New York Giants 27 – Jacksonville Jaguars 5
Game Overview: This was about as positive of a performance as one could hope for, with the exception of a couple of down notes. Specifically, the big negatives were the injuries to WR Amani Toomer and TE Howard Cross as well as continued shoddy special teams coverage work.
However, the positives heavily out-weighed the negatives. By halftime, the Giants had a 191-60 advantage in total yards; by game’s end, they out-gained the Jaguars 313 to 169 yards. On offense, QB Kerry Collins was extremely hot, HB Ron Dayne looked much improved, and WR Joe Jurevicius made some plays. Defensively, the starters shut down the Jaguars though they benefitted from some sloppy play by the Jacksonville offense (there were times when the defense was bending a bit too much). On specials, the Giants seemed to have a real weapon in P Rodney Williams. PK Jaret Holmes stood out.
Quarterbacks: Collins was darn near flawless. He was 8-of-11 for 89 yards, 1 touchdown and no interceptions. Two of his incompletions were drops. What really impresses me about Collins is although he is not the nimblest of quarterbacks, he does a great job of escaping sacks. The way he does this is with just enough movement skills (usually falling backwards or drifting to his right) combined with a quick release. Against the Jaguars, there were many times when the offensive line did not afford him decent pass protection, but Kerry was able to get rid of the ball. It’s his strong arm that allows him to throw strikes while not being able to set up properly at times. This happened on the TD pass to Comella. While the play-fake took most of the defenders with Dayne, one rusher was right on top of the play yet Collins still managed to throw for the score. His only “bad” pass of the night was his last one when he tried to squeeze the ball into Ron Dixon’s hands in the endzone despite solid coverage.
Jason Garrett (5-of-10 for 38 yards, 1 touchdown, no interceptions) was steady and led the Giants to a last second TD right before halftime. He threw a very accurate pass against tight coverage for the touchdown on 4th down with no time on the clock. Also on that drive, he made a couple of quick throws from a 3-step drop that picked up first downs.
Jesse Palmer (8-for-12 for 98 yards, 1 touchdown, no interceptions) played well and it wasn’t his fault that the offense stalled in the third quarter. Drops by Thabiti Davis and Pat Woodcock led to two three-and-outs. The drop by Davis came on a perfect strike over the middle. He made a real nice play when he scrambled a bit to his right away from pressure and hit Pat Woodcock over the middle for a first down in the fourth quarter. His best pass was the extremely accurate one to Jonathan Carter on the fly pattern for a 44-yard touchdown. What’s impressive about Palmer is looks pretty darn advanced for a rookie. He’s poised and confident to boot.
Wide Receivers: WR Amani Toomer sprained his ankle early and did not contribute. WR Joe Jurevicius (7 catches for 68 yards and a touchdown) had a rough start. He bobbled one pass and dropped another (even his TD reception was bobbled). But he seemed to calm down and finally make some plays. It was pretty clear that Collins was looking to Jurevicius and Joe was a factor in keeping the chains moving and putting the Giants into scoring position.
Ron Dixon (2 catches for 30 yards) didn’t do enough. There was one exciting play where he caught the ball over the middle and showed some good run-after-the-catch ability on 3rd-and-10, but with Toomer and Ike Hilliard both out, he should have been more of a factor. He dropped an early slant pass from Collins that stalled a drive on third down.
WR Thabiti Davis had two catches for 20 yards against the Jags’ starting defense – both catches picked up first downs. However, he also dropped a superb throw from Palmer deep over the middle. WR Pat Woodcock (1 catch for 15 yards) dropped one that hit him right in the mitts – he’s a goner soon. Jonathan Carter (1 catch for 44 yards and a touchdown) flashed the deep speed the Giants drafted him for. He made a nice catch despite decent coverage too. WR Quinton Spotwood and WR Anthony Tucker were not factors.
Tight Ends/H-Backs: This position is starting to concern me. The good news is that Dan Campbell looked the part on the one pass thrown his way (for seven yards). His run blocking was also pretty solid. Dan doesn’t get much movement, but he is getting better at sustaining the block. The bad news is that he dropped a pass in traffic.
Marcellus Rivers (2 catches for 12 yards) looked pretty bad as a run and pass blocker. He gave up one sack in pass protection. As a run blocker, he gets no movement whatsoever and usually gets pushed out of the way. Adam Young (1 catch for two yards) made a good block from the fullback position that sprung Omar Bacon on his best run. Taman Bryant showed nice concentration and some suddenness in catching a tipped ball from Palmer. But he’s awfully small at 230lbs.
