New York Giants 36 – Minnesota Vikings 21
Overview: It is important for fans to temper their excitement over the Giants’ impressive 36-21 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Results from the preseason, especially the first game, can be very misleading. The Vikings made a number of bone-headed plays during the game that directly led to points and excellent field position for the Giants. In fact, in a few weeks, once the regular season has begun, this game will largely be forgotten. It is the real games that count after all.
Nevertheless, New York’s offense took some giant steps towards respectability against the Vikes. The starting offense was very sharp as the passing game led the way to a 17-0 lead. The starting defense was also impressive, despite the absence of Jason Sehorn and Conrad Hamilton. Special teams were OK, but more improvement can be made there. The running game was also far from impressive.
The most important element of the victory was the decisiveness of it – the Giants really controlled this game from the outset. This fact should do wonder for the confidence of the entire team. Keep in mind that Minnesota was 15-1 last year and one field goal away from the Super Bowl.
But at the same time, don’t get too excited. The starting offense of the Giants still has much to prove. One quarter of preseason football is but a drop in the bucket.
Quarterbacks: Kent Graham was very sharp. In fact, he was almost perfect. Graham completed five-out-of-six passes for 145 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. He opened up the game with a deep curl pass to WR Amani Toomer for 28 yards. Two plays later, he hit HB Sean Bennett on a 53-yard screen pass for a touchdown. On the very next drive, Graham hit Toomer for 9 yards, WR Ike Hilliard for 18, and then WR Joe Jurevicius for 37 yards and a touchdown on a hitch-and-go route. Graham’s accuracy was not perfect as on two passes Bennett had to reach low and Toomer high, but his tosses were generally on the mark and Graham did an excellent job of reading the defense and locating the open receiver.
Reserve Kerry Collins saw the bulk of the work in the second and third quarters and was not quite as impressive, even though he was hampered by a couple of drops (including one that would have been a touchdown). Kerry also had a couple of passes knocked down at the line of scrimmage. Nevertheless, his showing was very encouraging. Collins finished the night going 8-of-17 for 127 yards, 1 touchdown, and no interceptions. His two most impressive throws were one to Joe Jurevicius where he showed amazing arm strength as he threw off his back foot and a very accurate deep pass to David Patten that set up the final touchdown. On the throws he completed, he was very accurate. But he also missed some wide open guys pretty badly a few times.
Mike Cherry played quite a bit in the fourth quarter, but did not attempt a pass.
Halfbacks/Fullbacks: HB Sean Bennett began the game with a bang with an impressive 53-yard screen pass. On the play, Bennett showed good hands (making a tough, low catch), a little nimbleness (he eluded the first potential tackler), and a very good burst (as he outran the rest of the Vikes’ defense). He also made another key reception for 12 yards in the red zone later in the game. Bennett was not quite as impressive running the ball between the tackles. He carried the ball 10 times for only 35 yards. He did have one good looking outside run where he showed his speed again, but I was hoping to see more from his inside game. Bennett’s pass blocking also needs much improving.
FB Greg Comella also looked good catching the ball on his one attempt (for 13 yards). But he was not very sharp running the ball. Even though he was not helped much by his mates up front, he looked a tad indecisive and tried to bounce too many runs outside. Comella carried the ball 17 times for a very disappointing 28 yards.
HB Tiki Barber didn’t play much from scrimmage, but when he did, he was impressive. It looks like Tiki is back. He showed some excellent moves and broke some tackles, believe it or not. He almost broke a huge play on a 3rd-and-long draw where he made something out of nothing with a superb spin move. Later on the goalline, he made a move, broke a tackle, and walked into the endzone for the Giants’ lone rushing touchdown of the game. Barber finished the night carrying the ball 5 times for 24 yards and a touchdown.
FB Charles Way didn’t play much. He ran once for 3 yards.
Tight Ends: The tight ends were not involved much in the passing game, although the Giants played much of the game in a two-TE set. Howard Cross, as usual, was a stalwart blocking, but was not a factor as a receiver. Pete Mitchell made a couple of nice blocks, but didn’t make his lone reception until late in the game (for nine yards). Rookie Dan Campbell was the most involved tight end in the passing game, catching 2 passes for 20 yards. He also made a diving attempt for an errant Collins’ pass. Overall, Dan showed sure hands and impressive athleticism for a big man.
Wide Receivers: The big three played their roles perfectly. Amani Toomer (2 catches for 37 yards) looked like the play-maker the Giants hope he will become when the real bell rings in September. On his first attempt, he came up with a big play on a 28-yard catch-and-run on 1st-and-15. He later made a veteran move when he came back towards Graham in order to give him a better target and caught a high pass between two defenders.
Ike Hilliard showed sure hands and good moves on his one attempt for 18 yards.
Joe Jurevicius once again showed that he has deceptive speed as he broke free for 37 yards and a touchdown on a hitch-and-go route. He finished the game with two catches for 60 yards, before he had to leave with a hamstring injury.
