Giants Wary of the Watermelon Kick and Other Cowboys "Special" Trickery

The Giants' special teams unit will have to expect the unexpected when they go up against the John Fassel-led Cowboys special teams on Sunday.

The Giants and Cowboys matchup this Sunday would likely be a battle of two 0-4 teams if not for an epic special teams gaffe by the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2.

The Cowboys' lone win this season came courtesy of a memorable onside kick attempt by kicker Greg Zuerlein in the final minutes against the Falcons. 

The Falcons' hands team did their part in giving Dallas an extra possession by seemingly forgetting the onside kick rules and allowing the ball to go past their initial line untouched. 

But the kick, which was not kicked off a tee like most every other kickoff in the NFL, became the subject of conversation due to the unique spin that Zuerlein was able to put on it. 

The kick, which has since been labeled "The Watermelon Kick," was toe-tapped left by Zuerlein and spun just slowly enough for linebacker Justin March and defensive end Dorance Armstrong to finagle themselves underneath it, while receiver Cedrick Wilson and cornerback C.J. Goodwin pursued the ball from behind. 

Giants special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey is well aware of the creativity that Cowboys special teams coordinator John "Bones" Fassel brings as a coach.

Still, the kick might have not even worked if the Falcons' hands team was mentally prepared and pounced on the ball accordingly.

McGaughey, who is well aware of the trickery Fassel (son of one-time Giants head coach Jim Fassel) uses and has no intention of letting the Cowboys sneak their second win of the season against his unit on Sunday.

"They've seen the kick 100 times," McGaughey said on Thursday. "We've seen it, we've talked about it and it's just something we do every week, going through situations throughout the league, we're always trying to be on top of the stuff and don't get caught off guard."

The Giants' preparation for Fassel's special teams strategies doesn't stop at onside kicks either.

Fassel, who previously coordinated special teams for the Los Angeles Rams, has shown a propensity for orchestrating trick plays to pick up first downs and create additional possessions.

One prominent example was in the Rams' NFC Championship game victory against the New Orleans Saints two years ago. With the Rams trailing 13-0, Fassel dialed up a fake punt early in the second quarter to help jumpstart the Rams offense, and it proved to be a critical turning point to help the Rams achieve a 26-23 overtime victory.

In Fassel's eight seasons coordinating the Rams special teams before joining Dallas this year, his units ranked among the top four special teams units three times, with two other top-seven finishes, according to Football Outsiders' DVOA.

The only two teams that have outperformed Fassel's units in that span are the Baltimore Ravens, led by head coach John Harbaugh, a former special teams coordinator himself, and the New England Patriots when current Giants head coach Joe Judge led them.

The Giants have been on track to establish consistency on special teams themselves under McGaughey's leadership over the past two years. The unit has ranked at or near the top 10 in every significant metric for measuring special teams success in that time.

For the Giants, last week's game against the Rams helped get them in the groove of preparing for special teams tricks having to prepare for punter Johnny Hekker, and now they will face the man who established Hekker as a trick-play machine at the punter position.

"[There's] a lot of carryover," McGaughey said. "A lot of the same stuff, a lot of the same schemes, [Fassel] does a heck of a job--he has for the last eight or nine years as a coordinator. He's very aggressive in his approach to the game, and he keeps you on your toes.

"He tries to put people on their heels and that's what he does because of all of the stuff that they do. You just got to be disciplined, you got to be prepared, and you got to be sound in how you play them."

Preparation will be one step for McGaughey and his players to win the special teams battle on Sunday. Still, he may also look to emulate Fassel's trickery as well, as McGaughey admitted that the Giants will have a couple tricks up their sleeve when they face the Cowboys on Sunday.