuerlein would roll out to his right, and throw back on a screen to his left to Centers, who caught it at the 35, and with blockers in front, took it up to the 46, hit down by Bailey and Collins, but good for another first down.  Phoenix would go back to the ground, handing off on a trap to Centers running to his right, he would cut back as Bailey over pursued and got the ball out to the Giants’ 49, tripped up by Bailey.  2nd and 6, Beuerlein back, with time, tried to throw a home run ball to Hill deep down the field, but the ball just sailed out of bounds.  3rd and 6, Beuerlein back, and had a rush in his face from Hamilton, which forced him to get rid the ball too quick, so it went behind Clark, who slipped and fell at the 38 yard line, for what would have been a first down, but no dice.  

Camarillo on to punt, would get off a poor effort for him, bouncing at the 25, but it rolled forward to Meggett at the 13 yard line, who ran sideways and forced out of bounds at the 13 yard line by Dave Duerson.  A flag on the Cardinals for unsportsmanlike conduct as the refs again took forever to discuss the penalty and decide on a punishment.  Finally, the refs would announce that Anthony Edwards, in complaining to the officials about a hold, bumped the ref and was ejected from the game with 8:42 to go, but more importantly, put the ball at the 28 yard line.

So the Giants would start off with a pass by Simms over the middle to Calloway at the 33, and he would turn up the field and take it to the 40, knocked down by Hill, but a first down.  Simms would give to Hampton up the gut, and again there was not much for him to work with, taken down at the 41 by Hill.  2nd and 9, Simms would drop back, again go to Calloway over the middle at the 47, and he would make his way to the Cardinals’ 44, dragged down by Williams from behind, but yet another first down.  Tillman would get the carry, try to sprint to his right, but was strung out by the Cardinals and dropped by Stowe at the 40 as the clock was running to under 6 minutes.  2nd and 6, Simms back and tried to hit Cross on an out route, but the ball sailed and was nearly picked by Williams for what would have been a walk in TD return if he caught it.  3rd and 6, Simms in the gun, tried to get a pass in to Jackson, who beat Williams, but the ball was off his fingertips at the 27.  If he caught it, he could have taken it down to inside the 20.  But that didn’t happen, so on came Horan to punt.

Proehl was back as the 3rd string punt returner, with Bailey injured and Edwards ejected.  Horan’s punt went over Proehl’s head on a fair catch call, and looked to bound into the end zone as it bounced at the 10.  However, nickel linebacker Armstead, who played as a gunner on special teams as a rookie, batted the ball at the 2 yard line and sent it back to the 4 yard line, downed by Corey Miller.  A huge play with 5:41 to go to keep them deep in their own end.

The Cardinals started with a handoff up the middle to Centers, who was met by Howard and Bailey after just a 2 yard gain.  2nd and 8, Beuerlein back, with a rush in his face from Howard and Hamilton, rushed a pass in to Clark, who grabbed it at the 15 yard line for a first down as the clock continued to run.  Centers would take the next carry, and showed some power, as he fought off several tacklers, held on the ball and powered to the 20.  2nd and 5, Beuerlein back, with another rush from Hamilton, threw over the middle to Centers, who snagged it at the 23 and was driven back by Bailey.  

3rd and 2, Beuerlein tried a hard count to draw the Giants offsides, but with his shouting and headbob, actually cost the Cardinals 5 yards on a false start.  On 3rd and 7, Beuerlein tried to set up a screen pass, but he was chased and went backwards with Hamilton and Howard coming in on him, forcing him to float the ball away and incomplete.  So the Cardinals had a chance to put the game away, and didn’t.  On came Camarillo, who booted a great kick to Meggett out of bounds at the 33 yard line with 2:21 to go.  A 49 yarder with no return.

Simms would start out with a deep throw towards McCaffrey and Jackson, both running streaks, but the ball fell incomplete.  However, an illegal hands to the face on Bankston gave the Giants 5 yards and a first down.  

Now at the 38, Simms again back, tried to go to Meggett in the flat, but the ball floated out of bounds.  Another flag on the play, this time a personal foul on the Giants for a chop block on Brian Williams and William Roberts, on a dirty hit on Bankston at his knees, set the Giants back to the 23 and made it first and 25.  Simms in the gun, hit Crawford over the middle at the 27, and was taken down by David Braxton took the game to the 2 minute warning.  2nd and 19, Simms again in the gun, had a rush from Ken Harvey who was bearing down on him and hit him as he threw the ball and knocked it away.  Eric Moore was called for a hold on the play, and the Cardinals accepted, making it 2nd and 29, going further backwards at the 19 yard line.  Simms, in the gun, would dump off to Meggett as the Cardinals dropped everyone deep, and he caught it at the 19, and the little scatback would juke his way to the 30, taken down by Zordich.  The Giants would call their 2nd time out with 1:44 to go on a 3rd and 18.  

