Four years ago, the Ravens rushed Eli Manning, battered him and held him to a 0.0 passer rating. When the then-rookie quarterback was taken out of the game in the fourth quarter, it was the first and only time in his career he was pulled for performance reasons.
Sunday, the Giants have the chance to return the favor.
They'll face Baltimore's rookie quarterback Joe Flacco, who isn't struggling as much as the average first-year passer -- and not even close to as much as Manning in his first few starts. But the Giants will do their part to remind Flacco he's no longer at Division I-AA Delaware, and that their defense is considerably better than Villanova's or Hofstra's.
"For a young quarterback, if you can get to him early and get to him often, get him out of (his rhythm) and take away (his) first and second option, it'll definitely rattle him a little bit,"
defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka said Thursday. "And it'll make the game a lot easier for us."
Flacco will be the second rookie quarterback the Giants have faced in Steve Spagnuolo's two seasons as defensive coordinator. Last year, the pass rush shook off a slow start to fluster the Bills' Trent Edwards (9-for-26 for 161 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions) on a blustery, snowy day in Buffalo.
"(Pressure) is always important,"
end Justin Tuck said, "but especially against a young quarterback that really hasn't played a lot in the NFL."
And especially when the Giants' pass rush is trying to rebound from its second sackless game of the year, though they did pressure Donovan McNabb nine times on 36 passing plays and three designed passes that turned into quarterback runs.
"Hopefully, we will be able to get back to where we were prior to this past game,"
coach Tom Coughlin said in reference to the victories over the Cowboys and Steelers, during which the Giants had nine sacks and 18 pressures combined. "We did put pressure on the quarterback but we don't have anything to show for it."
By "anything,"
Coughlin meant sacks. The Giants will need a few of Flacco in addition to pressures and hits when he's able to get the ball away. But give the South Jersey native credit; he got pounded by the Steelers earlier this year (five sacks, two fumbles) but didn't throw an interception.
That was against a Pittsburgh defense that holds a three-sack edge (34-31) over the Giants for the top spot in the NFL.
The Ravens have allowed 17 sacks, which ties them for 16th in the league. During his past four games, Flacco has been sacked only seven times and has thrown 112 consecutive passes (including one spike to stop the clock) without an interception.
"He's gotten more comfortable,"
linebacker Antonio Pierce said. "He's not making the mistakes he was making earlier. I don't think they're forcing him to win the game, he's managing the game very well, not creating turnovers for their team, putting them in great position to win the games, throwing the deep ball very well.
"Obviously, we have to do some things to change that up for him a little bit and get him a little confused."
Said Flacco: "We've seen some good guys and these guys are definitely good. We're going to handle it just like we've been handling the other guys all year, and we feel we have the guys to go up against them."
One interesting matchup will be Kiwanuka against Baltimore's 6-9 tackle Jared Gaither, the 2007 supplemental draft pick who has contained the Colts' Dwight Freeney and the Texans' Mario Williams in recent weeks.
On the right side of the Ravens' line, tackle Willie Anderson has a sprained ankle and was walking with a cane earlier this week. Anderson missed practice the past two days but says he will play on Sunday. Wide receiver Derrick Mason also says he'll play, though a shoulder injury has also sidelined him this week.
With Mason and Anderson hobbled and a rookie sitting in the pocket, it's pretty clear the Giants will try to bring more pressure than they did against the Eagles. Perhaps the ratio will be closer to the 17 blitzes on 32 designed passes against the Steelers.
"Our thing is to stop that (third-ranked) running game, put him in some third down-and-long situations, which I don't think he has had a lot this year,"
Tuck said. "We definitely have to put him in some situations where he isn't so comfortable."
