The Giants spent half of yesterday morning talking about and watching films of Doug Flutie. And at practice there were the Big Blue defensive linemen, winding through four tackling dummies and trying to catch an already-scrambling quarterback. The Giant defense is taking every conceivable precaution to prepare for the Bills’ elusive passer.
And as far as Flutie is concerned, it’s all a big waste of time.
“Everyone gets so caught up in ‘You’ve gotta contain Flutie, not let him out of the pocket,’ blah, blah, blah. Teams do pull a guy out of the pass-rush and spy me, pull a guy out of coverage and spy me,” said Flutie, whose 8-4 Bills host the Giants Sunday. “I think it’s a bigger sacrifice to take someone out of your scheme and change your scheme than it is that I occasionally might break out of the pocket and run for a first down.
“Guys seem to make an issue of trying to bat balls. They may tip a couple of balls, but then they give up some pass-rush when they do that. I think when you take people out of your rush, or take somebody out of coverage and change your schemes, you’re taking awful risks.”
The Giants are willing to take those risks. They may not commit a spy to Flutie on every down, but they’ll do it at some point. And it’s understandable why; the 5-foot-10, 178-pound Flutie has run for 382 yards this year and would be Big Blue’s leading rusher.
“We spent most of the morning talking about his special talents and looking at that on film. Obviously corralling him in the pass rush is very important,” said defensive coordinator John Fox, who admitted they’ll use a spy on Flutie but wouldn’t say who it would be. “He’s not the world’s tallest quarterback, or strongest-armed quarterback, but he’s just a winner and finds ways to get it done.”
One way is by scrambling. He’s averaging 5.5 yards a carry, and his rushing total not only tops all NFL quarterbacks and is a team record for Bills QBs. It nearly doubles the 205-yard total of Giants’ leading rusher Tiki Barber.
“Everybody’s gotta have their track shoes on. You’ve got to watch him, put somebody on him. I don’t know who it’s going to be,” said linebacker Jessie Armstead, who left practice early yesterday with a stiff right knee. “They said he was too little, they sent him across the water, up to Canada; but he’s found a way to come out on top every time. You’ve gotta contain him, [but] every team comes in with the same idea. Not too many succeed.”
One way they’ll try to contain him will be with a spy. The Giants wouldn’t say who would get the unenviable task in various packages, although logical contenders would be LB Scott Galyon or safety Shaun Williams, who has missed the last five games with a bad hamstring.
“He’s definitely a guy that they’ll have to move the pocket for him to throw the ball,” Galyon said. “That’s something we’ll have to address, keeping him in the pocket, containing him and making him throw over all those big guys.”