Simms in the gun had some time initially and would scramble to his right, and get hit by Freddie Joe Nunn just as he threw the ball up field.  The cameraman would be a moment late, but Verne Lundquist’s call let everyone know that Simms had found Mark Jackson for a huge first down as he caught it at the 43 and dove forward to the Cardinals’ 48 yard line, hit down by Lynch.  Simms would hustle his team to the line to spike the ball with 1:21 to go.  2nd and 10, Simms again in the gun, would dump off to Meggett, who pounded his way to the 40, where he was blasted out of bounds at the 40, hit by Massey with 1:13 to go.  On 3rd and a long 2, Simms called his own number and powered behind Bob Kratch to the 37 yard line for a first down.  Simms in the gun, with a blitz, and tried to hit Jackson on a crossing pattern, but the ball was just out of reach and incomplete with :45 to go.  Simms back in the gun on 2nd and 10, another blitz, and Simms tried to go to Jackson on an out route, but the WR slipped and fell, so the ball stopped the clock with :41.  3rd and 10, Simms still in the gun, and he would fire a pass over the middle to what would have been an open McCaffrey, but the ball was batted down at the line by Braxton.  On 4th and 10, Reeves had a decision to make.  Does he go for the first down and let Simms throw (which is what Phil wanted to do).  Does he go with David Treadwell, who had hit 2 field goals already, but really didn’t have a strong leg.  Or does he go with Brad Daluiso, his big legged kicker who missed two 50 yard field goals the previous week at Philadelphia.  It didn’t take long for Reeves to make his call.

With no time to warm up, as Treadwell was doing, on came the kickoff specialist.  Reeves would call a timeout to perhaps think it over some more with :37 to go.  Perhaps Reeves felt he was letting his kicker settle down, rather than the ploy to “ice the kicker”.  Whatever his motivation, it worked.  Daluiso pounded a moonshot into a 15 mph wind and got it through the uprights as the Giants exploded off the sidelines to mob their kicker and Lundquist provided yet another great call of an exciting play and the crowd was in an uproar.  All Phoenix could do was walk off the field in disbelief and Joe Bugel would take his hat off in disgust at the Giants grabbed a 19-17 lead.

Still, :32 remained in the game, Daluiso’s kickoff would go to Steve Lofton, who took the ball at the 5 and got it out to the 23 yard line, hit down by Bunch with :27 to go.  The Cardinals, with all 3 timeouts hoped to move the ball into Davis’ range.  They didn’t start out well

Erik Howard was getting a good pass rush all day, this time he again powered through the Cardinals line, chased down a slowed Beuerlein and nabbed him for a sack at the 11 yard line as Phoenix called their first time out with :20 to go.  2nd and long, another screen to Centers over the middle at the 12, but it was well read by the Giants, as Armstead, Miller, and Tate all jumped on him at the 17 yard line, and took him down with :13 to go as the Cardinals called their last timeout.  3rd and 15, Beuerlein back, with a rush at his feet, from Hamilton and then in his face from Miller, uncorked a deep shot down the field to Proehl, but it was knocked down by Armstead all the way back at the 33 yard line with :06 remaining.  4th and 15, the Cardinals needed a prayer

Prayer not answered.  Beuerlein again back, and again had a rush on him, just getting away from LT, and he tried to throw a deep shot down the field.  But with not much arm strength to go with, the ball floated and was easily picked off by Raymond at the 46 yard line.  As Raymond ran around with the ball, the clock struck 0:00 and he was chased down by Beamon, while the Giants sidelines told him to get down.  And that he did, sliding down at the 44 to end the game with a huge 19-17 win and give the Giants a 1 game lead in the NFC East over the heavily favored Dallas Cowboys.

