New York Jets 27 – New York Giants 23
Overview: It is tough to get past the fact that this is the game that the Giants lost CB Jason Sehorn for the season, but get past it the coaches and players must. Sehorn tore two ligaments in his right knee on the opening kick off of the game — ironically, on what was to be his only kick return of the entire preseason. This loss overshadowed a contest in which there were a number of very pleasant positives for the Giants — as well as some continued warning signs.
Quarterbacks: Danny Kanell looked poised and sharp for most of the night. Granted his offensive line did a great job of keeping Jets’ pass rushers away from him, but Danny delivered the ball with good accuracy and zip. He was at his best on a number of key third down situations. If Kanell can play as effectively as he did against the Jets for most of this season, the Giants’ quarterback situation is in good hands. What we were also impressed with was his toughness in the pocket. On the few times that he did experience any pressure, he stood tall in the pocket and attempted to deliver the ball even when he was about to get hit — very “Simms-like.” Kanell finished the first quarter 8-of-9 for 73 yards. He cooled off somewhat after that, tossing a couple of errant throws on the Giants’ second possession into the Jets’ redzone at the start of the 2nd quarter. On another second quarter drive, Kanell did a great job finding Chris Calloway for a first down on 3rd-and-7 and Ike Hilliard for 25 yards on 3rd-and-13. But on the same drive, he misfired on another 3rd down play where Calloway was wide open and may have scored. On the Giants’ last offensive scoring drive of the night, late in the second quarter, Kanell did a nice job finding Gary Brown out of the backfield for a first down on 3rd-and-10. But he also didn’t see a wide open Howard Cross in the end zone on 1st-and-goal. Nevertheless, overall it was a very positive performance.
The same can not be said for Kent Graham. Kent did far too much dancing in the pocket for our tastes. His second pass of the game was almost intercepted and returned for a TD, but the defensive back dropped the ball. Kent’s third pass of the game was a horribly overthrown ball. His fourth pass was way off the mark too and hit a Jets’ defender in the hands. On his first drive in the fourth quarter, Graham threw a strike to WR Joe Jurevicius over the middle for good yardage. But on the next play, he almost got Ty Wheatley killed by leading the linebacker right to him before delivering the ball. What really bothered us about his performance is that he took a couple of sacks in situations where we thought he should have gotten rid of the ball sooner or thrown it away. He also threw the ball far too hard to Wheatley on a short pass that Wheatley dropped (he has to show greater touch in such situations). His prettiest pass of the night was his deep sideline throw to Jurevicius which was perfectly thrown.
Wide Receivers: Ike Hilliard (7 catches for 74 yards) had a great game. Kanell looked his way all night. Interestingly, the Giants had him in the slot a number of times — one time putting him in motion on a 3rd-and-2 situation where he picked up the first down on a short pass. Another interesting play was a 3-WR shotgun setup on 1st-and-ten where David Patten got open easily and picked up 11 yards. Patten also picked up big yardage on a deep out on 3rd-and-10. We think he’s going to be a real weapon for Kanell this year. But the story of the night was Hilliard. Again and again, Kanell hit him. Hilliard not only showed an ability to get open, but good quickness and running skills after the catch — something he was famous for in college. Calloway had two catches, including one for 21 yards over the middle. Amani Toomer dropped two balls that hit him right in the bread basket. Joe Jurevicius made three catches, including a one-handed circus catch that was deflected off two Jet defenders and one deep sideline pass.
Tight Ends: Howard Cross, as usual, did an excellent job blocking for the run. He destroyed his man on both the opening offensive play for the Giants — an outside run by Gary Brown that picked up a first down — and Tiki Barber’s goalline TD run on the same drive.
Halfbacks: Gary Brown started and had a so-so performance. He’s more of a plodder than we would like, but he did show enough movement ability to get outside on his two big runs of the night. On the other hand, there was one run on the opening drive where the line had formed a nice hole up the middle for him, but he didn’t find it quickly enough. Overall, he made a favorable impression because he consistently picked up positive yardage. He also showed nice hands catching two passes.
Tiki Barber fumbled the ball twice (recovered one, lost one), could arguably been credited with another fumble on his diving goalline attempt, and muffed a punt (he also recovered). All these sins are inexcusable. However, Tiki finally showed us that spark and quickness that seemed to be missing since the beginning of last year. If he can hold onto the ball (a big if), one can see how explosive he is and how he can make defenders sweat. He was very decisive and quick on his short yardage TD run on the opening drive. We thought he ran with far greater instincts and toughness than he had to-date this preseason. His quicks were very evident on two back-to-back passes to him out of the backfield where he made Jet defenders look like they were standing still. He also showed real good patience, tackle-breaking ability, and acceleration on his long run of the left side in the third quarter.
Wheatley looked good on his one carry, an outside run where he showed patience and aggressiveness.
Fullbacks: Charles Way sprained his ankle on the opening drive and was not a factor in the game. His replacement, Eric Lane, was only so-so in the run blocking department. On the first drive, an inside run block for Gary Brown was not effective. However, on the second drive, he did a nice job opening up a hole for Brown on a kick-out block — a play that picked up five yards. On Gary Brown’s 23-yard run off the left side in the second quarter, Lane absolutely leveled his man, but then came back with a mediocre effort on the cornerback on Tiki’s outside running attempt on 2nd-and-goal late in the second quarter. Nevertheless, Lane showed us some blocking ability that we didn’t think was there. Greg Comella showed real nice second effort on his 2-yard touchdown run right up the gut. The normally sure handed Comella also dropped a pass however. He did a very strong job blocking for the run. On a number of plays, as the lead blocker for the halfback, Comella took his man out of the play. On Tyrone Wheatley’s outside run in the 4th quarter, Comella actually took two defenders out with one block.
Offensive Line: OG Ron Stone and OT Scott Gragg, combined with TE Howard Cross, is a formidable run blocking unit on the right side. On a number of occasions, they blew away Jet defenders on that side of the field. Pass protection by the first unit was excellent for the second week in a row. For the most part, Kanell had plenty of time to survey the field. Roman Oben was flagged for one false start penalty.
The starting unit did have a couple of breakdowns on their first drive in the third quarter. RG Ron Stone did not sustain long enough on his run block and Brown was tackled in the backfield on 2nd-and-4 — he would have picked up a first down otherwise. On the ensuing play, OC Lance Scott was pushed back into Kent Graham’s face.
As for the reserves, LG Bryan Stoltenberg was beat cleanly on a run block that allowed Tiki to get nailed in the backfield. He also gave up a critical sack on the Giants’ last drive of the game. LT Toby Myles was flagged for holding and a false start.
Defensive Line: The starting group did not have a good night. DE Chad Bratzke made a nice play coming down the line of scrimmage to disrupt a counter trey play to Curtis Martin. However, on HB Curtis Martin’s 14 yard touchdown run in the second quarter, Bratzke was easily handled at the line of scrimmage. Indeed, for the most part, the Jets’ offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage on both running and passing plays. We expect more out of Michael Strahan (who had a rough time with a rookie right tackle), Robert Harris, and Keith Hamilton. Hamilton did pick up a sack from his defensive tackle position, when the Giants ran a zone-blitz, dropping Bratzke into coverage and bringing Buckley on the blitz. Strahan also picked up a sack in the third quarter. But this kind of pressure was rare for most of the contest.
DE Cedric Jones almost got to Testeverde on one pass rush. Cedric also made a great play stuffing a 3rd-and-one play in the 4th quarter. Marcus Buckley and Scott Galyon got credited for the play by the announcers, but it was Cedric who was on the bottom of the pile who mae the play. Christian Peter and Bernard Holsey weren’t bad at playing the run. Holsey, Jones, and MLB Pete Monty stuffed one 3rd-and-1 play in the 4th quarter.
Linebackers: It still looks to us like Marcus Buckley is a liability against the run. Not only does he have trouble disengaging from blocks, but he seems to lack ball awareness — often running himself out of the play. He is also a mediocre tackler and was easily shrugged off by Keyshawn Johnson on one crossing pattern. He was absolutely crushed on Martin’s above mentioned touchdown run too. To be fair, he made very good penetration, and along with DE Michael Strahan, helped to disrupt a 3rd-and-2 running play in the first half. Jessie Armstead was very quiet for the second game in a row.
We thought MLB Doug Colman read the plays well and did a nice job flowing to the ball. Pete Monty made a nice read and hit on a Leon Johnson run, but forgot to wrap him up. Scott Galyon continues to impress — tackling the runner in the backfield on one play and pressuring Testeverde on a blitz.
