1997 New York Giants: A New Coach & A Division Title

The New York Giants were on a four-year decline coming into the 1997 season. After making the playoffs in 1993 under Dan Reeves, the Giants steadily slipped and then bottomed out with an 11-21 record over 1995-96. New York made a coaching change, hired Jim Fassel and won the NFC East for the first time since their Super Bowl title run in 1990.  

Defense was the reason for the success. With John Fox as the coordinator, the Giants could bring the pressure. The great defensive end, Michael Strahan, had an All-Pro year with 14 sacks. Tackles Robert Harris and  Keith Hamilton combined for 18 more sacks coming up the middle. Linebacker Jessie Armstead was another All-Pro. And the secondary took full advantage of the pressure, with corners Phillipi Sparks and Jason Sehorn, along with free safety Tito Wooten, combining to intercept 17 passes.

New York’s defense ranked third in the NFL in points allowed, and they needed to be that good, because the offense was anemic. Whether the quarterback was Dave Brown or Danny Kanell, the Giants couldn’t get the ball down the field, with both averaging less than six yards per attempt. Both were in the low 50s percentage-wise, which was in the lower third of starting quarterbacks.

Chris Calloway still managed to catch 58 passes for 849 yards, but no other receiver made an impact. New York was heavily reliant on tight end Howard Cross, along with running backs Tiki Barber and Tyrone Wheatley in the passing game.

Charles Way gave the running game some modest life, averaging a solid 4.6 yards-per-attempt, and gaining nearly 700 yards. Wheatley and the rookie Barber also got their carries. But both were below four yards a carry, and the offensive line was mediocre. The Giant offense ranked 21^st for points scored in what was then a 30-team league.

The season opened at home with Philadelphia. The Eagles had made the playoffs each of the previous two seasons, although they would slip to mediocrity this year. The Giant defensive line unleashed and recorded nine sacks, 2 ½ by Strahan. Barber ran for 88 yards. Holding on to a 24-17 lead late, defensive back Sam Gaines halted a drive with an interception and then took it 95 yards the other way for the clinching score. Fassel won his debut, 31-17.

A road trip to Jacksonville, fresh off going to the AFC Championship Game and bound for the playoffs again, didn’t go quite as well. The Giants got the game’s first touchdown. Then they only rushed for 39 yards. Brown was erratic, just 16/35 for 182 yards. It turned into a blowout and New York suffered a 40-13 loss.

The lowly Baltimore Ravens came to the Meadowlands and the Giants held a 23-14 lead in the fourth quarter. But a missed two-point conversion in the building of that lead proved costly—they gave up ten fourth quarter points and lost 24-23.

A road trip to face another terrible team, the St. Louis Rams, was another disaster. With just 47 rushing yards, double-digit penalties and more spotty play from Brown, New York lost 13-3. Four weeks in, and it looked like more of the same from the 1997 edition of the Giants.

The New Orleans Saints came to town. The Saints were yet another weak opponent and this game had to be won. Brown threw a pair of touchdown passes and helped build a 14-3 lead. He had to leave due to injury and the offense bogged down, but a strong defensive outing still preserved a 14-9 win.

Dallas had been the NFC East’s gold standard in recent years, winning five straight division titles in a dynasty run that included three Super Bowl titles. The Cowboys were starting to slip, but until proven otherwise, they were the team to beat in the division.

Brown tore a chest muscle and New York trailed Dallas 9-6 in the third quarter. But they were steering cleer of mistakes and would collect six turnovers of their own. One of them was Wooten’s 61-yard Pick-6. The Giants got a big 20-17 home win and were back to .500.

They also had a new quarterback, as Kanell took over for the injured Brown. But it was the running game and defense that delivered for New York in Arizona. Led by 103 yards from Wheatley, the Giants crushed the Cardinals 239-27 in rush yardage. They intercepted four passes, two by defensive back Percy Ellsworth. Strahan had a 1 ½ sacks. And the Giants won comfortably, 27-13.

