What does a head coach do when his entire offense, which now will be without receiver Ike Hilliard for the remainder of the season, is crumbling around him, with no end to the ineptness in sight?
The head coach takes over the mess.
Jim Fassel hasn’t announced a peaceful overthrow just yet, but a drastic change in the way the Giants operate on offense could be in the works. In the aftermath of another dismal showing in a 17-3 loss to the Eagles, Fassel yesterday hinted that he might take over the play-calling from offensive coordinator Sean Payton.
“It crossed my mind,” Fassel said, “but I’m not ready to make that decision today.”
When pressed further about a possible expanded role, Fassel added, “There’s things I can do and will do.”
Don’t look now, but the scenario just went from bad to worse for the Giants. Hilliard, whose two touchdown catches leads the team, is out for the remainder of the season with a dislocated right shoulder and a tear in both his labrum and his pectoralis muscle. Hilliard was drilled with a late hit by Eagles safety Brian Dawkins early in the third quarter.
He will have season-ending surgery in about a month and with unrestricted free agency upcoming, the 26-year old Hilliard – Fassel’s first draft pick, selected seventh overall in 1997 – has likely played his final game for the Giants.
“Ike’s been a playmaker for us,” Fassel said. “He does an outstanding job on third down. He’s been one of our consistent players. We’re going to miss him.”
The Giants’ offense was in near-shambles with Hilliard, and going on without him will make the rebuilding task that much more difficult. Either inconsistent Ron Dixon or rookie Tim Carter will replace Hilliard in the starting lineup.
Somebody had better rise up and do something soon, lest the season slip away from the Giants (3-4) and Fassel’s job security starts becoming an issue. The situation is not dire just yet but if the Giants continue to average one touchdown per game, someone will have to take the fall for an offensive sickness that is reaching epidemic levels.
When the subject of replacing Payton as the play-caller was broached in the past, Fassel repeatedly expressed his confidence in the 38-year old coordinator. Payton took over from Fassel and started calling plays on Dec. 5, 1999 and made a sensational debut in a 41-28 victory over the Bill Parcells Jets. Fassel missed that game to attend to his mother, who was ill in Arizona.
With 89 points, the Giants have scored fewer points than every team in the league other than the winless Bengals. The sad offensive charade could be summed up by a pathetic fourth-quarter possession that included a comical sequence of mishaps. The Giants were penalized for having 12 men on the field, for holding on right tackle Mike Rosenthal, and for a delay-of-game. In between, Kerry Collins fumbled and recovered a shotgun snap.
Fassel agreed with the characterization of the offensive operation as sloppy. “It’s like being a head coach, everything falls on you whether it was bad or not,” he said. “For a coordinator, you’re held responsible for that stuff.”
The salvage job for the Giants begins Sunday night against the Jaguars (3-4), who have lost three straight games, ushering in a seven-game stretch in which the Giants do not play a team that currently has a winning record.
What is certain is that no one will replace Collins, who was not sharp against the Eagles. Second-year Jesse Palmer is Collins’ backup.
“Changing quarterbacks is not on my radar, not at all,” Fassel said. “Not one bit.”
Changing a starting receiver is on the radar screen, a blip the Giants certainly did not need.