Big Production a Giant Hit

During the week, while Coach Jim Fassel was attending his mother’s funeral, defensive end Michael Strahan criticized the New York Giant offense for being unproductive.

Strahan had nothing to complain about Sunday, as the Giants ripped through the New York Jets for 27 first-half points and a 41-28 victory.

It was the most points for the Giants in four years.

With Fassel allowing quarterback coach Sean Payton to call the plays, Kerry Collins threw three touchdown passes, all to Amani Toomer, and ran for another.

“I respected the guy before, but I respect him a lot more now,” Collins said of Fassel. “He has been going through so much. He said, ‘I need to back away and let Sean call the game,’ despite the fact he is the coach. That says volumes about the kind of guy he is.”

Rookie Joe Montgomery, making his first start, ran for 111 yards in 38 carries as the Giants (6-6) set a season high for yards (490). They also converted on 13 of 19 third-down situations in stopping a three-game slide and keeping their playoff hopes alive.

The Jets (4-8) brought the NFL’s top-ranked rushing attack into the game but gained only three yards in the first half and eight in the second on the ground. Curtis Martin, the AFC’s No. 2 rusher, was held to four yards, the worst output of his five-year career.

“We’re from the same city and we share the same stadium, so this is one of those games you want to destroy your opponent,” Martin said, “and we got destroyed.”

And humiliated.

“They beat us every way possible,” Coach Bill Parcells said of the team he guided from 1983-90. “I’m ashamed. It’s the first time in three years that I have ever been ashamed.”

The victory was costly, though, as the Giants lost cornerback Jason Sehorn (broken left leg), tight end Pete Mitchell (sprained right ankle) and center Brian Williams (left knee sprain).

The Giants’ error-prone offense never sputtered, outgaining the Jets, 206-9, in the first quarter. The defense was just as effective, not allowing a first down.

Collins completed 17 of 29 passes for 341 yards, the first 300-yard passing performance by a Giant quarterback since Phil Simms in 1993. His final touchdown pass to Toomer came on an 80-yard play.

“I’ll sleep a lot better tonight,” Fassel said. “I needed some good things to happen in my life.”