1989 Week 8 Vikings at Giants MNF

hello again everyone i'm frank gifford and welcome we're delighted you're with us we have two division leaders in the national football conference going for you tonight the minnesota vikings they've won their last four the giants are six and one in the eastern division of the nfc but both teams need to win tonight to maintain sole possession of first place in their division the vikings of course bring in herschel walker for his third start but this is the viking team really predicated on a great defense they have been playing superb defense they lead the national football league in defense after the first seven games the giants are six and one they've only lost one they lost that by two points to philadelphia they have not been playing overwhelming football out but the giants have been playing certainly well enough to look like a team that's a contender that will get better first of all we're delighted to welcome you back great job as usual on the series and of course as we have told you before a superb job as an on-the-spot reporter thank you sir and it's not that i've been away from you guys that long but i was shocked when i got to town today and realized that charlie connolly and alex webster had lost their starting jobs it's great to be back thank you the giants as frank mentioned on top in the nfc east and they really done it with defense this is a team that's allowed only 16 points per game as far as their offense is concerned a problem tonight mark bavaro is on the inactive list the great tight end they love to go to a three tight end set they'll have to change that around tonight but they still have otis anderson still sprightly he'll be 32 next month phil sims having a fine year and the giants on top as we approach the halfway mark of the 1989 season dan the minnesota vikings of course trying to stay in front of chicago they've won four straight but this is a really big test for them tonight on the road it certainly is out because they play so well at home but this is a team that's undergone a change and not just a change because of the herschel walker trade granted herschel walker is going to bring this theme a lot on the field of that there's no question his abilities are staggering but i think there's a message that's sent from the front office down to the clubhouse and this was a message in minnesota that was sorely needed this is a team that has been really in many ways ripped because of salary problems even talks of a racist attitude and management by some of the players and what perfect timing for the herschel walker trade in their last two wins against green bay in detroit it has been an invigorated a rejuvenated minnesota viking team that's played with a newfound intensity one change for the vikings tonight all season long they have lost the toss of the coin in each game until tonight so they finally win one in their eighth week of the season it's also the first time the minnesota vikings have ever played a game in this stadium they've been to new york before but they've played in the polo grounds and yankee stadium and shea stadium and it's the first time in this stadium for that man as well jerry burns the 62 year old head coach of the vikings so the season officially at the halfway mark when this one is over tonight each team will have played eight the giants to kick off raul alegre will put it in the air it's a gorgeous night temperature in the upper 70s in new york today and in the high 60s right now the crowd could be in shirtless it's that warm allegra kicking off and dj dozier takes it at the nine yard line and dozier brings it out past the 30 the 40 yard line big opening run back for dozier inside the giant 40 and taken down at the 30-yard line so a forgotten man dj dozier who had been the starting featured running back and he loses that job in the walker trade has his moment in the sun or the moon tonight as he begins this one with a great run back an outstanding blocking watch how he cuts inside the wall he finds his contain and really it's going to be perry williams who's going to save this viking touchdown watch williams number 23 forcing dozier back to the inside then adrian white comes in with the tackle perry williams saves a touchdown for the giants 63 yards and they give it to walker right away and walker takes it to the 25. the vikings may be strangers to the meadowlands but walker certainly isn't having played here in his days with dallas tommy kramer is the quarterback now wade wilson was hurt a couple of weeks ago kramer got the job wilson is back but he is number two at the moment with walker and anderson the running backs you'll see a lot of penny as well partner and jones of the white house and jordan is the tight end and there's the line to try to lead the way for herself walker penny is in there right now he carries in the plays they alternated full back and on second down and five kenny leads the way for walker and walker fights his way down to the 20-yard line where he is short of the first down by about a yard the giants defensively the excellent defense basically a 3-4 washington howard and marshall dorsey is hurt on injured reserve at the moment the linebackers the strength of this defense and all you have to do is look at the two men on the outside banks and lawrence taylor and the secondary featuring the rookie at strong safety myron guyton third in the yard from the 21. minnesota on the opening drive jones in motion and they give the ball this time to anderson who fights his way after being initially stopped he fights his way across the 20-yard line and takes it to the 18 and a viking first down and all on the ground and we talked to jerry burns last night we asked him what a difference herschel walker has made to a running game that has not been all that good for the vikings and he was very open about it very candid he said it gives us confidence in our running game even if walker's getting one if he's getting two if he's getting three if you stop we know that if we keep giving it to him he's going to pop one at a big one and they'll stay with their running game and he can also do these things for you he moves out as a wide receiver good receiver from out there splits far to the left on first down from the 18 yard line kramer has time lost one over the middle and wide open with steve jordan but the pass not there so jordan wide open at the goal line and kramer misfires giants dodge a giant bullet there as steve jordan could not have been more wide open and i think that may have been a situation where tommy kramer fought too much before he threw this ball he tries to touch it in there and just overthrows steve jordan a tight end with extremely good hands and this wasn't an instinctive throw from kramer i think he thought about it a little too much and perhaps jordan also a pro bowler a year ago he wouldn't drop that one in 10 times if he tried on second and ten kramer again time again and throwing into the end zone it kicks off in the end zone by terry cannot i wonder if it's going to be one of those nights so does he that was a pro bowler thornton who dropped the short touchdown terry canard another pro bowler from the free safety spot just kind of laying back there and watching and crossing over the middle comes jones and canard times it out beautifully just laying back there in center field makes the interception and takes it out close to the 15-yard line it might be one of those nights this but halloween eve should be one of those nights second interception of the season for canard sims asks for quiet giants at the 14-yard line and otis anderson finds a whole exposures in a hurry after a gain of five he is pushed back and does a little pushing and shoving with joey browner the minnesota strong safety piece has prevailed for the moment anyway as we look at phil's sims against solid and steady and now so very very durable and closing in on a milestone 25 000 yards anderson and carson and we'll see a lot of russon as well turner and manuel with moab the tight end again bavaro is hurt he is on the inactive lift tonight and the men up front on second down and five it's anderson going to the outside cuts in behind a molac block and takes it out to the 23-yard line he's about a yard and a half short of the first he is stopped there by the linebacker ray berry now the strength of the vikings that great defensive unit and they've picked up 24 sacks in the last three games eight eight and eight over the last three weeks noga thomas mallard and dolman the key men of course the linebackers with merryweather sat out last year started well in berry who just made the last play lee and rutland at the corners browner and curtis are the safety third and one and it's anderson and anderson close to it stopped at the 24-yard line by joey browner giants are signaling first and so are the officials jerry mark wright is the referee first down new york i think the giants came into this game thinking they could run the football and dan you know as well as i do this is one of the quickest defensive lines in football when you get somebody like that that pressures the passer like they do they have to make those quick moves off the line of scrimmage and they become very vulnerable to the run block but frank i think that wanting to run comes out of necessity as well i don't think the giants want to fall into a consistent third and long situation and have to block that minnesota pass run in this set they have rusan as a wide receiver and nowhere for otis anderson because of keith millard number 75 the fifth year lineman out of washington state and his 12 sacks leads the league at the moment i mean there's a guy with 12 sacks in only seven games that's that's a season for some team some players look at this though that's nothing more than his last minute movement confused the giant offensive line and they didn't make an adjustment at the point of attack lark comes through totally unblocked loss of two second and twelve no score early in the first quarter the meadowlands and sim tries to dump it off and has it knocked away by al noga kind of a forgotten man on that line because of goldman and millard but noga really coming into his own he has given the vikings however a totally new dimension because last year was basically chris stoleman and henry thomas now it's noga who's having a tremendous year he is a totally different football player than he was a year ago and your question might be why wasn't he blocked this is a screen all the way the giants have released their offensive line so noga isn't even blocked anderson floated to the outside and sims is attempting to just drop it over the arm of noga if that one is not swatted away by noga might have been a long yardage play third and 12 with ingram in motion out of the shotgun sim stepping up and going down at the 17-yard line and it's al noga well right off the bat we've seen the minnesota defensive line dominate the first series by the giant millard makes the play for a loss and phil sims as you saw got up limping al noga swats the ball away and then here on a delayed move back to the inside sacks phil simps and phil sims came up walking very very tenderly and now on the giant sideline limping real noticeably you saw the left knee hit from the side and it did appear just to buckle just a bit and we'll be checking on that sean landed his kick take him at the 41-yard line and a fumble by lewis and at the 38-yard line minnesota has it oh what a lucky bounce for the bikes came right back to them renee thompson and he's really been a demon on special teams for the giants creates the fumble but minnesota gets it back leo lewis didn't even consider the fair catch he doesn't very often he knew he was going to get the shot you saw him kind of hunker up there and thompson just unloads on him and as you said dan perfect bounce right back into his arms and minnesota keeps possession they have good field position at their 39th nine minutes and 22 seconds remaining first quarter that's the big story right now what about sim who came limping off the field the other giant quarterback is jeff hostetler they have a third as well in jeff rutledge but he is inactive tonight the minnesota ball rick fenney's first harry of the night brings him out to the 47-yard line where he is bumped down by gary reasons and mark collins and there is hochsettler loosening up just in case watch the right leg of phil sims now there's a hit by noga see the right knee and ankle kind of caught underneath now phil's able to kick it out and get it up off of the turf and get out from under it and that's why it wasn't any more serious than it is but phil still over on the giant sideline trying to shake it off and frank one of the toughest quarterbacks in the league is showing a lot of fame right now i'm going to add that if anyone should get back in there he will because he is one tough cookie second down and two big holes for walker he exploits it flag goes down first penalty of the game herschel takes it to the 47-yard line jerry mark right will tell us about it after discussing this with a headline and the call is against minnesota so that will negate the first down for the chagrin of jerry burns gary burns been around a long time holding number 85 offense second down burns only in his fourth year as head coach of these vikings but uh he's he's been a coach forever with the packers back in the early 60s that's brent novoselski one of the tight ends watch him come down to the inside and his left arm encircled the leg of carl banks and dragged him to the ground and that negated a nice play and a nice game by the bike it is second down and 12 now from the 37-yard line kramer pays the price you get the feeling daryl ingram the tight end across the line well actually daryl ingram the tight end moved and i don't know who was first yeah we know jerry yes well is that better tommy kramer was drawing from behind to jerry mark right he could have done an unsportsman like possible yep he might have now lawrence taylor is the giant to that side and daryl ingram is the minnesota viking when you get lawrence taylor in front of you you tend to do a lot of things and lawrence is protesting himself now that he was drawn off we have a 5 and a 15 yard penalty we have a false start number 81 offense penalty is just regarded we have a personal foul unnecessary roughness number 56 defense first down well jerry mark first of all jerry mark wright says 81 he's talking about number 86 number 81 is anthony carter split all the way to the outside there's daryl ingram right there in the middle of your screen now watch him rock back there's the movement now lawrence taylor moves on that that's the penalty against the vikings but boy that flag against lawrence taylor unnecessary roughness coming in from behind i'm not so sure about that neither are the giants fans here at the meadowlands end result is a first down at the giant 48-yard line with hassan jones going in motion kramer freezes the defense off the play fake and then hits jones at the 29-yard line in traffic for a first down now the only thing i want to speculate and i can't tell being up here in the booth is whether or not jerry mark wright was blowing the whistle down on the field and felt that lawrence taylor should have stopped before he got to tommy kramer that's that's something that's impossible for us new and of course uh there was no contact made so why should he blow the whistle you saw sims being worked on on the far side with hot settlers continuing to loosen up and we'll find out obviously when the giants get the ball back right now minnesota at the 28-yard line and walker going to the outside and going nowhere he is stopped by gary reason washington also in on the play i think just about everyone knows that that is not the long suit of herschel walker in houston his days as a professional football player taking it to the outside he's not a good slashing cutback type of runner his best efforts come from that deep in the eye formation where he goes tackle the tackle and accelerates and blows by you he's really not the sweet man and doesn't run this week in a classical way you saw his numbers those are the combined numbers this season as he's viking in the two games he came in tonight averaging 6.2 per carry on second down and 10. kramer fires from the outside hits jordan and he takes it to the 11-yard line in the first down gary reason makes the tackle and there is sims as his defensive unit right now is being pushed back again the giants were able to sign me the initial minnesota drive on an interception by canard bill farcell's team by the way has not given up a single point in the first quarter this season [Music] something miraculous is going to have to happen here quickly for the giants for that not to go by the wayside 6 34 to go no score first and ten vikings at the 11 yard line and they give it to fenney and penny on the second effort takes it to the nine yard line where gary reason makes the tackle second down talking about burns he was an assistant under la party before he joined the vikings some 18 19 years ago was around for a long time coached the defense the moon was the offensive coordinator so he's seen it all come and go when you talk to him you certainly get the feeling that he has seen it all not the excitable type is it he's got it together second down eight at the nine yard line anderson in motion flip it out to walker inside the five and walker is in for the touchdown that's what he does well he turns it up north and south and he accelerates perhaps as good as anyone in this game and i think that's a read all the way by tommy kramer on lawrence taylor the minute he sees lawrence taylor coming it immediately is the quick release over the top of lawrence taylor to herschel walker i'm sure when we go to a replay after the kick we'll be able to take a look at that it it's the read of lawrence taylor the quick dump by tommy kramer and then it's all herschel walker from there but they take taylor out of the play with the quick pass as everyone is trying to do they think about him constantly san diego last week they just hammered him with two or three guys throughout the game and we're going to take a look at the replay they're going to look at you see if he broke the plane here after further review the play stand they will have a vantage point from here there is herschel barreling he makes contact with johnny cooks and i can't tell if the nose of the football came down the way he was undergoing it was the back of the football the way he well in those whichever yeah whichever end of the football touches the goal line immediately becomes the nose of the football the way he was crazy they're going to look at it again it's a funny thing they said it stands then we showed that replay now they have asked for another delay apparently take another look the back of the football becomes the nose of the football here if any part of that ball crosses that white line well i i don't know there is no way you can see enough there to overturn the officials you see the laces and there's the point of the ball i think that's a touchdown well it was ruled down now yeah so i if it was ruled not a touchdown i don't think we see enough to overturn it lt bonner is the uh the replay official and commissioner paul tagliabue is on hand tonight getting his first taste of what's going on with the replay it's still staying they will stand there's no way they could turn it over that would help right that was the decision rich karlis the uh former bronco who couldn't come to terms with denver and then minnesota picked him up shortly after the season began out of the hold of bucky scribner and for the first time in 1989 the giants have yielded points in the first period we have 545 to go in the first at the meadowlands [Music] minnesota on top by a score of seven to nothing on a hot night in new york the meadowlands get a lot hotter if phil sims is hurt carlos kicks off and a bouncing kick and that goes out of the end zone so the giants will take over at the 20-yard line and it appears that it will be hot settler who is coming in so sims was walking around on the sidelines they checked his knee he changed his shoes but he can't come in at least for this series boss settler guides the giants when we come back in a moment well if you look at millard and the minnesota defense the giants with jeff hostetler the quarterback how infrequently does he play well all season he's thrown two passes but at least he's completed them one for a touchdown he takes over and anderson takes it out to the 22-yard line so we'll have to wait and see about sims but jeff hostetler two for two this season is the quarterback at the moment last year when phil sanders was injured hotsetter came in against new orleans and played the first half of that game did fairly well and was quite a controversy because at the half even though josh settler had played well they replaced him with jeff rutledge and jeff as we've already mentioned is not available tonight third round draft pick and 84 out of west virginia has not played that much second and seven at the 23 yard line and the vikings jumped millard had come across as a flag down and anderson has stopped at the 23-yard line what jerry burns tell us last night i wouldn't be surprised if keith millard goes offside three times tomorrow night well i think we've got one of them one down two to go that's something the vikings and their defensive line work on continually number 97 defense second down well actually they're going to throw it on henry thomas let's take a look and see who we can see coming across the ball there's keith millard way across the line of scrimmage i'd like to know how they call that on henry thomas poor henry was just sitting there back in his stance the officials tonight having some problems with numbers and identifying the guilty the guilty party on second and short it's anderson still short of the first down al noga making the tackle at the 29-yard line and it will be third down and one as we talked about the vikings having 37 sacks into the night and you have got to be moving quickly along the line of scrimmage to get those kinds of facts this is noga who has come on so strong this year slicing to the inside making the stop and there is the man that teaches it wherever he has been he has had a strong past russian ball club the 49ers in detroit and now with minnesota third and one seoul setback is anderson and it's anderson with the ball and a first down taking it to the 33-yard line going straight up the middle in behind oats and robert moore stopped by studwell in a first down with three minutes and 49 seconds to play in the quarter and minnesota leading seven to nothing how much more of a burden would that man phil sims how keep in mind mark bavaro is not playing tonight how much more of a burden now does otis anderson have to carry you get the impression it'll have to be the giants running game and that's what we have for you next monday night the saints out at candlestick against the 49ers but o.j anderson has got to carry more than his fair share tonight fake to anderson hostetler's first pass is rifled complete to the 50-yard line to lionel manuel who was covered well leaps up makes the play first down giant 17-yard game manual the best of the wide receivers for the giants he has the best move here he works against carl lee the pro bowler lee good on the man for man and he gets called upon to cover man for man but manuel squares it off and hostetler fires it a perfect shot right down the middle and more importantly he had the time to get rid of it he certainly did and as you can see by the trajectory on that ball hospital has a fresh arm that ball just snapped off his finger maurice carson is the man in motion from the 50s toss settler who is three for three this season trying to make it four for four to turner 2g double covered carly stretching us can't make the interception now they'll take that one back to the drawing board because odessa turner was covered well he was covered so well odessa turner decided just to forget about it hofstedler meanwhile just threw it up for grabs and that comes from just not playing and he has not played that much let's watch turner now he gets outside coverage on the part of carl lee inside is travis curtis now he just pulls up to hey i'm covered baby hostetler puts it up anyway and just off the fingertips of an interception by carl lee that just comes from not playing second and ten what they're saying on the giants bench sprained ankles where sims may return that's the uh the cryptic information we get second and ten from the 50-yard line russo on an end around takes it to the 42-yard line where he's bumped down by joey browner lee rousson's first carry of the game this is something you also do to a team that is really is thinking about pat with the quick moves they react to anything they see and it's good to run reverses against them you do a screen pass and that was very effective phil sims relegated to standing on the sidelines and still favoring that leg the bad news uh of course he's not in there for the giants the good news is they tell us it's the ankle and there's navarro he is not on injured reserve he could play next week he's on the inactive list tonight when he was two enactus third in a long one and anderson with a flag being thrown at the end of the play appears to have picked it up stopped by sudwell and will get the call and that's going to be holding against the giants and the middle lands crowd let's out of ground polling number 65 offense third down bart oates working against henry thomas number 97. boy what a killer that was a first down run by the giants and now that throws them exactly where they don't want to be rather than a first down in the continuance of a very good drive now they're into that third and 11 sort of situation and this is not the situation that jeff hostetler wants to find himself there the young offensive line and minnesota will show you a lot of duking on their pass rush in a past situation like this comes out of the shotgun sense make it to the right side in motion with three receivers in that direction and hostile rolling and firing down the sideline and they've broken up intended for a megan and broken up by audrey mcmillan and the giants were forced to kick with a minute and 13 to go in the opening period boy what a killer that holding penalty was what a killer the giants in their first drive with jeff hostetler at quarterback really we're moving the ball quite well moving it effectively on the ground mixing it up hostile looking sharp on a couple of passes the exception of the long one and then the holding penalty killed him leo lewis who met renee thompson the last time he attempted to field a landeta punt and was fortunate to recover his own fumble backs up and now let's bounce inside the ten and it goes into the end zone so no fair cash in such a chance and it's paid off they'll bring it out to the 20 with 101 to go in the first quarter that is not a very happy scene for the giants obviously phil sims doesn't appear at all close to coming back into this game george young the general manager and the vice president looking on right now his team down to one quarterback and down seven nothing and the vikings have the ball at the 20-yard line versus walker looks for room and picks up about five he's finally wrestled down by gary reasons and we have a marker i spoke just a moment ago to offensive coordinator sean earhart of the giants and they really don't have a disaster quarterback they have been told the sims is not all that bad and could possibly come back meanwhile eric howard is limping off and the giants are short on the defensive line as well here's mark that's cool number 69 offense first down scott taylor giants are really thin in the defensive line as we see eric howard going off they have rob white and mark duncan both they picked up three ages after the season it started that's all they have remaining of course eric dorsky their defensive left hand is out could be out for the season so they are very thin and rob white is the man who comes in second year man out of south dakota number 71 first down and 20 from the 10-yard line on a delay walker and he gets tripped up by reasons who stopped him in the backfield when herschel picks up one as he takes it out to the 11-yard line but green is having a big night big quarter anyway dennis do have is a great set of linebackers not only gary reasons but johnny cook the former number one draft pick of indianapolis acquired last year he's having a big year pepper johnson has improved as he's come back after being a long hold out of course pro bowlers banks on one side and taylor on the other they're going to need a lot from them tonight giants are going to need a lot of whatever tonight sims hurt bavaro and active we've seen howard go off and the quarter is over with the vikings on top we'll return after this mexican award from our abc statement second quarter al michaels frank gifford dan dierdorf at the meadowlands it's second down and 18 for minnesota from the 12 yard line and kramer throws and it's caught by jordan and he takes it back to the 25 but they're short of the first down third down and five well seven to nothing minnesota i think frank the highlight of the the game for the new york tribe tonight had to be the national anthem i thought it was done very well did the anthem tonight okay she has tongue before well literally millions and i've never known anyone who's quite the nervous killers tonight well i i thought of it as good as she was i think the giants right now have some they wish more than they wish he could play defensive end right now i think back look how well buffalo has played since they lost tim kelly frank wright has stepped in jeff hospital right now is going to have to do that for the giants third down and five from the 25 yard line kramer stepping up throwing caught first down carter takes it to the 40-yard line anthony makes his first hatch of the game at a most proficient time on a third down situation with perry williams in on the stop and it keeps the viking drive going 13-year-old arm here not bad dan well he bought himself some extra time frank by stepping up into the pocket and that's what allows anthony all that extra time to run perry williams all the way up into the middle and then come back to the sideline that's a pattern like that granted it shows a lot of creativity on the part of anthony carter but it can't happen without the line and the quarterback buying a little extra time that's a lengthy pattern first down minnesota at the 40. kramer freezing the linebackers again hits jordan and the ball is loose but after he was down now a penalty marker reasons have made the tackle and we'll see about the call curry williams was there personal foul personal foul unnecessary roughness number 55 defense they're calling that thought of that really close well the position that steve jordan is in he's flattened flat on his back on the field and not really in a position to defend himself now again we're watching this in slow motion there's the tackle by perry williams reasons has already left the ground he's already in a horizontal position coming down and you know i sometimes i think we're asking a lot of a guy who's run 20 yards to all of a sudden suspend himself in midair and not make a hit on a guy that's already on the ground that one was mighty fine from the 