Monday, September 27, 2004
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Stretching during the warmups for their game against the Cleveland Browns, New York Giants Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Strahan was concerned.
Just yards from him fellow linemen were laughing and joking.
"Everybody was happy and having a good time, but as I told them we can be giddy and have a good time before the game, but if you are going to be giddy and have a good time, you better go out and play the way you can," Strahan said.
Strahan certainly did. He had two sacks and two fumble recoveries in a 27-10 victory over the Browns on Sunday.
Strahan also had six tackles playing with an injured left hand and finger that he hurt a week ago against Washington.
"Stray was just adamant that we needed to win this game and we needed to have our mind right on the field," said fellow defensive end Keith Washington, one of many Giants who endured a four-win season in 2003.
"Stray does a very good job of making sure you're not going through the motions. He'll look you in the eye and he doesn't care who you are."
Warner, Barber play big
Strahan wasn't the only player to step up against the banged-up Browns (1-2), who played without six injured starters.
Kurt Warner, considered washed up after being let go by the Rams in June, passed for 286 yards and set up two touchdowns with a long passes in leading New York (2-1) to its second straight win. He capped the second with his second career regular-season TD run.
"I don't care if I ever run the rest of my career," said Warner, who took a big hit on the play that put New York ahead 17-0. He later appeared to hurt his ankle on a fourth-quarter sack, but said everything was OK.
Tiki Barber rushed for 106 yards, including an 8-yard TD run that came one play after Warner and Amani Toomer (five catches for 126 yards) combined on a 47-yard pass play.
The two-game winning streak matched the Giants' high for last season, when they went 4-12 under Jim Fassel.
"All week long we've been talking about getting a winning streak," cornerback Will Peterson said. "We've got two in a row, and two at home, which is big. It gets us on our way."
Turnovers and more
The Giants did all the little things. They won the takeaway battle 3-0, held edges in time of possession and field position and converted 45 percent of their third downs while limiting Cleveland to 2-of-10.
Strahan's biggest play came in the opening minutes of the second half when he recovered a fumble by quarterback Jeff Garcia at the Giants 5 with New York leading 10-0.
"That play kind of took the air out of their sails, because we went down and scored," Strahan said.
Steve Christie added field goals of 43 and 25 yards and Mike Cloud iced the game with a late 5-yard touchdown run for New York.
Garcia, who had a 0.0 quarterback rating against Dallas last weekend, hit Quincy Morgan on a 3-yard touchdown pass and Phil Dawson kicked a 49-yard field goal for the Browns, who got all their points after falling behind 17-0.
"We had too many mistakes and penalties that erased positive plays," said Garcia, who finished 21-of-31 for 180 yards and an interception. "We had turnovers in bad situations. We never seemed to get anything headed in the right direction until much too late."