David Patten had an up-and-down night. He dropped a perfect pass from Collins in the endzone. He later somewhat redeemed himself with an acrobatic deep catch and then caught a touchdown from Collins on the goalline. Patten finished the game with 2 catches for 50 yards and a touchdown.
Brian Alford was surprisingly invisible. No other receiver made an impact.
Offensive Line: In terms of pass blocking, the offensive line was very impressive. This not only included the first team line, but the second team one as well. Giants’ quarterbacks were generally well-protected, even despite some blitzing from Minnesota. Scott Gragg and Roman Oben did commit false starts – a bad omen from last year, but both tackles were solid throughout the game. Ron Stone showed some nice feet when he picked up an outside blitzer. Luke Petitgout played some with the first unit and did not look out of place. Brian Williams made a key block on Bennett’s screen pass for a touchdown.
Second-teamers such as Mike Rosenthal, Nate Miller, Jason Whittle, and Derek Engler did not look bad either.
The most disappointing phase of the line was the run blocking. The Giants never could get their running game untracked all night and their inside running game was especially disconcerting. The Giants need to rectify this soon or their offense won’t be able to work on all cylinders.
Defensive Line: The defensive line had an up-and-down night (mostly up), but really stood out was the quality of the depth displayed. The first unit was reasonably strong. The Vikes could not gain any significant yardage on the ground against them. DE Michael Strahan flashed on the pass rush. I also spotted Keith Hamilton getting a good inside charge on one passing play and hammering Randall Cunningham just as he released the ball. But for the most part, aside from a corner blitz or two, Cunningham had too much time to throw against the first unit. DE Cedric Jones played well against the run, but didn’t excite against the pass and was forced to leave the game early with a knee injury.
On the other hand, the back-ups showed better against the pass than the run. The Giants finished the game with nine sacks, and most of these came from second and third teamers. Oh, there were moments against the run. I thought DT George Williams played a very strong, all-around game and outplayed Christian Peter. DE’s Frank Ferrara and Rasheed Simmons also flashed on a couple of running plays – making stuffs behind the line of scrimmage. But too often, Vike running backs made good yardage on cutback runs (Frank Ferrara overpursued on a couple of plays). Also, the Vikes were able to run right at Rasheed Simmons.
Against the pass, Ferrara was impressive with his tenacity and instincts. Frank isn’t a big guy, but he was buzzing around the quarterback much of the night. Simmons also was a thorn in the Vikes’ side in the pass rush department.
Ryan Hale looked more impressive to me during the game than he did at camp. He was battling hard and got a good push on a couple of plays. On one play, he lost his helmet, yet still pursued the the ball.
The Giants have some impressive looking young guys on the line. It will be pleasant problem in figuring on who to keep.
Linebackers: Second-teamer Scott Galyon was the most impressive linebacker on the field. He looked real strong as a blitzer and made plays against the run too. MLB Pete Monty was fairly active, but he also got handled at the point, especially on one right-side running play. Ryan Phillips still looks a little lost and stiff to me in pass protection. I was more impressed with the work of Marcus Buckley. No one else really stood out. The starters weren’t in the game much and I don’t recall the rookies making any plays. It looks like the linebackers (Phillips? Monty?) really screwed up on the short pass to the running back that resulted in a touchdown right before halftime.
Defensive Backs: Jeremy Lincoln played a very good game despite getting burned for a 20-yard touchdown in the second quarter. He and Phillippi Sparks shut out Randy Moss and held Chris Carter to one, harmless catch. Credit here must also go to Percy Ellsworth, Sam Garnes, and Shaun Williams. Lincoln also made the hit of the game when he nailed a Viking receiver coming over the middle on a crossing route. For his part Shaun Williams saw a ton of action. He gave up a couple of key completions on plays where he had tight coverage, but didn’t make the play.
Rookies Andre Weathers, Reggie Stephens, and Bashir Levingston did not embarrass themselves. Weathers has a reputation as a strong tackler, but wasn’t overly sharp in this department against the Vikings. Reggie Stephens’ name wasn’t called much and that is a good sign. He did get nailed with a very costly pass interference penalty right before halftime that set up the Vikes’ second touchdown. Cedric Stephens was burned very badly for the Vikes’ final touchdown and is probably a goner.
Special Teams: The good news is that kick coverage was improved. The Giants did “luck out” on one big return where the play was called back, but most returns were held inside the 30 – a big accomplishment for last year’s sorry unit. Punt coverage was strong because Brad Maynard’s punts had such impressive hang times. P Brion Hurley was not impressive in his only chance.
Brad Daluiso nailed two field goals (one 48 yarder and one 24 yarder), but also missed a 52-yarder. Daluiso always has plenty of leg on these 50+ yard attempts, but is rarely accurate. His kick-offs (aside from one scribber) were good, but not great.
The return game continues to be a problem. The blocking on kick and punt returns was once again mediocre at best. David Patten barely got over the 20 yard line on his returns. Tiki Barber likewise did not have much room on his chances. He did show some elusiveness on one return, but looked somewhat indecisive on another. He bobbled his first return, but did not fumble and was generally sure-handed.