Halfbacks/Fullbacks: The Giants let Ron Dayne finally get into a bit of a rhythm and he responded with 43 yards on 12 carries, despite a few chances that were stuffed in the backfield before the play got going. Dayne looks much quicker and faster at his reduced weight, and he is finally keeping his feet moving on contact. What really impressed me was the way he cutback against the grain with sharp, quick moves. Though he did most of damage between the tackles (and his biggest runs came on cutbacks), I really like the play where they pitch the ball to him outside. This lets him get some momentum going forward.
Damon Washington (7 carries for 18 yards) looked real sharp and explosive on his draw play on the last drive before halftime, but got stuffed pretty easily on some short yardage efforts in the second half (the poor run blocking in short yardage didn’t help).
Omar Bacon (9 carries for 40 yards) didn’t look bad and had one good looking run late in the fourth quarter, but doesn’t flash any special qualities.
At fullback, with the tight end being a problem area, look for the Giants to use Greg Comella (2 catches for 11 yards, 1 run for 4 yards) even more heavily in the passing attack this year. He did a nice job of getting into the endzone after his short reception from Collins. FB Anthony Green caught one pass for six yards.
Offensive Line: On the first team, I wasn’t too pleased with the performances of LT Lomas Brown and LG Glenn Parker. Brown had a lot of problems with DE Tony Brackens in pass protection, often getting bull-rushed straight back into Collins. He also missed a run block pretty badly that disrupted a Dayne run. Parker had a couple of down plays as pass and run blocker as well. Both of these veterans seemed to make some mental mistakes too as there were a couple of plays where defensive linemen on their side came free untouched. The right side was pretty solid with RG Ron Stone and RT Luke Petitgout (though both did have problems once on separate pass rushes). Scott Kiernan blocked better for the run than the pass. He got some movement in his run blocks, but got beat by quickness in pass protection on a couple of occasions.
The back-ups didn’t look too bad. Jason Whittle (hip) did not play. Chris Bober got a few snaps with the starters at left tackle when Lomas Brown left a bit early. Brackens gave him some problems too. Bober was a bit clumsy on his first effort as he fell to the ground. On his next chance, he was hanging on for dear life as Brackens tried to speed past him. Bober also didn’t respond particularly well to a late dog by the outside backer. In the second half, Bober played exclusively at center and faired better (it helped that he wasn’t facing Brackens too).
RT Chris Ziemann was flagged with a false start, but looked pretty solid. Terrance Sykes seemed to do pretty well at left tackle. He needs a lot of working in the weight room, but he moved his feet pretty well and always seemed to engage his man. Jim Goff played a bit at right guard before giving way to Rich Seubert. I’d didn’t notice any major gaffs by Goff, but Seubert did have some problems with one inside move (Ziemann also got beat on this play) on a running play. There were a couple of mental mistakes too where guys came free untouched, but that is to be expected at times with the reserves in preseason. The problems appeared to be more with the backside. Short-yardage run blocking by the second team wasn’t very good. Mike Rosenthal played at left guard. Josh Warner came in later at guard. He looked a little clueless on one pass block effort as the rusher ran right by him; he did better as a run blocker. But all in all the reserves provided decent pass protection and good run blocking.
Defensive Line: So-so. Not as good as the score would indicate. The run defense against Fred Taylor was ordinary, and not too impressive in short yardage in particular. DE Michael Strahan had a real nice pass rush on a stunt on a play where Mike Barrow cleaned up on the sack. He also got held badly on another play that wasn’t called and had another good looking outside rush that forced the quarterback to throw the ball away. But he didn’t play as well against the rookie right tackle as expected. DT Cornelius Griffin has not stepped it up yet this preseason. I liked the athleticism he flashed in chasing Mark Brunell outside of the pocket on one play, but he was getting stymied too much at the line of scrimmage. I do like his effort. DT Keith Hamilton was too quiet. He forced one holding call that brought back a big play. DE Cedric Scott didn’t make much noise (he was facing All-Pro Tony Boselli), but I thought he showed good hustle and certainly didn’t look out of place. He has great size for an end. Nevertheless, the Jags were able to run the ball a bit in his direction in the first quarter.
Kenny Holmes (knee) and Ryan Hale (ankle) did not play. I really liked the work of back-up defensive tackles Ross Kolodziej and Lance Legree again. Both made a number of plays against the run and flashed on the pass rush. Some of Ross’ efforts came against the first string line of Jacksonville too. If you ask me, right now both look like steals. DE Frank Ferrara was a factor. He forced one holding call that called back a touchdown and slammed into the quarterback on two other occasions. Frank certainly out-performed Cedric Pittman in the pass rush department.
