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 Jessie Armstead and the Giants' defense will mix it up against Minnesota.
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Michael Barrow may call on some friends for help on his Vikings homework.
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Jim Fassel discusses how the Giants will defend Randy Moss and Cris Carter.
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Saturday, January 13
Giants wait for Fox hunt on Vikings
By Wayne Drehs
ESPN.com
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Less than four days remain before Sunday's NFC championship game and the New York Giants' defense has little idea of how they're going to stop the high-powered Minnesota Vikings.
But don't be alarmed. This is how defensive coordinator John Fox likes it. While other coaches spend the week preparing precise plays and schemes for an opponent, Fox goes over just about everything in the New York playbook. Unpredictability is his biggest weapon.
|  | | Giants defensive coordinator John Fox is a top candidate for the Jets' head coaching job. |
Just ask the Washington Redskins, who in Week 13 expected more of the same soft zone they saw in a 16-6 Week 4 win but instead found an aggressive New York defense blitzing on almost every play.
The tenacity caught the Redskins completely off-guard, contributing to a pair of crucial quarterback sacks and two interceptions by Jeff George. Even the Giants players were surprised about the defensive calls in the hard-fought 9-7 victory.
"That game I didn't know what we were going to do, we didn't blitz much the entire week and then once the game started, it seemed we blitzed on every down," safety Sam Garnes said. "(Coach Fox) didn't even tell us Sunday morning. It just happened when we stepped on the field.
"But that's what he's like. He gets that feeling once the game begins and goes with it."
For the most part, the gut feelings have worked. In last week's divisional playoff against the Eagles, it meant shadowing shifty quarterback Donovan McNabb with various linebackers, allowing the defensive line to concentrate almost solely on the pass rush.
The result was McNabb rushing for just 17 yards on five carries, while completing 20 of 41 pass attempts for 181 yards. More importantly, the Eagles didn't even reach the end zone until there were two minutes left in the game.
The dominating performance has suddenly catapulted Fox as a candidate for the coaching vacancy with the cross-town Jets. And though any Giant you talk to say they would hate to lose Fox, especially to the Jets, they assure he's more than qualified to be an NFL head coach.
"He motivates his players -- that's first and foremost," linebacker Jessie Armstead said. "He challenges you. He says, 'What are you going to do today? How are you going to help us?'
"He also studies his opponents very well and puts us in a great position to make plays. He tells us, 'I'm going to put you in position, but you have to win your one-on-ones. That's something that gets us ready to go."
No bigger is the challenge than this week when Fox will essentially have to pick his poison. Blitz Daunte Culpepper and leave your corners single-covering Cris Carter and Randy Moss? Sit back in coverage and allow Robert Smith to chew up yards and the clock?
Decisions, decisions. What's a defensive coordinator to do? For starters, not say a word. Giants coach Jim Fassel has prohibited his assistants from speaking to the media this week to give them more preparation time. Fox will need it.
"We're going to throw a lot of different things at them -- I know that," Armstead said. "We'll have to mix it up because they have so many different weapons. I mean where do you start?"
At this point in the week, it's anyone's guess. Just listen to Garnes, who had this response Thursday when asked when he'll get a feel for the week's game plan.
"Sunday," Garnes said, completely stone-faced.
"No, no," the reporter responded, hoping to clarify. "I mean when you'll know what you guys are doing this week."
"Like I said," Garnes shot back, "Sunday -- when we get on the field. I'm not keeping anything from you, we just don't know. That's the way Foxy does it."
Waiting until the last minute is a luxury Fox has because he's familiar with his players. All but two of New York's defensive starters -- linebacker Micheal Barrow and cornerback Dave Thomas -- have been with the Giants since Fox's arrival in 1997.
Fox, the former defensive coordinator for the Oakland Raiders, was hired by Fassel to help instill a Lawrence Taylor-like tenacity to the Giants' attack. At the time, the team ranked last in the league in quarterback sacks.
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He has great comebacks for anything a player can say to him. He's kind of like, well, a smart-ass. That's basically what he is. But he's a great coach. And by keeping the situations light, he lets the players know he's focused and knows what's going on. ” |
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— Shaun Williams, Giants safety |
Since Fox's '97 arrival, the team has registered 184 sacks, fourth-best in the NFL.
"I wanted to be aggressive and I knew John would be aggressive," Fassel said. "I felt like we had the players to be aggressive. And I knew that John had that fiery-type personality in him that you need."
For rookies and free agents unfamiliar with Fox, the in-your-face personality can quickly rub the wrong way. That's what happened to Garnes when he arrived a fresh-faced rookie from Cincinnati four years ago.
"He got on my case during training camp that first year and I yelled right back at him," Garnes said. "I remember thinking, 'Well, I'm going to get cut now. I just screamed at the defensive coordinator.'
"But that's just how he is. He picks on the young guys because he expects a lot from them. It's a good thing. He wouldn't do it if he didn't think you could handle it."
Mixed with that fire is a blend of cockiness, which is even more evident since Fox is so comfortable with his players.
"He has great comebacks for anything a player can say to him," Williams said. "He's kind of like, well, a smart-ass. That's basically what he is. But he's a great coach. And by keeping the situations light, he lets the players know he's focused and knows what's going on."
It's called mind games, and it's a trick Fox uses with each of his players, from first-year rookies to established veterans. Just like each Sunday's game plan, you never know what to expect from Fox's personality either. With Armstead, for example, Fox knows the way to reach the All-Pro linebacker is to ignore him.
"And that's the worst thing you can do to a player like me," Armstead said. "I'd rather you say something than just look at me and walk away. But he's got his ways with different players. He knows how to get in each guy's head in his own way."
There's little question that Fox has gotten the most out of this defense, one that includes cornerback Emmanuel McDaniel, a cast-off that's played for four teams in his five-year career, an eighth-round draft choice in Armstead and a fifth-round choice in Garnes.
The Giants have won six straight games since back-to-back losses to Detroit and St. Louis in November, and the credit largely goes to the improvement of the defense. For the season, the group ranked first in the NFC against the run (72.3 yards per game), eighth against the pass (211.9) and second overall (284.1).
"One thing about Fox, no matter what he has, he's going to make it work," Armstead said. "You have to give him credit. He's got these guys that nobody else wanted and he finds a way to get every guy accounted for by coming up with a game plan that matches his personnel."
And should he accomplish such a feat this weekend, Fox and the Giants could find themselves keeping their secrets in the grandest game of all.
Wayne Drehs is a staff writer for ESPN.com.
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