32-yard line walker picks up about three to the 29-yard line kenny wolf our producer and craig janoff our director let's can we see this at regular speed now the driving of the shoulder by reasons may have been what drew the flag but granted i know it looks bad but reasons had already left the ground he's already in the air how good of an athlete you have to make yourself almost been an attitude interpretation yeah may have been the way drove the shoulder in more than anything else it drew the flag second and seven good news for the giants eric howard is back in the game at nose tackle second and seven from inside the 30-yard line and not a lot of room for herschel walker he is stopped there by leonard marshall and it will be third down and five we can tell you that saturday on abc's college football regional action big 10 pac-10 some of you will see a frank illinois taking on iowa or the arizona wildcats taking on the california bears berkeley 3 30 eastern 12 30 pacific here on abc third and five from the shotgun vikings ahead seven to nothing and there's an inside handoff to fenney and a flag is down fenney takes it to the 19-yard line and the marker is thrown at the inception of the play at the line of scrimmage a lot of flags tonight this time against minnesota paul starts number 69 offense third down no play it's another penalty on todd kayla and i don't think there's any doubt about it he snaps his hand up before look at kayla's at right guard he's the second guy in from the top and clearly he's in movement before the snap of the ball and on a fall start the play never existed the clock goes back to where it was and here and now it's minnesota's turn to have a third wall out of the shotgun they put it at the 33-yard line it's third down and 11 as creamer he's in trouble and gets at the 45 leonard marshall marshall gets the sack give lawrence taylor an assist he drove it inside picked up a couple of vikings they are always concerned about lawrence taylor working on him freed up marshall they get the sack you're right on it frank here's leonard marshall here's taylor watch taylor drive in and take both of these vikings the loop to the outside by leonard marshall will then be wide open there's taylor takes zimmerman to the inside he picks off randall mcdaniel the left guard and that just makes it as easy as pie for leonard marshall coming around the corner good teamwork between taylor and martin bucky scrubner to kick dave megan at the 10 yard line and the play clock has run down to zero it's uh the type of situation where the vikings really don't mind the extra five yards at this particular point if anything it's probably a plus it's going to allow the kicker to take a full swing without having to worry too much about driving it into the end zone right now delay of game offense fourth down it's sometimes easier for a kicker to kick a little further than try to hang one up and then time it out perfectly so it'll settle in about the 10-yard line now scribner can kick it away but the giants have elected to take it they they've got a dangerous return man they want megan to handle it averaging over 11 yards of return agreed he's saying that the 10th scribner is going to angle it for the near side but it won't come close to getting there instead of the middle of the field megan drops it at the 11 yard line and down he goes back at the 7 yard line like i said very dangerous novoselsky makes the tackle giants take over deep in their own territory they trail by seven with 10 26 to go in the half you've got a lot of people in the palm of his hand speaking of people that can sing he's not too bad yeah yeah well tonight it's really boiled down to where giants now are going to have to play mistake-free football like with phil sims out of the game if they're into the field like this they're going to be very cautious and this drives begins with maurice carson losing to keith millard from bursting through to drop them back at the five yard line so the giants already pinned deeper now pin deeper it'll be second down call at 11. with a little bit more than 10 minutes to go in the opening half what we knew coming into this game that one of the critical factors for the giants was could they handle the stunts of the minnesota defensive line and even when they weren't studying was elliot's going to be able to handle dolman one-on-one william roberts going to be able to deal with millard second and eleven hostetler losting it down the sideline and two deep turner was covered he looks back and says hey rutland could be flagged and the official says not even close pal rutland should be applauded for all star coverage reggie rutland as a cornerback could not possibly cover a fly pattern any better than he smothers odessa turner down the sideline this speaks for itself and you notice he knew exactly when to look up he knew the extent of the arm of the quarterback in the game and he just kept the sprinter's stride and when he had to look around he did and talking about sprinter's stride now take a look at the minnesota defensive line and that is a phenomenal stat two for 42 they've limited their opposition from this sort of situation third down and 11 and the pass is caught by megan and megan picks up the first down so much for that friend after the 29 yard line well out of bounds by daryl fullington a 23-yard pickup three for 43. and they'll also pay the confidence that bill parcells has in hospital who has not played that much noga right in hostella's face and they deflected the ball and make it good concentration and gets away from merriweather a good pass defender linebacker and gets the first down big yardage out of the 30-yard line dangerous pass down there going to a rookie against an all-pro linebacker he got open and then the pass was deflected box settler is now two of five rusan in motion steps up throws and throws it away way away intended for ingram second and ten rush put on that time by henry thomas to nothing is the score minnesota trying to stay on top of the nfc central trying to remain a game in front of chicago and the giants are trying to stay in front of philadelphia in the nfc connection that commissioner paul tagliabue is here tonight taking on the game and we are also going to be talking with him at halftime elected last week second and ten and another flag because the vikings were jumping two of them unless they were drawn off played dead before the inception burnsey how many offsides did baron fellas he thought his team would have well he thought millard would have three all by himself millard's had one even though henry thomas got blamed for it this time the whole right side of the viking defensive line was moving ball starts number 15 offense second down oh and they're going to say that it was hostetler that in his cadence must have rocked must have in some way drawn the vikings offside you be the judge oh and they're going to say that that bobbing of the head oh they're calling this one tight and the folks here in new jersey are not happy oh they're calling it tight jerry seaman referee is aware that the commission is here tonight well the quarterback is not allowed to bob his head now he's not allowed to make that flagrant motion to intentionally draw a team offside but ooh that was uh that was a subtle move of hoss stetler's head oscar probably asked him you ever see elway and that's a there it is again and it must have looked a whole lot more dramatic from the field than it does from here second and 15 for the 24 yard line and going deep for ingram and overthrows him and also winds up on his back carly with the coverage on the play and dolmen charging through frank how about that coverage by the viking secretary secondary they are all over the giants receivers tonight i mean we're seeing some outstanding man-to-man coverage both corners carly reggie rutland we've seen classical stuff and now joey browner who missed all of the pre-season in that contract hold out bitterness that was set off by conflict between mike lee the head of the vikings and joey browner spread around throughout the entire national football league of course it was resolved a little bit more so walker came in things settle down and a four-game winning streak can change a lot of things but doesn't it sure third down and 15 from the 24-yard line fired over the middle but well short of the first down the cash is made by lionel manuel he's dropped by daryl smith at the 32-yard line and with 9-12 remaining in the half it comes landeta and the giant hunting unit with defense with leo lewis back to receive for minnesota no points nothing of the sort for the giants but yet a semi-effective drive as they were clear back on their six or seven yard line and at least drove it out beyond their 30 before they have to punch thanks to that third down pass to megan deep booming kick by landed back lewis up to the 14-yard line and then he really pays the fight he gets decked out at the 24-yard line by adrian white viking stick over there 8 41 remaining second quarter at the meadowlands the bike's on top by a touchdown [Music] lawrence taylor and the giants defensive units out on the field with the vikings taking over to begin this drive at their own 24 yard line 7-0 minnesota 8 41 to go in the first half and tommy kramer takes walker that buys him some time and then the perfect throw and the cash i believe is made yes but you have it at the 46-yard line steve jordan the question was did he have possession as he went out of bounds had it juggled it got possession back first down at the 46-yard line i think that's the key al i think he had possession of the ball before he got hit and it was rocked loose there's jordan with the ball he clearly had it and then it did get knocked loose steve jordan able to bring it back in but did he have it there's one foot down there's two foot two foot there's two feet down nice dan real nice from the 46th yard you'll get ripped yeah caught at the 50-yard line by steve jordan and he takes it to the 48 into giant territory that was a nice catch by them guys well there's the mr pumpkin floating around is we're always good for a couple pumpkins here at the meadowlands doesn't even have to be halloween for enough for that to be tossed around and a few other items as well as we'll see if he calls more last visit that's right we had a doll floating around he certainly did second and four from the 47 yard line and walker takes it to the 44 where you stop by carl banks and appears to be a little short of the first down about uh yeah that'll he's very close to alex but he was hit behind the line of scrimmage and it shows the strength of rehearsal he might be even close enough to take a look at it puts it inside the 44 yard line he's a big man he's strong he does everything he does so effortlessly now bang he's hit there and spins off and a lot of backs would have been the yard shorter first down the walker kept the balance great what a fine young man rules too well as we said just short of the first down third down coming up herschel walker seventh year as a pro three in the usfl this was his home park as a new jersey general still only 27 years old though i mean he went into pro football early and went over to the united states football league and some of you maybe didn't follow that league lost track of him he's still a young man really just physically in the very prime of his life how does he put it you've been hearing about hershey walker for a long time he talks about himself in the third person and this is having trouble is spending getting started the giants think they have held the vikings are now going to have to talk about themselves in the fourth person as they go to fourth down i i don't know that they got back to the line well they had anderson and fenney in the backfield they're going to park yep yeah cooler heads prevailed there was a little talk back and forth on the sidelines and look for a moment as if jerry burns is going to go for it here is belichick bill belichick the defensive coordinator of the giants another fine effort voice and the vikings to kick with scribner setting up at his own 40-yard line and it's a an end over end kick that will bounce into the end zone and come out to the 20. so the giants are able to hold they get it back at the 20. new york has the ball they trail by seven and we have 642 left in the hand metropolitan stadium in bloomington minnesota fran tarkenton then a viking he'd become a giant in 1967 finds paul flatly here for the touchdown as the vikings that day routed the giants 40 to 14. [Music] you see this spot right here that's where this guy mark rodenhauser the center is going to end up after pepper johnson puts a hit on it we're holding auditions for those of you that would like to be a punt snapper or part of a logo no fun anderson from the 20-yard line takes it out to the 21 as joey browner makes the uh no fun got your head down most of your weight is back on your hunches as you try to snap that ball and you are in no position to defend yourself from guys like pepper johnson good hit guys like roadhouses say i don't know why they hit me like that i'm not going to run all the way down there and make the tackle anyway second and nine new york from the 21-yard line to that anderson has room first down and out of bounds at the 40-yard line and there's o.j signature we put the face like i'm gonna go out of bounds carl lee the cornerback let up and anderson put the shoulder down and just drilled him remember in the first quarter when i said they were trying to run the screen when noga tipped the ball and knocked it back and i said if they could have gotten the ball over noga it could have been a big gainer on the screen and now the giants seeing that in the first quarter come right back with it get it over the top of noga that time and o.j anderson makes a big play out of it and gets a little extra hidden on the end and a good call against the penetrating type defense of minnesota the screen the reverse stats have been effective with it at the 38-yard line first and ten anderson again taken down at the 41-yard line picks up about three ray berry in on the stops so what's the big difference between uh him then and now dan i mean he's played with him for so many years or early on in his career well he i don't think that he has the the straight away speed that he had when he first came in this league otis anderson i think fooled a lot of defensive backs and linebackers in this game when he first broke on the scene with his with his speed they would take a cut-off angle and find out that they were woefully short that he was much faster than they thought he is a i think a much more powerful back than a lot of people think he is he played at the high 220s looking like he weighed 245 he's a big big man second and seven and anderson again and he's a real workforce on this drive and he's out to the 43-yard line he gets stopped there by ray berry no relation to the millionaire coach and scott studwell also another tackle talking to bill parcells this week about anderson he said keep in mind he hasn't done that much for the last three years the giant acquired him in a trade uh in 87. he didn't play hardy at all then didn't play much at all last year and was relatively quiet the year before that with saint louis so people are saying well you're going to wear him out you're going to run him down marcel says now he's getting better the more times we give him the ball the better he gets an extremely talented athlete third and a short five at the 43-yard line was going forward you can see it turned up feels too far nogan knocks it down but you saw ingram number 82 in motion going forward yeah i'm beginning to start a fan club for al locust what a difference a year has made for number 99 he is and also he has totally changed his vikings defense great speed great quickness remember we saw him in a pre-season game and he was outstanding in that the penalty that time was called against number 81 stacy robinson i did you not hear 81. i thought he said 81 but he he miscalled somebody's number before as well i think the officials are batting a thousand they have missed every number tonight on a penalty that was clearly number 82 mark ingram going forward at the snap of the ball i think robinson was in for saying on that last clue [Music] now we're going to get geography right here tiffany you got it here's lance lewis lets it bounce and johnson picks it up with the pepper baby it's dead at that spot when you do that 34 yard kick 3 46 to go into the hand back three minutes and 46 seconds remaining in the first half at the meadowlands phil sends out of the game twisted ankle hostetler has been the quarterback and right now the giant defense is out on the field as the vikings have it at the 33-yard line and as the half draws to a throws each team with its full complements of timeouts remaining 7-0 minnesota the 33-yard line tommy kramer has to rethree track the screen and boy was he ever lucky lawrence taylor what a great effort on the part of taylor and he almost got six points out of it and if you're going to run a screen run it at taylor so he doesn't chase it down from behind and that's exactly what the vikings tried to do but i don't think they counted on that extremely good effort by lawrence of getting up and batting the ball away and almost then intercepting it the right hand up he comes back down doesn't go to the ground and then dives for it and almost gets it of what we saw in our opener against the redskins second and ten kramer under pressure again this time for jordan and knocks down terry canard with the coverage on the play and leonard marshall came in and forced the early release by tommy kramer tommy kramer will not finish the game if he takes many more hits like that from leonard martial he was not in a position to defend himself after releasing the ball and number seven he comes in and just levels tommy kramer tommy's been doing this for 13 years he's been whacked around pretty good over those years but he does take a vicious shot he knew he was going to get it comes right down on that shoulder and we still have to admire the fact that he would stay there and deliver it third and ten from the 33. giants rush four and kramer throws into the steam and it is not picked off at the 46-yard line almost almost sheldon white and anthony carter both there merely an interception simply an incompletion with the defense holes and a kick up coming and this crowd 76 000 of them begins to sense it there's a little bit of a turnaround in the momentum pressure on kramer kramer now twice throwing it into a crowd on two consecutive plays a ball that could have been intercepted that time canard had company perry williams was there and then the ball bounces right up to sheldon white who tried to make it look like he picked it off in the air but the official saw it that's wade wilson number 11 broke a knuckle in his left hand three weeks ago played a little bit last week and could go if they wanted to change quarterbacks he's healthy and jerry burns said hey you know the opportunity comes wilson is ready scribner with a kick that backs megan up to the 21-yard line almost runs into his own man and then megan is brought down to the 29 and there are flags all over the joints and how far was megan away from getting through that arm tackle and gone i mean we're talking about just uh just the hair away for this guy david megan it's rhodenhauser who makes the tackle road who is the man who wound up on his back number 52 on the return first down pepper johnson and you can almost say that sometime this year this young man dave may get a fifth round draft pick out of towson state and former captain there and a defensive back good all-around athlete not all that big five 780 pounds you can almost predict that he is going to break one he has come so close all year long and he runs the punt back just like it should be he forgets all about his body and looks for that gap and he's going to find one someday from the 19-yard line to anderson a lot of heat put on and that's the second sack of the night by the vikings and keith millard picking it up number 13 on the season he may have gotten a half of it henry thomas was also there and they'll have to judge thomas of course the unsung hero of that front four of the vikings and you hear a lot about him when you're around jerry burns though he's having a great year well thomas goes around and gets the first shot but he misses it he misses it cleanly and hostetler is still alive so i think the entire sack will go to millard yep that play is still alive so credits that's a full one for keith millard as al said number 13 but henry thomas the first one to get in there and the giants having difficulty with the games and the stunts for the second and 19 vikings on a pace to set a new nfl record in fact this is anderson and going nowhere on the second and long ray berry makes the tackle you know millard is on a pace two to break the individual record for sack that was his 13th the nfl record is 22 by mark gastineau but i don't know dan do you remember a defensive tackle i don't know did alan page lead the league in fact or was did they even count at them yeah well you have to keep in mind the league didn't start officially uh monitoring saxons until 1982 so a lot of the great pass rushers in prior years aren't down in the books because of the fact that they played prior to 1982 i well you mentioned someone yeah i remember uh back in the mid 70s coy bacon when he was with the cincinnati bengals had a phenomenal year i i seem to remember at the time of somewhere in the mid 20s and of course you know i can only think back you know when guys like deacon jones and people like that uh some of the great pass rushers of the past of course they were dealing with a shorter season back then as well for 14 and prior to that only 12 games well the record since 82 since the official stats were composed 22 by mark gastineau right and then reggie white had 21 and 87. yeah that's the key with the reggie white thing he had 21 sacks and only a dozen games right meanwhile right here minnesota had taken that time out to stop the clock because the giants are facing the third and 18 and the vikings of course with two and a half minutes remaining figure they can hold the giants here three for 43 in this sort of yardage vikings defense third and eighteen the hospital has to roll and lifts the room and runs into a lot of trouble and is buried back at the two by henry thomas and uh the giants are in a lot of trouble because the they'll have to punt from their own end zone the vikings have two timeouts remaining and in fact let's see if they're going to take one here because the free one comes up at the two minute warning well it's henry thomas and keith millard playing let's miss the quarterback and let the other guy get the sack that's how millard misses hostile and thomas comes in late it gets dangerously close to a safety and now there's millard boy he almost gets the sack and then is henry thomas it comes in and wipes it up so tit for tat here for millard and thomas at jeff hostetler's expense two-minute warning the giants will have to kick from their own end zone the vikings figure to get the ball in good field position they'll have two timeouts remaining and they lead by a score of seven nine near one million dollar grant to the lobardi cancer center at georgetown university making the total commitment to the cancer center two million dollars two minutes remaining in the first half at the meadowlands vikings on top seven to nothing phil sims has rejoined this late twisted ankle hasn't played since very early on only touchdown of the night scored by herschel walker in the first quarter cox hitler has been the quarterback there is tim who has not gone back to the locker room but hasn't played since early on and landed on a kick from his end zone with leo lewis at the receive near midfield and lewis calls for a fair catch makes it at the 40. so the vikings have it in great shape at the giant 40-yard line with 154 and two timeouts remaining now here at the meadowlands yesterday there was a game the 49ers and the new york jets and it was jerry rice it doesn't matter who plays quarterback montana was hurt young had gone out he got hurt so steve bono comes into the game number three on the depth chart for george seifert's 49ers and we'll take a look at against new orleans next monday night and bono looks downfield and all he has to do is spot number 80. jerry rice who scores the touchdown here and the niners win it by a score of 23-10 meanwhile back live here anthony carter gets hit by kerry kennard before he can make the catch and second down and ten just admire anthony carter coming in on that slant last week against detroit he caught one that really scared everyone who was there he laid on the carpet for a long time before he got up very similar to that we took the one shot from that direction and then from behind i think it was chris spielman that came in and really took his helmet off and got caught in the sandwich but right there give a lot of credit to terry canard that would have been a viking completion and this good play broke it loose herschel walker is split to the left he's a wide receiver in this set with cardinal going in motion on second down and 10. framerate throws over the middle it's a short gain to the 37-yard line the cash is made there by hassan jones and it will be third down at about seven just to follow up on that jets game yesterday the the 49ers now seven and one the jets are one and seven i got the feeling the new york post didn't appreciate the the jets performance yesterday the headline and the sport section today was green slime joe walton is really struggling with the jets and the vikings he's very deliberate here as the clock moves scores about a minute 10. taking their time they still have two-time house remaining gustason goes in motion on third down and six and cramer under pressure throws and that's a first down as anthony carter squeezes between two defenders to cross the 30. banks and collins were there and the vikings now will take a timeout with exactly a minute remaining in the half they lead seven to nothing and another highlight from yesterday at cleveland wild game where the browns were rather ineffective in the first half but then they really turned it on in the second half and of course eric metcalf and rookie he can do it all as he takes uh kozar's toss and then he himself throws one into the end zone reggie langhorne doing his thing for the dog pound and the cleveland browns defeat houston by a score of 28 to 17. actually two different games houston totally dominating the first half of that game and then cleveland coming out particularly on defense michael dean perry what a game he played for that cleveland defense at the half another look at some of our greatest moments monday night football for tagliabuel the new nfl semester will be along quick plays we're going to vote on i'm very appropriate at halloween we have our own puppets so don't go away first and ten of the 28-yard line and kramer gets sacked at the 35-yard line by leonard marshall his second clock is momentarily stopped on the stack now again the vikings are down to their final timeout and they'll restart the clock here in just a moment and the vikings again go back into the huddle now boy i tell you what they gave the vikings a nice little break there normally gonna start that clock a lot sooner second and 17. and d.j dozier goes nowhere runs into the arms of taylor and now minnesota has to take its last time out and that is about as bad a use of the clock as you're going to find any professional team do in the last two minutes of a game huddle up a couple different times and the vikings just did not do anything and you know that's going to happen if you don't block lawrence taylor he's going to make the tackle i i have to wonder about any blocking scheme that does not account for someone being in the face of number 50 nobody touch him he's playing anderson around like a top and anderson was totally lost his watching bottom of your screen anderson gets away from him but he's in a full 360. out of control and he is ever so quick back on crawling all over anderson again i might uh draw that one up again and maybe find somebody i could put over on that side of the ball but again back to my point al and frank i i just i can't get into the way minnesota blew off that much time they had two time outs they've burned them both now they don't have any timeouts left they've got a third and extremely long situation and there just didn't seem to be any sense of urgency in the way they were trying to run plays exactly exactly second and long to run that play now to take your final timeout the ball is at the 36 yard line it is third down and 17. and again they run it through the middle and this is rick fenning and all they're really trying to do now is set it up for a field goal attempt by carlos and they've got a sprint out onto the field although they've got plenty of time they don't have to they don't have to run too much a very very awkward series of downs extremely it's going to be a 49-yard attempt for carlos the former bronco his career long is 51. kicked in a lot of high altitude out there good in the holes and this kick is short and not only is it short at least four seconds on the clock as well not that that's gonna really matter but [Music] why and that kick was indicative of what kind of a series it was for minnesota the giants without phil sims are still in this ball game only trailing by a touchdown that that kick by carlos was a good four or five yard short it wasn't even close that would figure that you got two great defenses even though you've got people like walker and sims at the start of the game the over and under on this game was 39 39 and a half which is very low and there are only seven points scored in the half and it's the first time since the strike of 87 the giants have had a scoreless first half so sims goes hobbling off the field minnesota leads at halftime by a score of seven to nothing and monday night football returns after a commercial a message from the national football league and a word from our abc to nothing the vikings on top if you joined us late phil simm shaken up early twisted ankle jeff hostetler took over the giants offense has been conservative the giants are also minus mark bavaro who twisted his knee last week and is on the inactive list herschel walker has scored the game's only touchdown on the viking's second drive and here we go with carlos kicking off to start the third quarter dave megan takes the ball at the one and the rookie is dropped at the 18 yard line and from there well the giants trying to put something together offensively take over to start the third period again the giants coming in with a record of six and one a victory and they would equal san francisco for the best record in the league at the halfway mark and hostetler comes back in and the giants with a victory would remain in front of philadelphia otherwise they would be tied with the eagles meanwhile the the vikings in the same relative position they'd be tied with chicago if they lose tonight and a game in front of the bears in the central division with a victory from the 19-yard line with roussan in motion they begin with anderson a big hole he exploits it has the first down takes it out to the 34-yard line otis anderson for a gain of 15 carly makes the tackle the vikings this year have given up no points in the third quarter in each of their first seven games there it is well that was a wingback trap it was lee roussan in motion who came in and actually came in and had to block a big guy henry thomas down on the nose so it's the bar out of there they're using roussan as a tight end and he is a fake good blocker and they will be using him areas number 22 again same play coming back the other way and this time a whole other result is scott studwell is right there to plug it up well it's a pretty veteran group on the vikings i'm not so sure that just because the formation was flipped that they were going to fall for it once again scott studwell for so many years has been in the middle of this viking defense nothing new about that leading the viking in tackles 13th season out of illinois he is uh some kind of a special ball player footballer the last two years remarkable is what he is he and kramer came up together in 77. motion the fake and then the reverse to roussan and he is taken down by joey browner as he crosses the 40 after the 42-yard line now phil sims was back in the locker room and as you can see it doesn't appear that he'll be able to play he was lifting like that when he was sacked in the first quarter left the field remained on the sideline and back he comes but it appears to be in no shape to get back in that's dr russell warren the giants orthopedic surgeon that is staying very close to phil sim you don't have to know a lot about this game to know how tenderly he is walking that uh really no chance of phil sims coming back in this ball game and being effective third down and three host settler out of the shotgun vikings rush four the pass is there but lionel manuel had it broken up by daryl smith who had his arms around him [Music] takes a great defensive plan by the part of these facts of the minnesota vikings that was very close to passing appearance but he got the hand around in front didn't draw the flag and they've been calling things very close well they've been calling it close all night that could have easily drawn a flag boy it sure looks like the left arm of smith was all over the receiver i agree with you frank the way they've been calling him i'm surprised that one did draw players sean lendetta to punt leo lewis back to receive lewis falls for the fair tax and makes it at the 14-yard line [Music] so another look at that very close call here with manuel right there harold smith awfully close the first half that would have got a flag third quarter back at the meadowlands where believe it or not it has started to rain after a clear day in new york a little bit of rain coming down right now it's very pronounced in that shot but it's more of a drizzle in the stadium at the 15-yard line minnesota first and ten herschel walker with a big hole and a first down and herschel equals or surpasses his total in the first half with that run as johnny cook makes the tackle he was limited to 17 in the first half and we can tell you that on saturday night part of the abc saturday mystery batman kelly cevallos who jack returns you got that right now it hadn't been for you and your world series saturday night we would have cleaned this last saturday night and the delay and all of that that's coming your way on saturday nine o'clock eastern time from the 32-yard line this is hershel walker again and kelly you're no stranger to the monday night football booth he's been up here many times not in the monday night football but i was in back at a camera 35 years ago it took me 35 years to get in front of the camera which side you like the best uh where you're sitting right now kelly the question is who loves you baby saturday night at nine o'clock you'll find out i'll blow kisses your way that's the best offer i've had in a long time yeah let me leave my number second to nine sweetheart from the 34-yard line and over the middle nobody is there third down to nine kelly tell us a little bit about the show well it's kojak ten years later a little more mature still blows still the pussycat you know it gets a little rough you know when he's back against the wall but i'm sure that saturday night you'll enjoy this show it's a good one we'll be watching thank you babe check it out handicap kelly i know i know what you really love going down there it is saturday at nine eastern eight central and mountains they will look forward to it third down and nine with the ball at the 34-yard line the rain really coming down now and out of the shotgun kramer under a lot of pressure throws too high ticked off by johnson at the 39-yard line johnson inside the 20. inside the 10. pepper johnson down the sideline touchdown effort johnson makes the big play and he has been all over this football field all night long and what a run he put on at the end of bull ride over irwin and quarterback tommy kramer you knew that if the giants were going to get the big play that it was going to have to come from their defense with people like sims and mark navarro not playing and like all great football teams when they need a big play more often than not their defense comes up with it mark collins really made it happen with the corner blitz forcing kramer to move to his left where he launches a bad pass and look at this effort at the end by pepper johnson to find the end zone and they're reviewing it apparently to see whether or not he got in so that is the momentary delay oh what an effort that is well from that angle sure looked like he stretched the football across the goal line that's the reason right now for the delay before the extra point as the officials have gathered taking a look upstairs if they take that away that is picky picky picky because that was like a great pullback knowing he had to get that ball in there first let's look at it from this angle now does the knee touch uh looks like that ball's the ball clearly come on boys let's let him play yep come on well maybe maybe he is maybe is it maybe he is i mean how'd we call the last one well i like instant replay but this is where it really gets a bad name i mean how much more evidence do you need that's a great effort look at this on the right you know to give now look at him lay out look at the ball glock after two and a half minutes so now landena to try the x or allegra to try the extra point settler to hold and we're tied so the giants very much like a horse that enjoys an off track as soon as it starts to rain they score we're tied at seven best trick play good race going on right there danny white leading jeff hayes running second as you pull in once again the proceeds being donated tonight by abc in the nfl to the american red cross disaster relief fund to help all the people out of the bay area game time at seven the keck is fielded by alfred anderson and anderson nearly breaks as he takes it out to the 31-yard line and in a light rain that's where minnesota has it we'll take a look at mark collins remember how we talked about mark collins in the rush i want you to watch what happens as he forces kramer out of the pocket but we're going to follow mark collins all the way because we showed pepper johnson in his effort to get into the end zone watch mark collins come back up and the one guy between pepper johnson and the end zone is tommy kramer the quarterback there's mark collins who knocks kramer to the ground and then celebrates his teammates touchdown we got dreamers wife that's that's a tremendous effort that time and good hustle by mark collins from the 31-yard line kramer chased by taylor and then sacked lawrence created it and then banks came in to get a piece of them as well pro bowlers took ins and they were both there and tommy kramer's coming off the field yep and wade wilson has to run over to the bench to grab his helmet and now he'll come tommy kramer takes himself out of the ball game he might have dislocated a finger and he came off looking for somebody and what you do you got to get it just pull it back out if that's the case and it's on his throwing hand oh he's looking at his elbow or i don't know if a pinched nerve or something's giving him some sort of a sensation down his right arm and right hand but wade wilson was in no shape man or form ready to come in not at all warmed up he was standing on the sidelines without a helmet at second down and 16 and wilson has to run out of bounds and that serves as a little bit of a warm-up for him just to get loose kramer grabbed his uh right hand but it could be that he's getting a numbing sensation from the blow on the elbow here comes taylor banks is there let's see how he goes down i don't see he doesn't get his right arm hit at all i didn't see his right arm get any contact whatsoever but you can clearly see him moving it and that time wade wilson takes the sack which i'm just going to blame on his being told because the easiest thing in the world would have been for him to just throw the ball over into his own bench and not take a sack third and 22 from the 19-yard line zimmerman and lt on the left side good matchup play clock was down to zero in fact there's no play there's no play it was whistle dead the 45 was down to nothing this is what happens when you have to hustle a quarterback off the bench and he has not had a chance to even think about getting in there a couple of miscues already on the part of wade wilson who three weeks ago broke a knuckle in his hand came back last week against detroit and threw a couple of passes delay offense that's right jerry that's not a look of happiness it's all in disarray at the moment isn't this reminiscent frank of the game we did between buffalo and the rams where not much happened early it was just a tremendous defensive effort by the home team the bills and then finally later in the ball game they got it going third stage of that here third and 27 from the 14. this is dozier and they'll have to kick from deep in their own territory collins and banks converged on the tackle good call give wade wilson a chance to get himself regrouped if i can fan you wouldn't care much for it but he was hustled out there without any preliminary notice whatsoever and they'll give him a chance to settle down and the giants meanwhile could get it back in good field position and clearly i think to this point in the season one of the better efforts by the new york giants defensively they are all over the ball bucky scribner to kick dave vegas positioned at his own 45-yard line good kick deep and angled and at the 36 yard line megan has nowhere to go audrey mcmillan makes sure of that 46-yard punt 9 16 to go in the period craig janoff our director kenny wolf our producer they're going to find it right here for you watch lawrence taylor and his helmet hit the elbow of tommy kramer it's a very subtle blow right there but that is right on the funny bone and cramer lost the sensation in his hand meanwhile for the giants in the 36 yard line this drive begins with otis anderson stopped by chris doleman once you had a look at that flow to kramer's elbow i think anyone whether you're an athlete or not has gone through that when you just get nicked on that bone and all the sensation and the tingling goes down the arm that's exactly what happened to kramer who a moment ago was laughing about it on the sideline he's still trying to move his fingers around over on the sideline he's bending them up and down and still shaking that arm we haven't seen him throw a ball yet it looks like he's going to try one now here we go he and wilson both loosening up on the second down and nine with manual going in motion fox settler dean chase and then throws and no out of bounds out of bounds was odessa can't blame the effort by turner he did everything he could do to stretch for that ball and keep his feet in bounds but let's get some more hospital through the ball where it couldn't be picked off and good double coverage again on the part of the vikings well i think lee was there and browner was there look how close this is to a completed pass look at the feet of turner if he's able to hold on to that ball well he doesn't hold on to the football that's the problem if odessa turner is able to hold on to that football that is some kind of catch well that is a high priority to hold on to it well i'm i can't be derogatory about that effort though he's a great athlete third down and nine from the 37-yard line from the shotgun one hand is grabbed by settler who has some room acetylene has to get to the 46 when he gets to the 49. first down bill parcells had his heart right in his throat there's one quarterback available sprinting around on the field he doesn't like to watch that boy and the guy who had spy responsibilities that time was mike merriweather and i think that's a matchup that the vikings would take any time meriwether on hostetler and watch merriweather come in from the left and he is not able to get the angle and bring down house settler that's i think that's a matchup that floyd peters and the vikings would take any time this guy mike merriweather chasing a quarterback and that time the quarterback won 7 40 to go third period a seven seven times first and ten minnesota at the 49 or new york at the 49 as carson and motion anderson takes the ball across the 50 and down to the viking 46-yard line a gain of about five dan was talking about mike merriweather of course he laid out all of last year and the vikings gave up a number one draft pick to get him the pittsburgh steeler a multiple pro bowler but he is small and when you can get him lined up over your tight end as a giant in that particular point they just blew him right out of the play and they were able to get five yards and this was a concern on the part of the vikings when meriwether got himself vulnerable to the tight end that they would be able to blow him out and they just did second and five giants at the viking 46-yard line anderson and he fights his way forward to about the 42-yard line piece lellard in on the tackle close to a first and it is a first down that illustrates what you were talking about dan he plays a lot bigger than what he is he's carrying fighting for that first down next week out in san francisco candlestick park is the site the saints coming off their win over atlanta yesterday and they really need this one against the 49ers who are seven and one saints got three in a row now they get out of back in gear first down at the 41-yard line anderson again and anderson takes it to the 38 again anderson stopped by studwell and it's o.j getting so much action this year and tonight as well the injury to joe morris heard on that and a freak play really and uh here against pittsburgh late in pre-season and there is joe who is out for the season guys all-time leading rusher and broke a bone in his foot they wouldn't think that that would take somebody out for the entire season but it was a kind of injury that they just knew he couldn't come back and it's really the type of thing that even if he rehabs himself uh he still can't come back because he went on injured reserve before the season started the giants can't get him off ir without exposing him to waivers second down and seven and this is lewis tillman who is the rookie out of jackson state school that's of course uh is well known in football circles because that's where walter payton played in thomas and tillman broke all of alter fate's records at jackson state so this is a man of impressive credentials before he came to the national football league he was a fourth-round draft choice of the giants and a man who did many many things in college when you start talking about breaking walter peyton's record that's big time stuff just remember the name you're probably going to hear a lot of him fine running back has all all the moves all the style to be a great one third and six hot settlers close any first down to the 25-yard line to lionel manuel who gets inside of reggie rutland and hostetler took a hit but he gets up that's pretty anytime he goes down that's that's a real anxious moment on the far side because we've had an anxious moment up here in the booth trying to figure out who is the third giant quarterback who would play if something would happen to jeff hostetler well the word we got from ron earhart the offensive coordinator was that you're looking at the disaster quarterback that's it that's all they've got phil sams with the bad ankle would have to come back in at the 26 yard line and again it's lewis tillman they may cast an envious eye in this direction frank if they need to disaster quarterback keep right on you castle you're not volunteering for the duty you didn't leave with kelly did you they were about equally attractive most opportunities weren't there there is a giant coaching staff on the right is ron earhart their uh offensive coordinator and uh they just don't have an emergency quarterback second and seven and through the middle killman exploits the hole for tillman getting some action here because anderson needs a breather and he gets it to the 17-yard line i watched this young man in training camp in a couple of scrimmages and i watched him in a couple of preseason games and he can run the football he has an instinct that when you watch a running back a break potentially great running back you know that they have the feel and the flare and the instinct and this young man hasn't third and a yard this is the 11th play of this drive from the 17-yard line well tillman's number again and he takes it to the 16-yard line and that's where they have to get it's going to be very close i understand what bill parcells is trying to do in removing anderson from the game and giving tillman a shot anderson's had a lot of work tonight but frankly the closer i got to the goal line the more inclined i would be to put otis anderson back in the ball game and you understand what that signal is that's bill parcells telling his club to take a timeout but they have not done yet it also means they didn't make the first down because the ball is spotted just inside the 17. so a key call here on fourth and inches parcels have never backed away all season long he's gone many many times on fourth and short and every time he's made it that's what he's thinking about at the moment giants have not missed in this situation this season for six on fourth down plays here they go for it after a timeout fourth and issues just inside the 17-yard line that's tillman as the sole setback carson on a wing to the right try to draw him off and go for a field goal yeah that's what's happening they're not going to run a play after the timeout that's exactly what they were trying to do well raul allegra's been hot this year and i think we talked about it earlier the minnesota vikings have been uh offside so many times this year that is the way they play defense quick moves the giants were counting on the funny thing is if you're trying to draw somebody offside don't you come up in a tighter set though they had one back and a guy on a wing well you know also the minnesota was over there during that time out they were saying one thing that's going to be offside i'm sure raoul is saying well you know if you really wanted to kick a field goal anyway i wish you would have sacrificed those five yards yeah 39 yard attempt pasteva puts it down and leg raise stick is perfect boy you think bill parcells what if that thing would have hooked wide by about six inches where you know if they'd have been five yards closer it would have been good bill strolls away just how i planned it no problem whatsoever meanwhile allegra's heart was right in his mouth well you know if you really stop and think about it it's pretty good thinking against the defensive line that that really anticipates a snap count and comes across as hard as the vikings do and they get drawn off sides a lot they move off a lot and it's not really bad thinking by bill parcells well tomorrow is tuesday it's a great night here on abc yes and abc resumes its regular programming tomorrow night will be who's the boss the wonder years roseanne chicken soup and 30-something abc's all-star tuesday tomorrow maybe down the line we'll have nfl football wednesday night and thursday night and friday night oh yeah well obviously something's going to change wouldn't you say i'm only kidding about that but i mean it was interesting to listen to the commissioner talking uh about his priorities one of them of course the television contract that's coming up probably will change considerably perhaps more television on cable football on cable but what a year we've had with it great games and we have some great games coming up next week new orleans of san francisco later on since back christmas night we'll see the vikings at home against cincinnati alfred anderson takes the kick lookout ball is loose the giants have it at the 10. yes what a shot put on alfred anderson at the bottom of that pile dwayne giles was at the bottom of that one of the new york giants involved lewis tillman was also down there louis tillman number 34 comes flying in and i think it was pillman yeah there's tillman right at the bottom of that oh that is just coming in there with the eyes closed and drawing a beat giles got in there late but there's the guy who put on the big head he's a football player in every way he has the instincts for one and what a turnover that is giants now have a first and goal and on their last 47 possessions inside the pen they have scored anderson they stopped here i mean that's an amazing stat when you look at it the last 47 times that had the ball inside the opponent's 10-yard line 33 touchdowns 14 field goals scored on every opportunity i'm not sure how far that goes back but each and every time the quarterback was phil simms who is on the sidelines looking on otis anderson back in their running back and henry thomas coming up with the big play for the vikings for negative yardies don't underestimate that group and their ability to dig in watch of one at second down and goal with manuel in motion hostetler in trouble but he scrambles out possettler on the move and out of bounds he goes at the 11 yard line ray berry forcing him out and the clock shows 115. showing a good foot to keep that alive he was in danger of being sacked well i'm surprised frank at his ability to run in the open field remember he got away from merryweather boy now there he he shakes dolmen outruns millard makes millard right out of his shoes and here we go again makes ray berry miss him and can't bring him down this uh this guy for a quarterback is showing some dazzling open field running man they like to go down to here in this area lionel manuel he works so well when you get the close man for man coverage that you get down deep and emanuel is in motion and hostile are going for manual and the frag is thrown he scores the touchdown carly got turned around well frank sometimes you hit a home run don't you no you're just watching uh they love him inside the 20. he doesn't have great speed but he has great moves that'll be against the vice when you're down close they have to cover you and very tight and if you have the moves like manual you can spin [Music] that's a pass from hostetler that carl lee never saw because he's got his back to the play he's playing manual all the way and even there doesn't even know where the football is that's that's a mistake by a cornerback at that part of the field to not know when the ball is in the air it was under thrown and only manual was able to react back to the ball nice spot by hostetler to get it down allegri puts it through and the minnesota vikings a team that had not given up a point in seven games in the third quarter this season have yielded 17. not really the defense's fault though when you think about it the interception return allegri with a field goal and this one because of that fumble on the kickoff and we watched the momentum of this game change late in the second quarter and it's been a different defensive unit that we've watched here for the giants here in the second half and now all of a sudden hofstedler who has played so little over his career you know the funny thing is we're talking about the way he's running he was used as a reserve wide receiver covered some kicks also yep frank your call with manual was right on well you hit that one nice and carl lee again just not even overplaying the man you can't be in that position back in the end zone and and not have one eye on the quarterback knowing when the ball is going to be in the air they like to go to bavaro and manual down deep and of course tomorrow not available tonight as i said earlier somebody with the moves like a manual when you get down close where the back has to play you so tight well you really have little or no chance george keck fielded at the 14-yard line this is anderson who fumbled the last time he loses it this time was he down though there is no sign yet the officials aren't calling him down we don't see it and there what is mark wright going to say here well if the giants come up with the ball i mean this is a scramble they did not give the signal for the ball being down well they show giants with the ball as we're looking at it live here it looked as if he was down oh this is not this is this is not a fumble i think alfred anderson has the ground knocked the ball loose no question about it it's hit by myron guyton take another look you take a look at this oh he's starting to lose the ball he had it and brought it back oh no there's a there's a tough interpretation was he bobbling it or did he have possession had he he obviously bobbled when he got hit there's our interpretation right now was he bobbling the ball before he hit the ground the ball was still up against his body but did he have control of the ball look again now the ball is loose at this point now his left arm comes around i mean but what constitutes having the ball having possession of the ball and not having possession of the ball i mean the fact of the matter is he's still clutching the ball to his body when he hits the ground and the ball comes loose yep i mean i my interpretation of that would be that that the ground caused a fumble i'd agree with you i thought he had possession as he hit the ground but then again you know now you're getting into a real subjective area you know what is possession but you know when you're clutching the ball to your body this might be a good look at it from the reverse angle the ball is obviously bobble at this point he doesn't have control of it he tries to cover it with his left hand i got to go along with he did not have control that was a better look at it right there that as he hit the ground the ball was more down towards his midsection the reverse angle look we had from low level showed that the ball was down by his midsection when it finally came out as close as it gets and there's anderson who's clocked it up now and the last two returns from the 19-yard line going straight through the middle is otis anderson to the 16 and we're under a minute now remaining in the third quarter that's one of those plays where the last look we saw was really the most definitive as far as whether or not he had possession i think it's safe to say that if the vikings return another kickoff it won't be alfred anderson back there handling the ball giants bring louis pillman back in they also bring in another wide receiver or justin turner comes back in second and seven in the waning seconds of the third period tillman he gets to about the 13-yard line and that will run the clock down so the giants who look almost in desperate state sem's gone bavaro out nothing doing offensively in the first half come up with 17. a johnson interception and a couple of anderson fumbles certainly instrumental here in the third period which ends with the giants on top 5-10 and monday night football returns after this from our abc station jeff hazen and danny white tough racer john gilliam though putting on a strong effort here with one percent of the vote how well people remember or forget third and four now for the giants with hostetler running wide open inside the 10 to the two we've got no backup quarterback sitting on the bench that's pretty good to call sims loving every moment of it jeff hostetler feeding the minnesota vikings with his feet more so than with his arm yeah there was a time last year when hofstedler was wanted to move along when they benched him after the first half of the new orleans game when he played so well and brought in rutledge but you better believe that parcells giants fans anyone associated with him are happy he's here tonight chris dolman did you see him on that one you'd assume he had contained to that side got sucked all the way down inside on the face anderson's behind carson on the first and goal touchdown giants this is so reminiscent of that buffalo ram game frank a sterling effort by the defensive squad and shutting down a healthy offense and then by bits and pieces and some big plays hammering it shut and look at otis anderson just follow his blocks and that's an easy touchdown allegra holding in 12 seconds into the fourth quarter the giants have taken command and your special teams also and now when minnesota gets the ball they're going to have to answer a question where is herschel walker and where is anthony carter m.i.a meanwhile allegra to kick off herself walker is deepest but he might try to kick it to anderson instead dozier at the 15-yard line he drops it out to the 28-yard line and at least he holds on to it renee thompson makes the tackle and uh what do we have here folks well yeah tomorrow night you've got a bad looking pumpkin look at that i i got a hole in my head here i don't know what happened to my forehead you know i got a fine looking yeah that's fairly nice that's an old it's an old tackle role player and a soccer or now that will pan out really scare the kids trick or treat happy halloween i like snickers from the 28-yard line wade wilson is back in the game and the catch is made by anthony carter you know i'm thinking about something here at herschel walker trade the guy one of the people that they they dealt away darren nelson through dallas now with san diego nelson was the man running back kicks and since the trade the vikings have been looking for somebody to run back kickoffs and tonight alfred anderson has fumbled twice and has led the two giant touchdowns now dj dozier who returned to last one remember he opened up the game with a long kickoff return for the vikings but we saw carter there only his third catch of the night and herschel walker only 36 yards rushing here's fenney and he gets it after the 38-yard line and that is close to a first down when nelson was here here meaning minnesota he's returned 14 kickoffs and uh coming into tonight's game walker with two and then a whole bunch of guys with one each so burns trying to find somebody to run back kicks and obviously he has not found the answer tonight but dan calling for anthony carter last year 72 receptions just a great year but he has been troubled since coming in very late on the contract dispute with a bad hamstring and it bothered him up until now from the 39-yard line too far in front of virtual walker and leonard marshall in the backfield of the vikings coming up this saturday on abc's college football you will see either illinois against iowa or arizona taking on california abc's college football comes away at 3 30 eastern and 12 30 pacific then candlestick park on monday night where the saints take on the 49ers monday night footballs meanwhile the crowd here at the meadowlands standing herschel rehearsal second and ten walker is a wide receiver there's a flag down the play is dead at the 30-yard line and there's a flag down in the area of walker who may have been held by perry williams walker was lined up as a wide receiver and the flag was thrown in that area well away from the play if that's the case it's going to andy negate a great play on the part of the giant there's no way that that ball could have been delivered illegal hands to the face number 24 defense automotive first down jerry it's 23. once again they call the wrong number here it's terry williams 23. at least they're always just off by one number they called 81 when it was 82. let's watch the hands of perry williams yep there it is there's the right hand on the face mask you just cannot inadvertent or not and find yourself with a hand up on your opponent's face man it's gonna as frank said a very costly mistake because that's an automatic first down but it was 23 not 24 and i cannot for the life of me figure out what's wrong with these officials and their identification from the 44-yard line all the way back lawrence taylor wade wilson knew he had no chance lawrence taylor much more the athlete than wilson well you could get in close you could see some panic in those eyes but a poor decision by wilson to roll out lawrence taylor's way i mean that's where a quarterback has got to step up into the pocket and wilson actually had some room to step up inside lt checking out the video replay board here at the middle lands and maybe he'll tell the coaches because of that i don't have to watch film tomorrow what he saw was a 15-yard sack and they try to get some of that back on a little draw through the middle with anderson taking the ball after the 39-yard line but it will be third down and about 15. that's taylor started in and came over to make the stop again you know they were calling lawrence taylor all week in practice bill parcells was calling him where is he he'd look around what's with that's what they called him all week long what's with if all everyone was writing what's with lauren's favorite they've been using him in a peculiar way they've had him inside they've had him back in the past defense san diego was lining up two or three men in front of him and everyone was saying what's with lawrence taylor so bill parcells all week long was calling him what's with i think the vikings no tonight yep wilson in particular third and 15. and wilson is nearly picked off myron guyton nearly had the interception they should have i mean how does guyton drop that ball that may be the easiest interception chance that guyton's going to have for a long time watch this that was deflected a little bit again i think but this is right in his hand that's deflected by gustafson just the tiniest bit but still right in the midsection very softly a rookie is forgiven for those kind of mistakes the fine rookie he's been replaced kenny hill with that strong safety spot for the giants easier to forgive when you're winning twenty four to seven two giants trying to set up a return off the scrivener punt second fielding at the 19 yard line one tackles the 20 then down he goes with the 24 in a flag goes down gustafson making the stop and a marker boy it may continue to get worse for the vikings that may be a facemask [Music] [Music] you're not going to believe it but i'm i'm almost positive is that is that john galvin number 90 there he is watch the left hand there it is right up on the face mask of dave megat and for the vikings it just goes from bad to worse val michaels frank gifford dan deardorff at the meadowlands in the fourth quarter 11 37 to play the giants on top by 17 and they have a first down at their own 29-yard line anderson through the 30 picking up a yard he is stopped there by keith millard [Music] keith was a sack earlier in the ball game extending his nfl lead now with 13 solo sacks on the year and boy he has just been a part of a defensive line that has really played well tonight but still somehow even with the stellar play by the viking line up front the new york giants on the scoreboard are dominating this game they've got a young offensive lineman and you've followed them they are young a lot of number ones and number twos but it's a line that develops and improves every week and they are enormous they love the big ten don't they oh they get big ones second to nine pickup of two for anderson they get big ones from the big ten you take a look at their draft from 88 eric moore was number one from indiana number two was big jumbo ellie that left tackle from michigan and then this year their number one is brian williams from from minnesota and their third round draft choice bob crash from iowa so the big ten alive and well here on the offensive line of the new york giants and the guy that really wouldn't think would fit was a former defensive lineman the university of california put him in a right tackle a year ago doug reisenberg and for some inexplicable reason he's turned into a real solid performer and then of course i'm only looking at the last two drafts at left guard you got william roberts an ohio state guy we better give bart oates and byu their credit while we're throwing colleges around third and seven they used all of the play clock which is what you want to do here and megan gets out to the 37 yard line but he is short of the first down clock ticking down 9 50 to go in the fourth quarter the giants have gone to the big ten for those big uglies you're right k.j oh what a barn burner we're not having tonight barn just burned to the ground no rose of the cornfield to go in with this one [Music] john landena kick and again they're going to take that play clock all the way down three two and then they snap it [Music] and the game clock is down to about 907 and a fair count made by leo lewis what a beauty the 20 yard line 906 to go 43-yard punt 24-7 for this man i don't know whether you read the gossip column or that but oh i do and you have respect [Music] i thought it was a laker game i thought it was a laker game aspen jack okay he can wheel his harley around [Music] get yourself out of this one yeah you're back you're back visiting kelly i see wilson throwing a walker man walker really gets upended by mark collins at the 29-yard line how about mark collins tonight boy is he playing a game and the minnesota vikings with that high-powered offense of jerry burns has just been effectively controlled tonight by a superior effort by the new york giants and their defensive team funny it should be a high powered offense but when you really look at what's been going on in minnesota it hasn't been it's been anything but with all the people they have you really have to wonder how that can be carter's been uh out of place of the better part of a month walker gets taken back at the 30-yard line and we'll see where they spot it because it's close to a first johnson and guyton carter's caught what one pass tonight that i can recall two i believe three he made it sorry yeah all right they made his third one on their last series right but he's caught he caught one in each of the last three games so that's the type of production you're uh you're going to get from somebody like that or you would expect to get from somebody like that what an acrobatic receiver though and it's a first down by the way we mentioned the vikings uh having not allowed a point this year in the third quarter until tonight when they yielded 17. it's hard to figure what's happened to minnesota late in their games this year but they have been outscored in the fourth quarter 62-7 or a winning team they won four in a row but they beat tampa bay detroit green bay and detroit once again and before that they were one and two so when you look down at the rest of the schedule things are going to get a lot tougher for them from the 31-yard line wilson and attendance for hassan jones and not there well you know it's funny i mean everything looked so great for the vikings a couple of weeks ago the defense terrific uh it appeared as if you know herschel walker would come in give them exactly what they needed in the running game now you take a look at what's going on tonight you might have a quarterback controversy again walker the second week in a row has been something less than dazzling and scintillating problems on special teams anthony carter quite frankly might be playing an awfully good football team maybe the first one they've met in a month second down and 10. and fenney gets dropped to the 37-yard line that's going to change because they play the rams on sunday then tampa bay philadelphia green bay and then it goes chicago atlanta and they wind up cleveland in cincinnati and finally the vikings go to a quick offense on third down and three wilson throwing open man that's a first down as rick fenney makes the catch and gets twisted down by sheldon white and williams out of the 46 yard line seven minutes to go this is a sorry frank this is this is a drive where the vikings almost have to come out of it with some points down by 17 they they can't squander a possession without points from the 46-yard line walker nice rule that is taking to the 47-yard line he spun his way past shoulder white and then perry williams made the tackle worth a couple hundred thousand right there maybe a mercedes for a month we're on the barter system now not many big men can do that there aren't many small guys second and three inside handoff walker and herschel takes it down to the 36 yard line 6 20 remaining now in the fourth quarter [Music] giants should be 7-1 after this one and as are the 49ers and we'll see the giants and the 49ers down the line a little bit november 27th at the 36-yard line throw comes after fenney and he'll step out of bounds at the 28-yard line and that'll stop the clock at 5 59 left i think that's what dan wanted to see at the end of the second quarter they obviously have it in their epidural they go back to that possession by the uh why the vikings who were playing like they were ahead 24-7 they kind of squandered the final two minutes and this is really the most life the vikings have shown offensively all game long deep in new york giant territory and still with six minutes left on the clock 5 59 this but they need a big one here the one guy that can give it to him would be carter at least in terms of deep you don't understand this they gotta get points and get it quickly walker takes it all the way to the 15-yard line so walker igniting this drive with 5 49 to play he does change the character of the running game however a quick uh a quick viking score here will open up a few eyes over on the giant sideline so i don't see anyone leaving this stadium yet at the 16 yard line on first and ten wilson as time wobbly pass nearly picked off threw it into traffic intended for finney incomplete but carl banks almost had that terry canard almost had it guys there benny's the only guy that really didn't have a shot at it let's take a look at carl banks the the real quiet linebacker i mean all his career has played in the shadow of lawrence taylor and his exploits on the far side but a more solid all-around football player the national football league would be hard to find a guy that had more of the total package than carl banks second and ten at the 16-yard line and he throws it and incomplete walker could not one-hand it it'll be third down in ten you know that'll never go down as anything in the record book it'll never be recorded but it just fouled up the entire scheme of the play look at the incredible speed and wilson just tried to get rid of it it actually could have been caught give the assist in there though frank the leonard marsh oh yeah his breaking to the outside you saw him not gary zimmerman who's really been doing a a decent job tonight a respectable job on taylor and this is a big third and 10 play for minnesota 12th play on this drive which began at the viking 20-yard line on third and 10. they put it in the hands of walker who goes out of bounds at the 9-yard line he's about three yards shy of the first down what i meant about it changes the dimension of your running game with a herschel walker you look at the third down to 10. he went out at the nine they put it down at about the seven you have a third down and 10 and you can go to your running game because this guy is going to get a bunch of it boy very generous spot that time but isn't it i mean you can see him carrying the ball in his left hand going out of bounds maybe just inside the nine they put it down at the seven there it is look at that so that's so that that's a nice pickup on the sideline it's a yard and a half spot fourth down and one from the seven and through the middle for the first down goes fenney to the two it'll be first and goal boy that's that's that that that might be one of the better plays the vikings have run all day the spot i'm talking about on the sidelines they picked off that went from a fourth and three to a fourth and one real quick [Music] you could hear the referee say that david huffman will move to tight end seeing moves to the far side an offensive tackle will line up now as tight end would be eligible first and goal from the three this is anderson and he gets stopped inside the one wrestled back by pepper johnson clock running 4 35 to play 24-7 new york i'm sorry but i wouldn't huddle up i mean i'd just be calling a play and get down there and slam this thing in the end zone i don't think the vikings have all this time to squander i think they might have in mind making the plane last week walker went in everybody expects hercule to leap over the defensive line what a job last week he burrowed his way in better job peppa johnson this is penny and he leaps in there's a touchdown but there's a flag down as well he's in the end zone but let's see what mark wright tells us the official who threw the flag also indicated a touchdown offside number 71 defense lined up in the neutral zone declined touchdown rob white 403 remaining now the vikings have a chance to pull within 10 with the extra points marshall closing down that's taylor making the contact he timed his jump right just a little off target carlos's extra point is good the crowd has quieted down for the moment because the vikings on an 80-yard closed within 10 and they have all of their timeouts remaining good drive with six first downs for minnesota on that effort i don't think it's a situation where you onside kick i think you kick it deep and ask your defense to come up with a three down and out at this point danny white has taken a lead and the proceeds from tonight's thrown in contributed and the nfl to the american red cross fund we can only speculate that john gilliam will have a late surge up to that two or three percent range yep john gilliam who ran the opening kickoff back for the new orleans saints for the very first that's right play been with the saints teammate of mine in st louis for a number of years and then uh was traded to the minnesota vikings in a long line of stellar trades by the and st louis gardens the vikings are certainly lining up in their onside kick lineup but they can easily sprint out of this and cover the kick but boy i'll be surprised if they onside kicked it guys have a lot of receiver types up there here they are and uh it's bouncing and it goes out of bounds at the 47-yard line and well it was far enough i've been surprised before but boy now with the 358 left in the ball game if the ball does indeed belong to the new york giants you have squandered a lot of fields with this risky risky play that time by the way what do you think guys uh very early for it wouldn't you have kicked me yeah definitely kick deep go down look for a turnover you have all your timeouts left you got four minutes left you're right with your defense you figure to stop them you're happy you take one of the timeouts on defense look how close they come to getting the ball oh my lord look how close they come to getting it joy browner had a goal on both hands i guess there's some confusion as to whether or not we have a short sleeve last touch by the kicking team re-kick with a five-yard penalty short kick last retouched by the kicking team well the ball has to travel 10 yards first of all it's on to 35. let's see if it makes it to the 45. if they touch it before it travels 10 yards it's a free ball okay it's touched you kicked yep but it was touched by a new york giant where not i think it looks like one of the giants got a hand on the ball and well martin they're interpreting it as if the the kick was the initial contact and it came just prior to the ball reaching the 45-yard line anyway we're going to see it again vikings lining up with the same position guys with their odessa turner types sure-handed tights mark ingram collins is over there on the right side martha and all people who are nearly handled the football it wouldn't be there i i think watch take a look right here that new york giant i can't tell who it is he's going to hit the ball uh when you run it when you run at a faster speed it almost looks like he changes the course of the football guys is there a way we could look at that again running it a little faster to see if we can see if he moves the ball obviously they are also looking at it real hard to tell i mean the ball is bouncing oddly at that point to begin with anyway article 1 section two the free kick a free kick assured when it does not go to or across the defensive line free kick line unless before doing so it is first touched by a player of the defensive teamwork goes out of bounds and it has to be conclusive thank you for watching this watch this exclusively by now it's yeah you're right it's it's tough to tell from that angle yeah it it looks like the ball changes a little bit boy that's but you know as i say it found some screwy there anyway yeah it's tough to tell it's tough to tell certainly no one in the replay booth is going to take a look at that no say that a giant touchdown all right so here they go again lined up the same way eight guys to the left and carlos will do it again and at the 42 yard line the giants have it so this time the giants with maurice carson handing the ball to the umpire takes possession at the 42-yard line i i this that philosophy loses me i it really does lose me so hot settler who has been playing since early in the first quarter if you join us late sims with a twisted ankle he's remained in uniform but he's been hobbling you know that kick that kick didn't go the giants the giants will end up recovering it so i think it's their ball but it appeared like it was touched before it went to necessary 10 yards there is no aspect of the game in the national football league that is subject to more rules than the kicking game crazy here he lost past midnight so happy halloween that's appropriate john galvin gives it a little nudge ahead he hits it twice with his right leg soccer announcement pick up on that very quickly or an old tackle before it went 10 yards a short free kick it's awarded to the giants at the spot of the foul giants there's nothing like being in the booth with a couple of buddies like you oh yeah nobody of ours would say that i kind of agree with man i think you've had this thing kick it away because you have to score twice and then do that next time around if you have to do it next time around at the 39-yard line first and 10. anderson moves down to the 32-yard line stopped by scott stilwell folks on sunday two special events here on abc sports the always exciting new york city marathon at 10 30 eastern 10 30 a.m sunday morning 9 30 central you'll see it at 10 30 pacific and then at 4 eastern 3 pacific some of golf's great players competing for a quarter of a million dollars in the merrill lynch shootout boy payne stewart came close last week yeah just a couple of short putts you'll see jack nicklaus involved in that fuzzy ziller and mr stewart tommy kite the bundle he picked up didn't he become the all-time leading owner just quietly he's been so consistent over the years a great young golfer when he came up and he's just been so consistent meanwhile minnesota has taken a timeout they're down to two remaining they're trying to conserve some time of course but the key here is to stop the giant otherwise it does you no good to conserve that time and use up your full complement of time out obviously excellent observation yeah sounded like some of my analysis lately a two-foot job it's after midnight so i'm off that's doug we were talking about him earlier he changed over from uh defensive tackle as a senior at the university of california i don't think many people gave him much of a shot a couple of years ago of sticking around when he came up as a six round draft pick but he just steadily improved he worked probably harder than any opposing lineman here with the guys and he has really developed there's the people that go over our expense account here's the one who catches you i won't get away with anything for a while the green eyeshade section anderson to the 30-yard line it is halloween by the way happy halloween to everyone in the eastern time zone and we've got a fourth and a yard for the new york giants and they've gone seven times this season and seven times they've been successful i'm gonna go again well why not you can do it that's one of the uh that's one of the mistakes of of the vikings trying the onside kick because when you make this in your own end of the field when you're playing in in your opponent's territory you can afford to go for it fourth and one and it's going to be very close as travis curtis makes the tackle super second effort going through the middle that's going to take us to the two-minute warning and might have a measurement as well and we will clock ticks down to the two-minute warning and the measurement and mark mike says first down they don't even need one second surge of anderson and that's what he's been doing all season long i think he wants to take a look at it but it does appear that he does have it they marked it inside and as you can see or outside the 29-yard line and he is right at the 29-yard line well because of the two-minute warning he could bring in the chains without really having to take an official timeout so this is a free measurement not that anyone really cares [Music] hey first down and now your official two minute warning 120 seconds to go that's the meadowlands 24 14 and i know that guy in charge of statistics research the new york giants have a 10 point lead they have the football at the viking 29 yard line minnesota can stop the clock twice more on halloween mornings in new york the minnesota massacre at the meadowlands how prophetic that's that's the 29-yard line anderson and otis goes nowhere and minnesota will take a time out 152. what's the coming up on night right now but i'm going to read it right off the card gays in the military should gay serve in the military the pentagon says no is that fair it says right here on my copy and that is your subject tonight on nightline following your leaked local news and that guy jerry burns has just really got to be wondering what kind of a football team he has so now you know you made a great point earlier they're just not playing the way you would think a team would play with as many good football players as they have on that roster and he was concerned about it so i can do them before the game tonight he said you know we're just not we're not moving the ball and uh you can tell that the the quarterback situation is uh is a problem uh my other partner that's right your other partner second and eleven from the 30-yard line that's right boxing season is coming up i can hear it now that's right dan but it was really a left hook alex alex alex is working very hard does he smith white trunks jones blackburn smith [Music] alex al is demeaning our sport seriously oh no no no no no you're on the meaning of preparation for your support well i see i see you're traveling the world i understand well i'll uh schedule about yeah we'll be checking you out with the globetrotters now right the new york giants meanwhile have uh they have to have pleased this guy bill parcells i mean there's nothing more than a coach love than to see a team rise above some adversity and that is what the new york giants have done tonight lost phil sims after the first series of the game with a with a bad ankle mark bavaro with his bad knee didn't even suit up tonight joe morris has not played this entire season and this guy jeff hostetler comes in and and has really done it all has not made the mistakes throwing the ball and has really run his way out of a lot of trouble it's the kind of an effort that coaches just love is anderson the vikings are on the timeout well the other thing too i mean like so many games in the nfl they're determined by by special teams play and by turnovers and here tonight almost a classic example the pepper johnson interception run back for a touchdown to tie the game and the two anderson fumbles on kickoff returns converted by the giants and the touchdowns and those are they're 21 of your 24 points the giants have lost one game they lost that by two points for philadelphia in the game that they felt they should have won they're going to play philadelphia again later here in the meadowlands but the team is coming together it's a very young team that offensive line and it means so much today in the world of professional football they and they are improving every time around giants meanwhile are going to let the clock run down they'll take a delay here with the clock stopping now at 56 seconds that'll cost them five yards they'll pooch punt the ball to minnesota but the vikings are down by 10 points and they have an area timeout meanwhile let's take a look now at the final vote [Music] danny white is the trickster of the night hayes lines up second chandler third and gilliam there's a look at phil simms went out earlier if he weren't with us thought it was a knee problem but we've been told it's an ankle that he's suffering from and he could have gone back in as a disaster quarterback so hopefully the giants is not going to be terribly inhibiting keeping him out of the lineup for a long period of time well it's the short week with this game being played on monday night and then the game on a sunday so i guess the big question in new york now will be how quickly can phil sims get back and the giants let the clock expire again [Music] now this does not burn up any time on the scoreboard clock offense fourth down now the time clock will begin running again but not the not the scoreboard time i mean the clock will be set at 30 seconds and they'll have 30 seconds to kick it away and if they don't well they'll just move back again but they're really not accomplishing anything on the scoreboard the jazz has some frequent flyer mileage coming up they travel the cardinals in the rams in seattle in excessive weekends and we'll see him against san francisco and then they have philadelphia denver dallas and they close with the raiders vikings try to block it and the kick bounces at the 20-yard line and is touched dead there by george adams and minnesota takes over 48 seconds we can tell you the executive producer of abc's monday night football is jeffrey mason tonight's game produced by ken wolf and directed by craig genoa joe chavo our technical director associate director ben harvey john mcginnis our halftime ap marcamento jeff kibler the assistance of the producers our operations managers ed mckenna and coach coltrane our telecommunications manager who is frank speaker and our director of information tonight was one peter heard as wilson throws and the characters made by anderson and he goes out of bounds at the 31 and as usual up in the booth our statistician george hill from puget sounds and our luxurious spotter malibu kelly hayes we thank you folks 42 seconds we're talking about it earlier if you weren't with us it was quite a dramatic turnaround the vikings were pushing the giants all over the football field early on and all of a sudden the defense kind of hung in there and stayed with it and until they got a couple of turnovers and then the offense of the giants awaken incomplete and very reminiscent of the buffalo ram game that we had earlier when the buffalo defense just stayed with us stayed with it stayed with us and all of a sudden the closing minutes of that one buffalo was able to put the points on the board and get the win you know i think kathy lee gifford may become like kate smith remember she used to sing for the flyers and they'd always win your lady's going to be 1-0 he did sing well tonight out of that little one [Music] he's of course singing for two second and ten leonard marshall had wade wilson and wilson flipped out of his grasp and that would be terrible down the line if that could have been the difference in leading the team in sacks or not linebackers on the corners for the giants makes it very tough to set up an offense so much about lawrence taylor but carl banks a lot of people will tell you is right there with him and tonight we have watched pepper johnson turn in an absolutely scintillating game at the inside linebacker position gary reasons with a good night a lot of blue shirts are down there and it's incomplete renee thompson breaking the play up so it's fourth down and 11. thompson breaking up the interception of myron guyton who had that thing all the way you know frank you talked about that young giant offensive line uh you know one guy we had a single out tonight over on the left side john elliott did a pretty good job against chris dolman you know that was a match-up the vikings very much wanted that one-on-one between dolmen and elliot and and elliot more than held his own tonight played a good ballgame there's big john the left tackle you know carl nelson the giants offensive tackle who is recovering from another bout with hodgkin's disease has worked very hard with elliott almost every day and donald nelson receiving the george palace award for courage before the game started tonight but he's done a good job in working on big jumbo elliott massan jones was the only man down there amongst the losers that he couldn't hold on and that will do it in all but in official sense 14 seconds the giants can run a play and the giants will be seven and one the giants and the 49ers will be the only teams in the nfl at seven and one minnesota will drop to five and three minnesota and chicago will be in a tie for first place in the central division and in essence uh in effect anyway the the bears by virtue of their victory over minnesota this season would be technically on top because that that would be the first tiebreaker for the moment and this will do it so the giants shut out in the first half interception returned by johnson capitalized on two fumbles by alfred anderson on kickoff returns and that's the way the nfc east looks at the moment with the giants leading the eagles by a game and in the central division the bears and the vikings are in a tie for first place as the nfl's 1989 season comes to exactly the halfway mark giants won it by a score of 24 to 14.

Channel: Ken Gelman

Views: 8,344

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Id: yi2-TywYhwE

Length: 147min 22sec (8842 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 28 2021