Linebackers: Brandon Short certainly doesn’t look out of place. His crushing hit on the quarterback for a sack was pretty inspiring (though he was unblocked on the play). But there were a few plays that showed that he still is learning. He got suckered on the reverse where Garnes’ strip saved the day. I also spotted him getting pinched inside on a right-side run. Short also still looks a little awkward to me in pass coverage.
I love the way MLB Mike Barrow plays. Even in the preseason, he has fire in his belly. Smartly, Defensive Coordinator John Fox has recognized his ability as a pass rusher and no longer hesitates to send him. When the Giants need a play, Barrow is usually blitzed.
The Jags were able to run on Jessie Armstead some. He got caught too far inside on Taylor’s big run to the left in short-yardage. It’s tough to get a good read on Jessie as one gets the sense that he doesn’t take the preseason that seriously.
As for the reserves, I thought Jack Golden played a very poor game. He badly missed an open field tackle that directly led to the biggest offensive play by Jacksonville of the night. He also looked pretty bad in coverage. To his credit, he showed well on two blitzes where he almost got to the quarterback. The guy who stood out more this week was Kevin Lewis. Kevin did a great job of sniffing out a screen pass as well as defending the pass on two occasions. Dhani Jones was quiet this week..
Defensive Backs: CB Jason Sehorn (knee) and CB Will Peterson (knee) did not play. CB Emmanuel McDaniel looked a bit shaky to me again this week. While he forced his man close to the sideline on a deep pass early, he never looked back for the ball and was lucky the pass was thrown out-of-bounds. He also fell down on another chance that led to an easy completion.
CB Will Allen was up-and-down; he’s learning. Allen looks like the kind of guy who you will never beat deep, but who needs to play a bit more aggressively against the underneath stuff. He did a great job of cutting off one deep route. On two shorter routes that were completed in front of him, he whiffed badly on one tackle and made a nice solid hit on another. CB Ralph Brown did a great job staying with a speed receiver on a deep pass. One guy who is starting to impress me is Kelly Herndon. Herndon did a nice job of reading the quarterback and coming up with an interception. He also looked sharp providing close coverage on a slant.
SS Sam Garnes was fortunate to punch the ball out of the receiver’s hand on a reverse that had big yardage written all over it. Garnes whiffed on the tackle but managed to tap the ball out just as the ball carrier passed him. Omar Stoutmire did a great job of timing a run blitz and making a sure, ankle tackle in the backfield. FS Clarence LeBlanc made a spectacular interception on the sideline, but the play was called back due to defensive holding on Will Allen. DeWayne Patton made a head’s up play by recovering a fumble. SS Emile White did a good job staying stride-for-stride with a receiver on a deep pattern – if he had picked up the ball, he might have intercepted it. He later forced an incompletion with a big hit on the intended target.
Special Teams: Some good news; some bad. First the good. Rodney Williams looks like a real player as a punter. He boomed his kicks all night with height and distance. If the Giants’ coverage teams had gotten their heads out of their collective asses, he also would have had two downed inside the 10 yard line (including one on the one yard line). In addition, his free kick after the safety must have gone about 70 yards. Jaret Holmes also looked very good. He had one kick-off go into the endzone and one right to the goalline. His two field goal attempts were perfect – right down the middle with plenty of room to spare, including a 45 yarder. PK John Markham did not attempt a field goal, but was poor on his kick-off attempt. Did the Giants even bother to scout this guy? If so, whoever wrote the positive report should have his eyes examined.
The bad news was the atrocious kick-off and punt coverage. For all the booming kicks and punts, the coverage men had plenty of time to get in the picture. Too many tackles were missed by men who did not bring themselves under control first. On kick-offs, there were a couple of returns where no one was in the picture as the returner easily ran up the sideline unmolested. This is inexcusable – especially given all the time the Giants are spending on this in practice.
Will Allen had a nice looking 23 yard punt return where he showed off his speed and explosiveness. Pat Woodcock made a bonehead play by fair catching a punt with no coverage man in the picture. Rodney Williams had a punt blocked when Clayton White let his man run right up the middle and up-back Omar Stoutmire didn’t pick him up.
by David Oliver
Hey, this was an enjoyable game to watch. Opening day is always special for me. When I worked for the Government, I used to love flying back into Dulles Airport. Most people don’t realize the missions and adventures of designated “civilians” who go out of the country for any number of “official” and some “unofficial” purposes. The Customs and INS agents at Dulles know as soon as they see that Government passport, that the individual may have had a rough trip, been in some pretty bad situations, may be pretty tense. I had a few of those in my time. So when you hit Dulles and that official checks you in, looks in your eyes, and says, “welcome home, sir”, there is no feeling like it. The tension, the pain, the tiredness, the fear all disappear in an instant.
