No sense trying to beat Hurricane Irene.
That, at long last, was the sensible and safe choice made last night by the Giants and the NFL as the Giants-Jets preseason game set for today at MetLife Stadium was moved to Monday at 7 p.m., well after the hurricane passes through the metropolitan area.
The game originally was scheduled for tonight at 7 p.m. but Thursday the decision was made to move kickoff up five hours to 2 p.m. “to give everybody an opportunity to get home safely after the game” according to Giants co-owner John Mara.
A day later, after a state of emergency was declared in New York and New Jersey, after the mass transit systems in both states were set to get shut down by noon today, the decision was made that playing the game at any time today presented too great a risk.
“Along with the NFL office and the Jets, we have closely monitored the hurricane and the forecast and its potential impact on our area for the past several days,” Mara said. “After conferring with [New Jersey] Governor [Chris] Christie, [Jets owner] Woody Johnson and [NFL] commissioner [Roger] Goodell, we have determined the best course of action for the safety and well being of all is to move the game to Monday night.”
The game will be broadcast on WNBC-TV, channel 4 in New York, and the NFL Network.
Playing the game Monday night is not without issues, as both the Giants (at New England) and the Jets (vs. the Eagles) close out their preseason with Thursday night games, giving the teams only three days between games and, most likely, only one practice before the preseason finale.
On Tuesday, rosters must be trimmed from 90 to 80 players, giving the Giants and Jets coaching staffs only one day to assess their teams and make their first round of cuts.
It is highly likely Giants coach Tom Coughlin and Jets coach Rex Ryan will alter some of their plans as far as how much they go with their starting players for Monday night’s game, given that their teams face a fast turnaround before playing again.
The most logical scenario is for starters to play at least a full half Monday night before giving way to the reserves. For the preseason finales, expect to see backups, youngsters and fringe players looking to make the roster play most if not all of the game for the Giants and Jets. Final roster cut-down from 80 to 53 players is next Saturday.
With the brunt of the storm not expected to hit the area until very late tonight into tomorrow morning, the initial plan was to get the game in early, as the forecast for this afternoon calls for rain and increasing winds as Hurricane Irene nears. Clearly, though, the area is going into lockdown, with no subways, N.J. Transit, PATH, Long Island Rail Road or Metro North service, meaning anyone who wanted to venture out and attend the game would have had to drive. Or walk. The Giants, growing increasingly uneasy about asking fans to attend a game the day a major hurricane was set to arrive, began checking with the NFL for other options and the call was made to delay the game two days until Monday.
Expecting to play this afternoon, the Giants already were making some contingency plans. Coughlin said yesterday the team had offered hotel rooms for players for tonight if the need arose “if they have to get out of Hoboken or Edgewater or wherever.”
Now those players will be able to ride out the storm with their families.