Post Mortem/ Interesting Tidbits

• Brad Daluiso’s 54 yard field goal was a career high.  In all, the kickoff specialist turned full time kicker would hit 7 field goals of 50 yards or more.  Interestingly, Daluiso hit these long field goals in 7 different games.  The Giants were 7-0 in those games.
• Rodney Hampton’s 62 yard catch and run was the longest catch of his career.  His next longest catch?  Also against the Cardinals, which occurred in 1992 and was good for 31 yards, but again was stopped short of a first down.
• Ed McCaffrey’s TD was his final one in a Giants uniform.  In all, he would catch 7 TDs in his three years with the Giants.  Of course, he made his name in Denver, where he hauled in 46 TDs in 9 years.  However, before everyone kills the Giants for making a horrible personnel decision with McCaffrey, letting him go as they brought in Arthur Marshall from the Broncos (which Dan Reeves later would lament was one of his worst roster decisions in his career).  It was not just the Giants who screwed up, McCaffrey, a Stanford grad, would go to the 49ers in 1994, help them win a Super Bowl, and caught 2 TDs.  The Niners let him go as well before he became a Pro Bowler in Denver.
• Phil Simms threw for 337 yards in this game.  His only 300+ yard game of the season and the final one of his career.  In all he threw for over 300 yards in a game 21 times across his 15 year career.
• Mark Jackson had his best game as a Giant in this game.  Catching 7 passes for 113 yards (both season highs) and making that huge 3rd and 18 conversion on the final winning drive.  Jackson was one of the "NJ Broncos" which Pepper Johnson derisively refered to the ex-Denver players that Dan Reeves brought with him in 1993.  A few days after the Giants lost WR Mark Ingram as a free agent to the Miami Dolphins, they signed Jackson to a 3 year, $4.7 million deal.  Jackson was looked at as a possession type receiver who would bring knowledge of the Reeves system to the Giants.  The "home run" hitter was Mike Sherrard, who would sign with the Giants from the 49ers a week later.  Jackson was part of the Broncos' "Three Amigos" receiving group along with Vance Johnson and Ricky Nattiel, and was best known for being on the receiving end of John Elway's bullet in the end zone for a 5 yard TD to cap off a 98 yard drive that would tie AFC Championship at 20-20 and send the game to OT, which was eventually won by the Broncos and sent them to the Super Bowl.  And a loss to the Giants.  
• Jackson was first a good fit for the Giants, as a compliment to Sherrard.  The oft-injured Sherrard was blossoming with the Giants and looked to have a breakout season at age 30.  In his first 6 games, he would haul in 24 catches for 433 yards and 2 TDs.  This would put him on pace for a 64 catch, 1100+ yard season.  Unfortunately, Sherrard would injury his hip on a long catch and run against the Eagles and was lost for the year.  That put the onus on Jackson, who was counted on as a #1 receiver (which he never was in his career and really wasn't that kind of talent).  Jackson posted a career high 58 catches in 1993.  His 708 yards was enough to lead Giants team, but hardly an impressive number.  Jackson was best known as a Giant for a penchant for dropping passes, particularly in the big spot, as he did late in the crucial Week 17 OT loss to the Cowboys which cost the Giants the NFC East and home field advantage in the playoffs (along with any realistic shot at one final Super Bowl run).  
• This was Jackson’s only 100 yard game for the Giants.  His next best effort was 76 yards against the Jets in a brutal 10-6 loss in Week 7 on Halloween.
• The Giants, neophytes in the salary cap experience, would actually release Jackson after the 1993 season and then bring him back at a reduced contract.  He would only play 2 games for the team in 1994, making 0 catches before he was released.  He would sign on with the Colts, see only sparing time, catching 8 passes for 97 yards and 1 TD.  Jackson would retire after the 1994 season.
• Keith Crawford, a rookie UDFA WR from the football powerhouse Howard Payne University, made his first career catch, a 6 yarder.  It would be his only catch in a Giants' uniform.  Crawford would be released before the 1994 season and sit out the year.  He would resurface with the Packers in 1995, bounce to the Rams for 2 years, where he would be unexpectedly productive in 1997, posting a 3 catch, 86 yard effort at San Francisco and then a 4 catch, 85 yard game against the Chiefs.  The Cheifs were so impressed that they signed him in the 1998 season (but he never played).  Crawford would go back to the Packers in 1999, and retire after the season.  
• Erik Howard’s late sack was his first on the season.  Howard lost his starting nose tackle position to Stacy Dillard in 1993, but still was able to respond with 3.5 sacks in part time.  In 1994, the Giants would shift from a 3-4 to a 4-3, and Howard saw more playing time as part of a defensive tackle rotation with Keith Hamilton and Dillard, and he had his most productive season (sack wise), with 6.5 sacks.  He would end up signing with the Jets in 1995 and played for them through the 1996 season, when he would finally retire.  
• Corey Raymond’s game clinching INT was his 2nd on the season.  His first career INT came one week prior, at Philadelphia in the Giants knock down, drag out 7-3 victory.  Raymond would get one more interception as a member of the Giants, in 1994 in a loss to the Lions.  In 1995, Raymond would move on to play for Detroit and had a very good year, picking off 6 passes and registering 2 sacks.  Raymond wasn’t able to keep up the momentum however, picking off just 1 pass in 1996 and 1997 before retiring from the NFL.  Still not a bad run for an UDFA.