So is it on that first visit back to Giants Stadium. This summer, in particular, has been stressful for many reasons, but walking into and through the tunnel, greeting and being greeted by the security guards, walking around the field and shaking hands with them, “Hello, Counselor”, “Hey, what do you think of the new arrangements?’ “How was the off season?’ “How is Mom?” Well, it’s not much different than that entry into Dulles. It is a warm fuzzy; it is home. I have two connections left with NJ, to the past, Mom and the Giants. Tough as this business is, and every year it becomes harder to make the commitment, it is hard to replace that feeling of welcome; these are friends, in a loose sense, this turf is my little place in the world now. Like returning to school, all the fotogs catch up with each other, who’s here this year, who’s not and why? What’s been happening, a quick Babe check, and a look at the new crop of players.
A Super Bowl appearance changes things. The team appears more relaxed, but at the same time, more resolute. It is more professional. These young boys are growing into men and the men are becoming elder counselors. The coaches seem to have concluded their Vulcan mind meld, and they interact more as one instead of individual units. Sean Payton has the look in his eyes that he’s got it down, now. Jim McNally, well, he always look hassled this time of the year as he has to get this group of behemoths thinking and playing together. John Fox knows this one is for the next level, in so many ways. Johnnie Lynn is having some fun as he has a good unit and some nice personal prospects for the future. Denny Marcin has been there, done that, his expression never changes and the Baron now realizes that he has entered the Augean stables of professional football – he is the Special Teams Coach of the NY Giants.
The seating arrangement – looks great for whoever gets the seats, real pain in the ass for us on the field. With the TV camera rolling around like some misplaced siege machine, the restricted area being moved back another couple of yards, and the hyperactive paranoia of the NFL blossoming like the locust cycle, it’s going to be crowded down there. Everyone takes notice of the blonde in the Simms jersey who will sing the Anthem, the teams run through a perfunctory practice, then game time. As the Anthem is sung, the teams stretch out from the bench, each player locked into his own personal space. As I said in a thread last night, I am standing behind JoMo (Joe Montgomery) and Sean Bennett, next to each other, twin careers entwined in frustration. Joe keeps his spirits up; Bennett is riding this latest injury out. I wonder what Omar Bacon, Anthony Green and Lloyd Clemons are thinking as they look at these two – their one, slim to none chance at the big time is riding on these two standing on the sidelines.
The game itself was eerie in its simplicity and ease. Is this the same team that I followed in last week’s threads, playing sloppily against the Pats? The City of Albany must have put something in the water last week because these guys had no real trouble with a jacked up Jaguar team, and don’t kid yourselves about it, the Jags knew it. There were no individual standouts on the front seven of the Giants but they pistol-whipped the Jags front line. The Jags were confused and frustrated. Boselli did a good job, but he was King Canute against the entire Giants package. Incidentally, Tony Brackens was much more slender than I thought and when he stood around the offensive linemen, he looked more like a receiver than a line stalwart. The Jags have a lineman named Long, who really looked more like Goliath from my angle – keep an eye on him.
What can I say? The Giants actually looked like a Super Bowl team. Sure #28 (Taylor) had some yardage, but not significant enough to diminish the effort. At times it looked as if there were 8 or 9 D-Backs on the field because the passing lanes for Mark Brunell were crowded. Brandon Short looked real good and Mike Barrow looked terrific. The defense was rotating nicely, there was good play recognition and there was some considerable energy out there. This to me is the significance in pre-season – play recognition, not individual performance. The Giants were not fooled and they were not physically driven off the ball or out muscled. So, I saw a lot of defensive positives. And, Coach Fox was sending the dogs, which I like to see. In last night’s game, the Titans and Rams, Madden made the comment that the new Rams d coordinator, from Tamp Bay, had put in a system where the front seven just moved, no read and react, more go get them. I like that defensive style. Coach Fox uses a modified system, but if last night was any indication, Ray Lewis really pissed these guys off and we are going to see some Giant charges this year. We are apt to see any of the 11 out there in the backfield at any time.
