Saints 3 Giants 31 After losing their previous four games by a combined 17 points, the Saints broke down in a 28-point loss to the Giants. At first it appeared that the predicted low-scoring game would become an actuality- each team began with a punt. The Giants breached Saints territory with a 23 yd Toomer catch and a 24 yd Hilliard reverse on back-to-back plays. The homers eased toward the goal and ended up scoring via Graham's 6 yd QB scramble. The O came back via a 29 yd over-the-middle catch-and-run from Billy Joe Tolliver to Aaron Craver; Ricky Williams ran for 22 on the next play. The possession ended with a 25 yd Doug Brien FG. New York returned the ensuing kickoff to their 43; a play later the ball moved into Saints territory thanks to unnecessary roughness by Mark Fields. Cary Blanchard restored the 7-point NYG lead with a 41 yarder. On 3rd & 2 from the NO 36, a halfback option pass by Lamar Smith worked exactly as diagrammed, except that the throw toward a wide-open Eddie Kennison died well short of the WR. The Saints punted, the Giants punted back, the Saints returned the favor. On the first play after the 2-minute warning, Graham hit Mitchell for 9 on 3rd & 6 from the NO 39. Two plays later, Graham threw a perfect lob to Toomer in the corner of the endzone for a 27 yd score. The Giants took control of the ball at their 22 following a quick Saints possession. With :06 left before the half, the Giants lined up at their 47 for a Hail Mary. The play worked, as Jurevicius had a tipped ball land right in his chest for a TD. The team went into the locker room down 21, mulling a half-ending play even more depressing than the previous week's. The second half was a formality- Tolliver was intercepted thrice (one of which led to the game's final points, a 12 yd Montgomery TD run). Danny Wuerffel came in for the final series, in which the team came up empty despite starting 1st & goal at the NYG 3. stats (view with a fixed-width font, like Courier) ^^^^^ runnin'........../..........passin' & catchin' B.J. Tolliver 1- 0 D. Wuerffel 1- (5) Lamar Smith 24-111 Ricky Williams 1- (9) Aaron Craver 3- 51 1- 1 Marvin Powell Eddie Kennison 5- 62 Andre Hastings 1- 24 Lawrence Dawsey 2- 18 Josh Wilcox 2- 30 27-107 TOTAL 14-176 inc 18 1 1 INT 3 0 0 runnin'........../..........passin' & catchin' 2- 10-1 K. Graham 18- 36 LeShon Johnson 2- 16 14- 28-1 Joe Montgomery 1- 9 Tiki Barber 1- 7 Charles Way 2- 6 1- 24 Ike Hilliard 3- 17 Amani Toomer 3- 59-1 Joe Jurevicius 2- 63-1 Pete Mitchell 5- 69 Howard Cross 1- 2 36-107-2 TOTAL 19-239-2 inc 9 INT 1 notes ^^^^^ * inactive due to injury: Hobert, Poole, Cleeland, Slutzker * a recapitulation of Tampa Bay '77 looms ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu