One languid August day at the Giants' training camp at the University of Albany Jim Fassel was asked by a cynical reporter if his team was a playoff contender.
"I hope so," the head coach said. "I guess that's why they play the games."
|  | | Kerry Collins has been almost flawless in completing 71.3 percent of his passes. |
After playing three of those 16 games, the Giants are an astounding 3-0 and their co-tenants at Giants Stadium, the Jets, are likewise 3-0. This, football fans, has never, ever happened in the history of New York pigskin. The Yankees and Mets are playoff bound, but baseball won't have football to kick around any more.
The Giants endured a horrid kicking game and the steady breeze off Lake Michigan Sunday to upend the Chicago Bears 14-7 and the Jets handled the previously unbeaten Buffalo Bills 27-14. It's the first time since 1994 that the Giants have started this well, and the Jets haven't been 3-0 since 1966, Joe Namath's rookie season.
It is the Giants in first place in the NFC East, not the celebrated Washington Redskins. It is the Jets in first place in the AFC East, not the celebrated Indianapolis Colts. So, how do you like them (Big) Apples?
"What are there, five undefeated teams left?" Fassel said Monday afternoon from his office in East Rutherford, N.J. "Well, two of them are right here in New York or New Jersey."
Given the dour preseason prognostications, it's a scary thought.
"Scary? No, I don't think so," Fassel said, laughing. "It's perfect. Perfect."
In a word, yes.
The Giants haven't exactly dismantled terrific teams (Arizona, Philadelphia and Chicago are a combined 2-6), but they are doing most of the little things right. Most of the big things, too. They lead the NFL in rushing with 121 carries for 562 yards. Tiki Barber has 41 carries for a league-leading 326 yards. Rookie Ron Dayne is 63-for-197.
The "Thunder and Lightning" shirts are already on sale, but the runners have a re-tooled offensive line to thank for their breakthrough success. Free-agent acquisitions Glenn Parker, Lomas Brown and Dusty Zeigler have blended nicely. Consider that Barber gained fewer yards all of last season (258).
Offensive coordinator Sean Payton has constructed a clever scheme. The Giants' winning touchdown against the Bears -- Barber followed the rolling block of a pulling Parker from three yards out -- was a play Payton added to the repertoire after watching Tampa Bay's Warrick Dunn run it last season against Chicago.
Quarterback Kerry Collins has completed 62 of 87 passes for a ridiculous completion percentage of 71.3. He has thrown three touchdown passes and only a single interception for a passer rating of 98.9. Just as important, he has suffered only three sacks in those three games.
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When you take them one at a time,
you're giving yourself the best chance to win. Who would have thought we'd be 3-0?
With the great attitude this team has, I'm not going to rule out 4-0. ” |
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— Jim Fassel, Giants head coach |
Amani Toomer (16 catches, 139 yards, one TD) and Ike Hilliard (15 catches, 200 yards, one TD) suddenly look like big-time receivers.
The defense, a standard for several years now, has been more than merely sound. The run defense also happens to be the league's best. Remember when Philadelphia's Duce Staley opened the season with 201 yards against Dallas? He had 11 the next week against the Giants, who have allowed 147 yards on the ground in three games.
"When you can lead the league in rushing and rushing defense, that's a great starting point," Fassel said. "You're putting yourself in a situation where you're looking at second and four or five, and that leads to third and two or three. You can call whatever you want in those situations, and we have. Conversely, when you're stopping the run, you're putting teams in a position where they become predictable."
The Jets have followed a similar formula. They haven't been dominating in tight wins over the Packers and Patriots and Sunday's 13-point victory over Buffalo, but they have managed to win.
Against the Bills, the Jets offense was uneven as it has been all season. Two touchdowns came from these unlikely sources: Kevin Williams returned a kickoff 97 yards and defensive back Marcus Coleman leaped and grabbed a 45-yard Hail Mary as the first half expired. It has been three seasons since the Jets scored on a kickoff return and five years since they scored on a Hail Mary.
"It's just a play that we've worked on every Friday," Coleman said after the game. "Vinny [Testaverde] made a great throw. We gave up a play on defense and somebody needed to come back and make a play. That's what the NFL is about. You give up a play and somebody comes back and makes a play."
Testaverde, who has completed only 48.7 percent of his passes, has been shaky after missing most of last season with an Achilles injury. And while the Jets clearly miss departed Keyshawn Johnson, the trio of wide receiver Dedric Ward (10 catches, 218 yards), running back Richie Anderson (13 catches, 158 yards) and wideout Wayne Chrebet (13 catches, 154 yards and two TDs) has provided just enough passing offense.
Martin, who has carried 70 times for 241 yards and two TDs, has been his usual steady-like-a-rock self.
Many of the Jets players thought they'd be getting a free ride when Bill Parcells retired as head coach and Al Groh eventually replaced him. Three weeks ago, they were complaining that he was too tough. Unhappy with the grueling practice schedule and a new policy that required stars like Martin and Testaverde to attend special team meetings in training camp, there was widespread grumbling.
No more.
"It's paying off," Testaverde said. "Al Groh set the course, the ship sailed and we're heading in the right direction."
No one is rushing to put the Jets or Giants in the Super Bowl, but they are undeniably headed in the right direction. For the record, 51 teams started out 3-0 in the 1990s. Only nine of them failed to make the playoffs.
Both New York teams, however, could fall from the unbeaten ranks this week. The Jets travel to Tampa Bay for a meeting against Johnson, and the Giants will have their hands full with the Redskins.
"When you take them one at a time," Fassel said, "you're giving yourself the best chance to win. Who would have thought we'd be 3-0? With the great attitude this team has, I'm not going to rule out 4-0."
Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
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