• Ron Moore was a rookie who would rush for 53 yards in the game and as a 4th round pick out of Pittsburgh State became a very unlikely 1000 yard rusher for Phoenix in 1993, going for 1018 yards, thanks mainly to the injury plagued season from fellow rookie, and #1 pick (and #3 overall) Garrison Hearst.  Hearst would only gain 264 yards in 6 games before being shut down for the year.  In 1994, Hearst was again injured and in the background, playing in parts of 8 games and only gaining 164 yards.  Meanwhile, Moore continued to play well, rushing for 780 yards.  By 1995, as Moore started barking for more money, and Hearst got healthy, the Cardinals traded Moore to the Jets.  Hearst was able to break through with 1070 yards in 1995.  Moore’s career however went backwards.  He would only rush for 122 yards over 2 seasons with the Jets, as Adrian Murrell turned into a tremendous running back for them (rushing for 1249 yards on a 1-15 Rich Kotite stinker).  When Bill Parcells’ took over for the Jets in 1997, Moore would end up on the Rams (buried behind Lawrence Phillips) and then went back to the Cardinals to finish up the season.  By 1998, Moore would go to the Miami Dolphins, and get 12 yards and a TD in Week 16 loss at Atlanta and would retire after the season.
• Ricky Proehl, a NJ native and part of a family of NY Giants season ticket holders, scored a TD in the game, and it was no accident.  Proehl scored 6 TDs against the Giants as a member of the Cardinals, Rams, and Panthers.  
• Gary Clark became just the 14th man with 9000 yards receiving in his career.  A milestone to be sure.  But to give an understanding of how much the game has changed.  Only 14 men reached the 9000 yard plateau between 1925 and 1993, almost 70 years worth of football, that was it.  Going into 2015, just over 20 years later, 56 guys have gone over that number, including former Giant Amani Toomer (9,497 yards).  And 2 active players, Vincent Jackson and Greg Jennings, are both less than 1,000 yards away.
• Butch Rolle was a plan B free agent who made 10 consecutive catches between 1987 - 1991 which were touchdowns as a member of the Buffalo Bills.  However, he started his career in 1986 with 4 catches, no TDs.  His streak finally ended in 1992, as a member of the Cardinals, when he made a catch for 1 yard in a 23-7 loss at Tampa Bay.
• Joe Bugel was coaching with an ultimatum put over his head by the Cardinals' owner Bill Bidwell.  Bidwell told Bugel that he had to have a winning record in 1993 or he would be fired.  Bugel joined the Cardinals as their head coach in 1990 at age 50 after a long assistant coaching career working his way through the ranks in college, and then in the NFL with the Oilers and really made his name as an offensive coordinator in Washington, and specifically as an offensive line coach where he helped build up the "Hogs", one of the most dominant lines in the NFL, filled with Pro Bowlers.  When Bugel took over the Cardinals in 1990, he was facing an uphill battle in the NFC East.  First of all, the Cardinals had moved to Arizona in 1988, but still played in the NFC East.  So you had a warm weather team, forced to go play games in the Northeast in December, which is never a good thing.  And they found themselves in a division with 3 perennial championship contenders in the Giants, Redskins, and Eagles.  And by 1990, the Jimmy Johnson Cowboys were starting to see the fruits of the rebuilding effort and the Herschel Walker trade, with Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, and Emmitt Smith now all on the team.  Needless to say, Bugel has his hands full.  Add in the fact that Bidwell was a notoriously cheap and bad owner, it should be no surprise that Bugel's first 3 years his team finished in last place with a record of 5-11, 4-12, and 4-12.  However, he also happened to be in the same division as the 1990 Super Bowl winner (Giants), 1991 Super Bowl winner (Redskins), and 1992 Super Bowl winner (Cowboys).  Bugel would finish short of his goal, going 7-9.  But the record wasn't a reflection of what he had done.  The Cardinals were 3-8 after this gut wrenching loss to the Giants.  However, in those 8 losses, the Cardinals were within a TD in 6 of them.  Included were this 2 point loss at the Meadowlands and a 5 point loss at Dallas 2 weeks before.  Bugel would actually rally the team after this, winning 4 of their final 5 games.  But Bidwell had made up his mind and fired Bugel after the season.  He decided to go out and get another long time assistant, but this time, a guy who was a head coach previously and had success in the NFC East.  He would hire the former Eagle head coach Buddy Ryan, who was better known for his stint as the defensive coordinator for the 1985 Bears, and for throwing a punch at Kevin Gilbride in Houston when they were the respective coordinators there.  Ryan, in his typical fashion, announced that there was a winner in town.  He promised playoffs.  He promised Super Bowls.  He would go 8-8 in 1994 and 4-12 in 1995 and would be fired and fade away from the NFL, only to see his legacy of over inflated BS filled by his twin sons, Rex and Rob.  Rex had 2 good years with the Jets going to back to back AFC Championship games (coaching the remains of the Eric Mangini roster) before he would fail and end up in Buffalo.  Rob bounced all around from Oakland, Cleveland, Dallas, and then New Orleans.  Only Rex has won a ring, as an assistant on the Ravens in 2000.