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Sunday, January 14
Vikings never recovered after fumbled return
By Greg Garber
ESPN.com
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- At the bottom of an NFL pile, Social Darwinism
is the only law of nature.
"It was loud, and there were so many people on top of us that we
couldn't breath," Giants safety Lyle West said of the play that broke the Minnesota Vikings' spirit. "When we went into the pile, I only had a little
bit of the football. I kept grinding and grinding and trying to get a bigger
piece. It's like arm wrestling, you're sort of maneuvering for position.
"I was just hoping I had enough of the ball when the officials peeled
everybody off. Fortunately, I did. I had a little more than half."
It is hard to pinpoint a turning point in a 41-0 game, but clearly
this was it. When West wrenched the ball away from Minnesota kick returner
Moe Williams, the Giants already had a 7-0 lead with 2:07 gone in the game. The Giants took over on the Vikings' 18-yard-line and six seconds later Kerry Collins hit Greg Comella with a touchdown pass. Daunte Culpepper and company had yet to touch the ball and it was already 14-0. This is not the kind of pressure you want a second-year
quarterback, no matter how big he is, to face.
"When they went down 14-0, you pretty much had to be one-dimensional,"
said Giants defensive end Michael Strahan. "We've been very fortunate the last two weeks where the pressure was off of us."
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I wasn't worried about their offense to begin
with, but with that cushion, you know our defense is going to be good enough.
I didn't think they were going to come back on us. ” |
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— Lyle West, Giants safety |
A week ago, the Giants got an opening 97-yard kickoff return for a
touchdown from rookie Ron Dixon. A scant 17 seconds into the game, the
Giants led 7-0 and the Philadelphia Eagles never really recovered their
poise.
So, with only 2:13 elapsed, the Vikings were already out of Sunday's
NFC championship game at Giants Stadium. FOX Television foretold the final
result when the Giants took that 7-0 lead, flashing the graphic that the
Giants were 11-0 in the games in which they scored first. How about 14-0?
"Forget it," said West. "I wasn't worried about their offense to begin
with, but with that cushion, you know our defense is going to be good enough.
I didn't think they were going to come back on us."
In truth, the Vikings never came close to scoring.
Typical to the spirit and flow of the game, the botched kickoff return
was self-inflicted. Brad Daluiso's ensuing kickoff sailed down to Williams, who took it at the Vikings' 19-yard-line. Problem was, teammate Troy Walters
inexplicably crashed into Williams and knocked the ball loose. By the time
he gathered it back in, West and a host of Giants arrived.
After the game, West never seemed to get tired of telling his story as
wave after wave of reporters approached him. He had all of 23 tackles this
year, his second with the Giants after they drafted him in the sixth round.
"When they gave us the ball, I went nuts," West said. "I guess you
learn about yourself in those situations. I was screaming and yelling and
jumping up and down on the sideline.
"Listen to me, I can't even talk anymore. I left my voice in the pile."
Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
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