Defensive Backs: The Giants had problems with crossing patterns over the middle all night and you had better believe that the Redskins and their head coach Norv Turner noticed this too. Indeed, on one play, the Giants’ had Armstead covering WR Wayne Chrebet and the result was a big completion over the middle. In the third quarter, the Giants got burned badly on a play where they ran a zone blitz and Keyshawn Johnson picked up big yardage over the middle.
For the second game in a row, we saw CB Phillippi Sparks playing too far off the ball. On the Jets’ first drive and facing 3rd-and-goal from the three yard line, Sparks played way off Chrebet and all Chrebet had to do was run an uncontested four yard out for an easy touchdown. Later in the second quarter, Phillippi was burned badly by Keyshawn Johnson on a deep out pattern. Sparks was also burned deep by Dedric Ward for what should have been a touchdown, but Ward dropped the ball.
Conrad Hamilton, Sehorn’s replacement had an up-and-down night. On the Jets’ second possession, he was nowhere in the picture on a deep sideline route to Keyshawn Johnson. He also got beat by Dedric Ward late in the second quarter on 3rd-and-13, but Jets’ QB Steve Foley couldn’t get the ball to Ward. Hamilton made a real nice tackle on FB Keith Byars to prevent a 3rd down and settled down noticeably in the second half however. Alex Van Dyke had a step on him in the 4th quarter, but Conrad did a nice job knocking the ball out of his hands. He gave up a nine yard completion to Dedric Ward late in the contest.
CB Robert Massey is the well-liked veteran. Due to his lack of speed, he plays way off the ball and this hurts his game. He is a sure tackler however. S/CB Shaun Williams was beaten pretty badly on Dedric Ward’s 81-yard catch and touchdown run. CB Jeremy Lincoln played too far off the ball giving up an easy completion to Ward, but he did close on the ball well later in the game on a throw near the goalline to knock the ball away.
SS Sam Garnes was a positive presence playing the run for most of the evening. Sam made a nice play on the Jets’ opening running play with a crisp, sure tackle at the line of scrimmage. However, Garnes did take a bad angle on Martin’s TD run. FS Tito Wooten broke up one pass, but was pretty quiet.
When one sees FS Percy Ellsworth in person, one is immediately struck by his size. However, Percy may in fact be the worst tackler on the team. His effort to tackle Keyshawn twice in the game was pathetic. But the one thing he can do is read a quarterback and play in coverage. His interception and TD return was thing of beauty.
Special Teams: The good news on special teams was that the blocking on kick and punt returns was vastly improved. Returners finally had some room to maneuver. Jason Sehorn had a good alley set up right up the middle on his return. David Patten looked sharp on his 35-yard kick return in the 1st quarter. Tiki Barber also had a very nice 22-yard punt return in the 2nd quarter (though he also did muff a punt later in the game (which he recovered). Amani Toomer fumbled a punt , but the Giants luckily recovered. He did show some moves we had never seen from him before on another punt return in the first half. Tyrone Wheatley made a devastating block in the third quarter on a kick return.
Kick and punt coverage continues to be a horror show. Leon Johnson returned a punt for a touchdown that put the Jets back into the game. Kick coverage was not much better. Whatever Special Teams Coach Larry MacDuff is doing, it’s not working. As for specific players, we don’t like the work Percy Ellsworth is doing. Greg Comella also had a rough night. He was flagged with a blatantly stupid block-in-the-back call on a punt return. Comella and David Patten were also faked out badly by Leon Johnson on his punt return for a TD. Comella did make a nice tackle on Will Brice’s next punt, but later whiffed on another open field tackle attempt. Comella does a real nice job getting quickly down the field, but he needs to break down better and tackle his opponent. Making solid tackles on specials in the game were Scott Galyon and Doug Colman — as usual. What the heck ever happened to Brandon Sanders? He’s not making many plays, unlike last year.
For his part, Brad Daluiso was horrible on kickoffs all night — most were either line drives into the endzone (easily returnable) or landed at the ten yard line. Combined with the Giants’ notoriously poor kick-off coverage, that is a recipe for disaster. We also have no idea why Daluiso missed his extra point attempt — the snap and hold were solid.
Brad Maynard had another nice game punting the ball — this time with direction, not only distance. He also showed some pretty good poise on Daluiso’s failed extra point conversion, completing a pass to Howard Cross that almost scored two points. His competition, Will Brice, was horrible. Maynard has easily won the job.