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Michael Strahan vs the Eagles

BlueGuy : 7/4/2015 5:43 am
Ahh, good times!!

Strahan owns Runyan.

Literally. If Strahan went to Scores and asked for a lap dance, he would ask for John Runyan because Runyan is HIS BITCH!!

And Warren Sapp is a first ballet HOFer?? Yeah, ok.

There is no doubt who the superior talent was and for longer and far more versatile. No question.


Michael Strahan vs the Eagles - ( New Window )
One of the "techniques" Runyan adopted  
Mike in Philly : 7/4/2015 7:18 am : link
in later years against Strahan was to grab his shoulder pads in the chest area just under the arm pits. Because Runyan's hands were inside the shoulders, refs rarely called holding, but you could see the frustration from Strahan.
That was fun  
Doomster : 7/4/2015 7:39 am : link
to watch....it's a big difference between Strahan and JPP....when JPP is met head on, he loses all momentum and push....Strahan had the ability to shed the block, even when initially stopped, and make the play...
.  
donnyfootball : 7/4/2015 8:04 am : link
Strahan and Runyan were a pleasure to watch over the years, both talked a lot of trash but certainly had mutual respect for one another. There's a clip of them that I see time from time (didn't watch the video so it might be in there)in the past that I love..

Runyan is blocking Strahan and then knocks him over, then Runyan proceeds to reach a hand out and help Strahan back up, but then the run comes right by the two and Runyan starts blocking Michael again, it's great.

RE: That was fun  
SGMen : 7/4/2015 8:05 am : link
In comment 12355794 Doomster said:
Quote:
to watch....it's a big difference between Strahan and JPP....when JPP is met head on, he loses all momentum and push....Strahan had the ability to shed the block, even when initially stopped, and make the play...
Strahan had long powerful arms. Pound for pound, he may have been the Giants strongest DL. He used his arms to keep big guys off him while he held his ground and made plays.
Had Michael not been hurt his rookie year and had his back held up a little better there is no doubt in my mind that he'd have gone down as the best defensive player of his era. From 1996 to 2007 I think he was the overall best DE in the game for sure, without question, and definitely in the top 3 of anyone's list of best defensive players.

You could not run on him but that doesn't necessarily show up in the stat sheets. Personally, I thought if he had played in 2008 at a high level rather than retiring and Osi had stayed healthy that defense would have been so good it would have carried the team through the playoffs. The combination of pressure and run defense would have been spectacular. Of course, Plax shooting himself cost us the most but the defense could have been "all-time" good with Strahan and a healthy Osi rotating.

Alas, back-to-back SB's were not to be. So much factors into winning the big game.
Had the Giants really wanted to  
mrvax : 7/4/2015 1:04 pm : link
they could have given Strahan a huge pile of $ to play just one more year under a reduced practice load. I think if the pay was right, MS would have OK'ed a final year.

He was a great player and significantly better than Sapp all things considered. Runyan was a very good player himself but no one gave him more trouble than MS and he'll tell you that himself. Uncalled holding play after play is the only thing that stopped Strahan's berserko year and he would have easily had 30+ sacks. He was pretty unstoppable and averaging 2 sacks per game was far closer to a reality than a fan's fantasy.
I agree....  
BlueGuy : 7/5/2015 2:52 am : link
...that had Runyan (and mostly every other LT/RT) not held Strahan on every other play, he really would have had close to 30 sacks that year.

He is the quintessential Giant and we need another guy like him for Eli's twilight years. Unfortunately, with the evolution of the game and 3 step drops being more than norm that aberration, 22 1/2 sacks will be hard to come by even with more pass attempts per game, IMO.

Could you imagine prime time Stra and prime time LT on the field together? Holee sh-iat!!
There were times where peak Strahan had to be triple teamed...  
arcarsenal : 7/5/2015 2:23 pm : link
... because he was just that flat out dominant. He was so fucking good at stopping the run, too. Outside of Eli, he's probably my favorite Giant of all time.
Strahan may also have been hurt  
Matt M. : 7/6/2015 9:17 am : link
by playing at the tail end, and thus in the shadow, or Reggie White's career. For just about his entire career, Strahan was the best DL in the NFL. But, most times you say that, somebody brings up White. There is no doubt White was a great player and perhaps the best DE of all time. Once he retired, there wasn't a better DL in the game than Strahan. That was rushing the passer, stopping the run, backside pursuit, etc. He was the best all around.
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