TAMPA – For a group of wide receivers being led into the lion’s den, the Giants are pretty cool. That tells you that the Giants know this record-setting defense of the Ravens can be exploited tonight in Super Bowl XXXV.
Considering the Ravens’ man-on-man, hard-hitting ways, why isn’t Amani Toomer and crew quaking in their Nikes? “When you get man-to-man coverage, it’s a mano y mano personal battle,” Toomer says. “You love that type of thing. Once they go man on man, you have to beat only one person to score a touchdown.”
Then there’s this thought. “I hope the first 10 plays are for me. It’s kind of the luck of the draw. You never know with Coach Payton.”
Offensive coordinator Sean Payton scripts the first 15 plays of each game. That script changes only if their is a drastic change in field position like when the Giants recovered the kickoff against the Vikings in the NFC Championship Game after Ike Hilliard’s 46-yard touchdown. The Giants know that to beat the Ravens they must spread them out to open up passing lanes. Backs could be split wide, tight ends could go deep as the Giants hope to conduct a symphony of scoring against the Ravens.
Since the Ravens offense is so punchless, two touchdowns could be a crescendo and as valuable as 41 points. Said Toomer of the game plan. “Top secret. I could tell you but I would have to kill you.”
Yes, these Giants are in the perfect state of mind for the biggest game of their lives. The wideouts, Toomer, Hilliard, Ron Dixon and Joe Jurevicius are dreaming Super Dreams. They know they’ve been underrated all year. If Kerry Collins gets time to pass tonight, Hilliard says, “There is no limit to what can happen.”
“I think there are a lot of things we can do against them,” Toomer adds. “We have receivers who can really play. I think everyone may be underestimating our offense because of the way we play sometimes. We gear it down and try to run the clock.”
“I think we have the ability to dictate the game,” Dixon notes. “If it’s not Amani or Ike making a big catch, it’s me making a return or something like that. We have a few surprises.”
Maybe Tiki Barber will set up wide, maybe running back Joe Montgomery will get more time, perhaps Greg Comella will be more of a passing target. The Giants have so many options because Collins is playing so well. The Giants wideouts are confident in each other, their quarterback and in Payton’s game plan, a triple-play of success. “Coach Payton has been doing a great job of making all the right calls,” Dixon says, “What can I say? We do so many things, we’re changing all the time that we can hardly keep up with it.”
“Once we got Kerry,” Toomer says, “we knew we had a quarterback who could get us the ball and we could do a lot of things.”
Toomer’s career exploded once he stopped sulking. “I just stopped worrying about being the guy who was mad on the sidelines,” he says. “I’m just going to go in there and make the plays.”
Wide receivers caught 20 passes against the Vikings. They know that with a talented corner like Chris McAlister, he’s being called a future Hall of Famer by some, and the experience of safety Rod Woodson, the Ravens can be lethal. But they also know the Ravens are vulnerable to the right play call, the right protection, the right pass and the right catch.
So turn on the spotlight. “Whenever you’re on center stage,” Toomer says, “you want to show your best. I think that this Sunday is definitely a good day to show what I could do.”
“You definitely dream about making the big play,” Hilliard says.
If the Giants’ Super dream comes true, what will Toomer do with the Lombardi Trophy. “I would probably take it back to my high school,” he says of De LaSalle High School in Concord, Calif. “I would show it to some people who would really appreciate what it took to get this trophy.”
That would be his greatest catch of all.