Simms’ Performance Was Effective Enough to Lead Giants to Win

Phil Simms was putting on his kid-from-the-sticks impersonation again, deflecting reporters’ wisecracks about winning ugly. You could almost see the strand of straw in the side of his mouth.

“Ahhh, what was ugly about it?” Simms drawled. “That’s a reporters’ cliche. Wins aren’t ugly.”

Sorry, Phil, the New York Giants’ 24-19 win over the Rams in Giants Stadium Sunday began to give even the Giants fans an eyeache.

It was a familiar and crowded rut for New York (7-3). It has been a season of either blowing big leads (Dallas), or coming from behind (Tampa Bay), or hanging on for a close win (Sunday, ugly, Sunday).

Simms played Sunday like the Giants have this season--sputtering, streaking and clanking, but occasionally effective. Effective enough.

Even while he was launching high-caliber passes over the heads of his receivers, Simms never doubted himself or his team. Why should he? He has had to breathe life into the Giants all season.

“When we get behind we don’t get too excited,” Simms said. “I missed a few throws I should have made. I knew we would come back. I had confidence that if I kept throwing passes, I would begin to hit.”

In the first half, Simms was hitting the backs of his receivers and the hands of Ram defensive backs. On the Giants’ first play of the game, Simms passed to Lionel Manuel, who passed the ball to the bright green AstroTurf. Catching the pass had been a welcome trend, but he lost two yards and fumbled after being slammed by Los Angeles cornerback Gary Green.

The Giants recovered the fumble, setting the tone for a day of recoveries.

Simms, in his seventh year out of Morehead State, gee-goshed his way through postgame interviews, but is no hayseed. As inept as he was at times Sunday, he still managed to pull out of it. He finished by completing 16 of 30 attempts for 239 yards. Not ugly on paper, but not pretty to watch.

The Giants did not win with sustained drives or ball-control conservatism. They won when the Ram defense broke down or a New York receiver could slip through the zone.

The latter happened on the Giants’ first touchdown, with 27 seconds left in the first half. Simms, from the shotgun, was pressured, rolled right and found Bob Johnson over the middle for a 36-yard pass play.

“They had been in a zone for most of the game,” Johnson said. “They didn’t change too much. I was wide open, but it was a broken play.”

The touchdown sent the Giants into the locker room behind, 13-7. That’s nothing to the Giants--usually they would worry about becoming overconfident at that point.

“The first half we were kind of off,” said Manuel, New York’s wide receiver. “We should have done a few things. We talked about it at halftime. We know how to come from behind.”

Simms battled 20 m.p.h. winds for much of the game (the effervescent Rams, not the league’s offensive daredevils, passed infrequently, blustery gusts not bothering handoffs to Eric Dickerson. Wind, what wind?)

“A couple of balls got away from me,” Simms said. “It was pretty windy out there. I made the one sin you shouldn’t make--I tried to throw too hard. We had a couple of breakdowns in the first half. I misread a couple of things. Usually, I don’t let it bother me. Usually I can throw through it.”

Simms also managed to throw through the Ram secondary. With third down and four at his 26, Simms hit Tony Galbreath over the middle for 49 yards. Ram linebacker Mike Wilcher was suckered off the play and safety Nolan Cromwell got beat. Cromwell came back on the play to help out and ended up cross-blocking the nearest Ram--Wilcher.

The dreaded Ram defense came into the game with a fierce reputation--they kill their own. What they killed were a few chances to strangle the Giants while they were down. New York was given five first downs by Ram penalties.

In a game that kept the officials hustling, the Rams had 10 penalties for 99 yards. There were more flags flying Sunday at Giants Stadium than across the Hudson River at the United Nations.

Luckily, the Giants know how to accept gifts. A facemask penalty in the second quarter kept the Giants’ touchdown drive alive.

Two penalties in the fourth quarter fueled the Giants’ last touchdown drive.

Through all the penalties and flubbed passes, the Giants came through with big plays. Behind 16-10 with 6:40 left in the third quarter, Simms hit Manuel for 26 yards to move to the Ram 33. Simms was pressured on the next play, had linebacker Mel Owens clinging to him, but hit Mark Bavaro for 14 yards. The Giants scored five plays later to take the lead.

“I was looking to make a few big plays,” Simms said. “We were just trying to get inside of the 30-yard line. I don’t know if we are a slow starting team, we looked like one today. But we have a lot of confidence.”

The Giants will need that confidence for their Monday night game next week against the Redskins in Washington, a town where coming from behind may mean a knife in the back.