Weather Not Expected to Be a Giant Factor

The bad news hit the New York Giants a good many hours before Randy Moss was due to take his first step into their secondary:

There will be no snow, sleet, hail, freezing rain or monsoon to aid the Giants in their frenzied pursuit of Moss in today’s NFC championship game.

According to forecasts by the National Weather Service, temperatures for today’s game between the Giants and the Minnesota Vikings will be in the 43-to-47-degree range, with winds at 5 mph. A cloud cover is expected, but no rain until 6 p.m. EST--more than two hours after the game figures to end.

This was encouraging news for the Vikings, whose offense is geared for a fast track. Minnesota has not won a game outside the Metrodome since Nov. 23.

Viking Coach Dennis Green downplayed the effect the weather might have on the outcome of the game.

“The Giants don’t practice outside, either,” Green said. “Most [players in college], whether they played in Nebraska or anywhere else, Michigan, all the guys and coaches have played in cold-weather games. I never felt that one team could gain an advantage, whether a team was coming from California.

“The bottom line is everybody can play in the cold weather. This is the kind of weather it is. We’ll deal with it and take it from there.”

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Meanwhile, the playing surface at Giants Stadium remains the biggest and lousiest comb-over in New Jersey--mostly bald, covered by a few strands of grass and filled in with green spray paint.

This is supposed to benefit the none-too-quick Giant secondary, forcing Moss and Cris Carter to make their cuts on moist dirt. Giant cornerback Jason Sehorn disagrees.

“What it does to them, it does to us,” Sehorn said. “If you [normally] run a 4.4 and the other guy runs a 4.3, well, then, maybe on this field you run a 4.6 and the other guy runs a 4.4. It doesn’t help. It’s just easier on the body. No turf burns.”

Minnesota’s Carter: “We believe that we have more team speed than them, and if we are on a slower surface, we are still faster than them on that surface. It’s not going to slow me down. I’m not that fast anyway. Talk to Randy, he can run on any surface. It has nothing to do with it, really.”

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When Sehorn appeared on David Letterman’s talk show last week, the television host had two words of advice on defending Moss: wing span.

“Yeah--pretty comical,” Sehorn said later, laughing. “Sure. I’ll just stand back there and spread my arms real wide and hope he can’t run by me.”

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Giant Coach Jim Fassel brought in eight members of the Giants’ 1987 and 1991 Super Bowl championship teams, including former linebacker Lawrence Taylor, to address the team at Saturday’s final pregame practice.

“You’ve got what you want right here,” Taylor told the current Giants. “You can’t ask for anything better than this: playing this game--you’re 60 minutes away--here at Giants Stadium. It can’t get any better than that.

“From the bottom of my heart, we’re proud of you, and whatever it takes, get it done.”

Giant running back Tiki Barber called Taylor’s talk inspiring.

“It gives you a lot to look back at,” he said. “They accomplished a lot, and that gives us something to shoot for. How are people going to remember this team 10 years from now? Seeing the former players makes you want to put your mark on something and make it special. We have to carry on that legacy.”

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Giant quarterback Kerry Collins has flashed strong leadership skills both on the field and off, a major turnaround from two years ago, when a drinking problem led to his ouster in Carolina and New Orleans and left his reputation in shreds.

“When he first came here, I had heard all the horrible things about him, but we talked about things, and every once in a while I’d ask him a question about this thing or that thing,” tackle Lomas Brown said. “He talked about the past, owned up to his mistakes, and you can see the way he’s really made just a complete turnaround.”

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The Washington Post contributed to this story.