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Giants vs. San Francisco 49ers
Thursday, September 5, 2002 at Giants Stadium

Giants vs. 49ers: GameDay Buzz!
Giants looking to prove they're primetime players.
by Michael Eisen, Giants.com

Related links - Michael Eisen Archive

September 5, 2002

East Rutherford, NJ - On the surface, it seems like a great idea.

The Giants and San Francisco 49ers meeting in the Giants Stadium in a first-time, Thursday night, nationally-televised NFL opening game. A big concert in Times Square. A big day that showcases the renewal and spirit of New York City after 9/11, a grand kickoff to the season for the NFL and an immediate chance for the Giants to prove they are as good as they believe they are.

There is, however, a little flaw in this scenario. The Giants - and we'll put this as delicately as we can - have not been very good in prime time.

The Giants enter tonight's game with a 3-8-1 record under Jim Fassel in games played at night. That includes a 2-3-1 mark on ESPN Sunday night games and 1-5 on Monday Night games).

Overall, they are 5-6-1 on ESPN, with victories in their two most recent games, at Arizona and Dallas in 2000. But their Monday Night record is a dismal 15-26-1.

As if that's not bad enough, the Giants have lost their last their last three nighttime openers: 35-0 to Dallas in 1995, 23-20 in overtime to Buffalo in 1996 and 31-20 at Denver last year.

Oh, but there's hope. The Giants, who are playing their initial Thursday night game under Fassel, are 11-3-3 in games played on Thursdays.

They are also 44-28-5 on opening day, including 4-1 under head coach Fassel, who won his first four openers. And the Giants are 3-1 in opening games against San Francisco, including a prime time victory in 1991.

Of course, all those stats will mean nothing once the hitting starts tonight. What's more important is that the Giants are exciting about playing this unique opener.

"I think it's great," safety Shaun Williams said. "It gets us more mentally ready to play, because you understand how much is riding on the game and how much media attention will be there. There are no other NFL games (today). Everybody's going to be watching us to start off the NFL season. It's a great opportunity for us to go out there and show what we're made of."

"Guys are giddy, guys are nervous," Michael Strahan said. "It's the first time out there. It's the season opener, a big game, Thursday night. A lot of guys, their buddies are going to be watching, their parents are going to be watching. I think some guys may be a little nervous. But I don't think that's going to keep us from playing as well as we can."

Strahan and the rest of the Giants are well aware most people outside the locker room give the Giants little chance to make the playoffs.

"This team hasn't gotten respect since I've been here, so it's nothing new for me," Williams said. "It's the same old stuff for me, just a different year. The same story, just put a different year on it."

The Giants will try to change that story - by changing their recent poor fortunes in night games.

Perhaps the biggest news culled from the Giants inactive list is that Jason Garrett is the third quarterback, meaning second-year pro Jesse Palmer is the backup to Kerry Collins. The other inactives are running backs Damon Washington and Delvin Joyce, rookie linebacker Wes Mallard, center Dusty Zeigler, defensive tackle Lance Legree, and rookies receivers Tim Carter and Daryl Jones.

For the 49ers, the inactive players are kicker Jeff Chandler, running back Jamal Robertson, linebackers Saleem Rasheed and Jeff Ulbrich, tackle Kyle Kosier, defensive tackle Jim Flanigan and tight end Mark Anelli. The third quarterback is Brandan Doman.

Related links - Michael Eisen Archive

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