Interestingly enough, this trend continued with the Giants #2 unit against the Jags #2 unit. Omar Stoutmire looked particularly impressive. He was a starter quality player on the field with and against legit back ups. Lance Legree deserves a shot. He looks better than our former tackle/end (now with the Colts, from Duke who ended Brian Williams career), and as I said on another thread reminded me of John Mendenhall. Frankie Ferrara has the biggest heart on the field. His motor is still running. He knows his deficiencies; the tackle catches him up too much. But Howard Cross and Coach Oliver are working with him. All you guys writing him off – not so fast. He is one good move away from the team. Like all good fastball throwers, he needs that slider to make him a pitcher. I’m losing my mind waiting to get a look at Adriano Belli. His chances are ebbing away and that’s a shame, because he’s a bigger Frankie – lot’s of intensity, good physical tools. Ross Kolodziej probably makes the team as a draftee with some skills – I just don’t see the comparisons to Christian Peter, but I’ll watch more closely next game.
The safeties are where the play has landed this year. Last year, the Giants were a safety deficient team after the first three. The scouts have done a marvelous job. Emile White not only hits, he covers; Clarence LeBlanc not only hits, he has hands; and DeWayne Patmon is a booming cruncher. Special teams may decide who gets to play the regular team and who plays the scout team. I’d be comfortable with any or all of these guys.
The #1 unit offense was deceptively tuned. Kerry looked great; he even looked off on a couple of throws. Dayne is in his early season form. Comella made some nice catches – his problem is that he doesn’t get the ball often enough and when he gets it, he isn’t always running like Tiki, so he gets popped by the D-Backs. The Giants need to give him more of the plays designed for Bennett, flow plays where he can get the ball on the move. He may not break many, but 8 to 15 yards a play wouldn’t be so bad. Joe Jurevicius looked good; he can get open but doesn’t seem relaxed enough, yet. He fights the ball even on his good catches. He is a tough, middle distance, sideline-to-sideline receiver. I’d like to see them stretch his range about 10 more yards down field. Thabiti Davis had a drop, got angry with himself, and then came back as his usual steady self. Pat Woodcock had both a drop, then a nice catch. He’s good, but not Coors Light good. Barring injury, he just isn’t ready for Prime Time, but may be a candidate for the Practice Squad. Well, I’m into the second unit so let’s talk Jonathan Carter – similar trajectory to Dixon – the kid can motor and he did well with the long pass coming over his head. He promises some excitement and has me wanting to see more.
I’m just not sold on Dan Campbell yet – certainly not as anything more than a situational pass receiver and his blocking is often very quiet. He is good on a push down the line, less impressive in picking up tacklers in runs around end. Marcellus Rivers still shows some nice hands. He’s not afraid to go get it, but he is a real soft blocker. The lack of a real stand out tight end only accentuates the need for a big blocking full back. This is the most glaring need for the G-Men – either a blocking tight end who can catch or a blocking fullback (hands are nice, but that Comella’s specialty).
The O-Line had some confusion late in the game when the #3 unit was on the field, but there are some prospects here. I still like Rich Seubert and think his overall performance was good, which is better than not bad or bad. Chris Ziemann is a big, lumbering kid, whose forte is strength. He’s not quite mobile yet, but he’s stronger than Lurch and has more presence. Finally got a close look at Josh Warner – physical presence, I can see why they are giving him a look. I thought Chris Bober did a decent job; here’s the rub – Bober or Scott Kiernan? This is going to be interesting.
Linebackers: Both Jack Golden and Dhani Jones were frustrated with their play. This is good because I didn’t see anything out there to make me think less of either’s potential. Kelly Herndon shows up again.
Jessie James Palmer looked real nice out there. Handled the rush well, found his receivers; he looks comfortable and he looks big time which is far more than you can ask from many young QBs. Jason Garrett steady, but don’t ask him to throw the deep out, he’s more a Billy Kilmer type; it may get ugly, but he is efficient. Gosh, that sounds like describing a blind date to your best friend, well, she’s not glamorous, but she sure has personality. OK, that sells for a lot of folks, as most of us aren’t real glamorous. That’s Garrett, he’s not Joe Unitas, but neither is he Glynn or Jerry or a whole slew of guys who have been here.
Finally, the kicking game. The kickers looked decent. Rodney was booming his kicks; the blocked punt was a breakaway – strangely enough, I didn’t see it because I was focusing on the middle three – I had seen something I didn’t like and I just had one of those feelings. One of the kickoffs came down on the 10 but most went deeper; there was some wind, so it’s hard to say what the real deal is without more looking. Jaret Holmes showed some foot in his FGs also. He seems to be fairly popular with the players, so it looks as if John Markham has his work cut out.
Overall, this was a positive game. It gave the coaches an opportunity to see some prospects, to get a good look at some guys who will be leaving soon and it showed Jim Fassel could still motivate his guys. I feel a lot more comfortable, now, but let’s see what happens with the Jets, which is always the game that decides careers for both teams. Don’t be fooled – players who look good in this game will be here in September and those who don’t, won’t.