A visit to playoff-bound Detroit was in the late afternoon TV window. Way ran for 90 yards. Kanell played the best game to date of any Giant quarterback, going 17/31 for 220 yards. The game went to overtime tied 20-all. Then Kanell went up top to Calloway for a 68-yard touchdown strike that won it.

Kanell continued to play well at home against mediocre Cincinnati. He went 18/31 for 214 yards, with Kevin Alexander catching five balls for 100 yards. While New York fell behind 21-10, they reeled off 19 unanswered points and pulled out a 29-27 win. The Giants were riding high, winners of five straight and going into their bye week at 6-3.

A defensive battle followed against Tennessee. The Giants only had 24 minutes of. Kanell’s 28 pass attempts only produced 133 yards. Even with Wheatley gaining 94 yards, it wasn’t enough to avoid a 10-6 loss to a so-so opponent.

Arizona (an NFC East team prior to the realignment of 2002) came to New York. Kanell hit second-year receiver Amani Toomer on a 56-yard touchdown strike to build an early 10-0 lead. Then the Giants took over the trenches. They won rush yardage 201-49 behind 114 yards from Way. And they won the football game, 19-10.

That set up a big Sunday Night visit to Washington where the Redskins were on the heels of the Giants. New York allowed 317 pass yards. But they got five sacks, two from Strahan, and intercepted three passes, two by Sparks. Kanell was sacked six times, but the Giants were able to rush for 157 yards. A defensive battle ended in a 7-7 tie. Given that it was on the road and New York was the first-place team, it was good enough.

New York was 7-4-1 heading into the stretch drive, with Washington at 6-5-1. The two teams would play again in the penultimate week of the season. Dallas was still lingering at 6-6 and Philadelphia, at 5-6-1, wasn’t out of it yet. Getting one of the two first-round byes was off the table—the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers were in firm control there. But up a game in the division and up a game and a half to at least make the playoffs, the Giants were in strong position.

Tampa Bay was playoff-bound and they came to the Meadowlands for a late-afternoon kickoff. While Sparks intercepted two more passes, Kanell could do nothing and was intercepted twice. New York lost 20-8. The good news was that Washington and Dallas also lost.

But the Eagles had nudged back to within a game and a road trip to Philly was next. The Giant defense set the tone early with Armstead coming up with a 57-yard Pick-6. Then the running game got cooking, with Barber’s 114 yards leading a 208-yard effort overall. New York rolled to a big 31-21 win. It effectively knocked out the Eagles and the Cowboys also lost again.

The NFC East was down to the Giants and Redskins and they would play on early Saturday afternoon at the Meadowlands. A New York win would clinch the division. A loss would hand control over to Washington going into the final week, although the Giants could still control their destiny for a wild-card.

New York got rolling quickly. An early field goal gave them the lead. Then Way ran in from 15 yards. Kanell threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Calloway. It was 17-0 before the first quarter was out. The defense took over, collecting six turnovers including a pair of interceptions by Sehorn. The game was never close and a 30-10 win put the Giants back on top of the NFC East.

Dallas had collapsed down the stretch and New York went down to Big D and put the Cowboy season out of its misery. Kanell threw a 21-yard TD pass to Calloway, the Giants were up 20-0 by halftime and cruised to a 20-7 win, with Kanell sitting out the second half. They were 10-5-1 and the 3-seed for the playoffs.

New York was a (-4 ½) favorite against the Minnesota Vikings in an early Saturday afternoon game that opened Wild-Card Weekend. The surge the Giants had been on continued for a half, as they rolled to a 19-3 lead. But they were settling for a field goals and had to settle for another short one in the fourth quarter. They couldn’t run the ball and therefore couldn’t put the lead on ice. Kanell could only go 16/32 for 199 yards. The secondary got beat for some big plays in the second half and New York suffered a 23-22 loss.

It was a tough way to end the season, but it had still been a comeback year for the franchise and gave hope for the future. Fassel would coach the Giants for seven seasons and while his tenure had its share of ups and downs, it did include a couple more playoff trips and a Super Bowl appearance in 2000.