New York Giants 22 – New England Patriots 19
Game Overview: It was a good win. Not that winning is all that important in the preseason – though it makes us fans certainly feel a lot better about our team. More importantly, there were continued signs that the offensive line just may be decent this year (especially if they can get all the parts healthy and on the field together) and that Kerry Collins may have a solid year. RB/H-Back Sean Bennett was impressive despite a fumble. On defense, relatively inexperienced players such as Will Allen, Will Peterson, Dhani Jones, and Brandon Short look like they will be just fine. There also appears to be better (albeit inexperienced) depth on defense this year.
The problem spot remains special teams.
As for the new players or roster hopefuls, TE Jeremy Shockey, MLB Nick Greisen, WLB Wesley Mallard, and SLB Quincy Monk played well among the draft picks. There were flashes from such players as DE Frank Ferrara, DT Lance Legree, DT Matt Mitrione, DT/DE Dwight Johnson, S DeWayne Patmon, WR Derek Dorris, and HB Antonio Warren.
Quarterbacks: Kerry Collins (5/6 for 84 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions) has looked sharp thus far in the preseason. He has only two incompletions in limited playing time (and the one incompletion in this game resulted from a tipped ball at the line of scrimmage). He made one risky throw against Houston in the Hall of Fame Game, but has been most making very good decisions and throwing the ball with good accuracy and velocity. My favorite play of his against the Pats was the touchdown pass to Toomer. It wasn’t the actual throw that impressed me (though it was excellent), but the superb play-action fake to Dayne on the play. On top of that, he did a good job of avoiding on oncoming rusher and stepping up into the pocket, then delivering an accurate deep strike. I hope we see more of that from Collins. I’ve said it a hundred times, I’ll say it again. This team will go as far as team health and Kerry Collins takes it.
Jesse Palmer (13/19 for 124 yards, 0 touchdowns, 1 interception) had some rough moments, but seems to be becoming more comfortable with the speed of the NFL game. Palmer came into the game near the beginning of the second quarter. His first series was inauspicious as he was pressured into an incompletion on his first throw and on 3rd-and-12 he chose to throw the ball to the well-covered Jonathan Carter instead of the wide open Jeremy Shockey. However, the ball did hit Carter in the hands (he dropped it). On his next series, he found Ron Dayne in the flat for a 12-yard gain. The Pats then well-defense a flat pass to Delvin Joyce for a 2 yard loss. On 3rd-and-16, Palmer was sacked.
Palmer got his next shot with 2:07 left in the first half. Facing many New England starting defensive backs, he led the Giants on 7-play, 62-yard touchdown drive that put New York up 14-10. On 2nd-and-10, Jesse threw a very nice seam pass to WR Derek Dorris for big yardage (32 yards). Quick passes to Dorris (10 yards), Bennett (7 yards), Shockey (8 yards), and Dixon (4 yards), put New York on the 1-yard line and Ron Dayne took over from there. Palmer looked very cool and composed on this drive.
In the second half, I liked the way for the most part that Palmer took what the defense gave him and repeatedly hit the open man underneath the coverage (usually Sean Bennett). Palmer was not jittery at all and looked very much in command of the situation, despite sporadic pass protection. He can really wing the ball in there despite tight coverage. The one big mistake was a deep pass to Ron Dixon that Palmer threw too far to the inside and was intercepted.
Jason Garrett played in the fourth quarter. For some reason, I’m never nervous when Garrett is in the game. He looks so calm, cool, and collected that you get the feeling that he will never lose a game for you. Obviously, he isn’t much of a deep passer, but he keeps the chains moving with his short throws and always seems to make the right decision. I liked the way he looked off the safety to the right before hitting Jonathan Carter on an out to the left.
Wide Receivers: Amani Toomer (2 catches for 41 yards and touchdown) and Ike Hilliard (1 catch for 7 yards) are the unquestioned starters and are merely using the preseason to get into rhythm. Both of these guys have a nice rapport with Collins. Toomer did a good job of splitting the two deep coverage on 34-yard touchdown pass from Collins.
Due to injuries to Tim Carter and Daryl Jones, and his solid performance against Houston, Jonathan Carter seems to be the only one right now vying with Ron Dixon for the 3rd receiving spot. Jonathan caught one pass for 10 yards against the Patriots, but also dropped one deeper pass from Palmer in traffic on 3rd down. Ron Dixon had two catches for 10 yards (one being an important 6-yard reception from Palmer on 3rd-and-4). Still, I was hoping for more of a statement from him. The good news is that he continues to do well as a blocker on running plays.
Derek Dorris, an after-thought, made a much bigger contribution than Carter and Dixon. He caught three passes for 50 yards, including the key 32-yarder mentioned above where he demonstrated excellent concentration. Dorris also made a nice catch on a short, 8-yard slant. He’s a tall receiver with some fluidity.
Tim Carter played but Fassel said he was still being bothered by the injury to his side. The thing that really impressed me about Tim Carter is his physique. For a wideout, he has massive arms, reminiscent of Sterling Sharpe and David Boston. Sean Riley had a 6-yard reception on 3rd-and-2, but I don’t see how this diminutive receiver can make the team given all of the competition.
Tight Ends: TE Jeremy Shockey (2 catches for 39 yards) continues to shine in the receiving department. He made a huge play on the Giants’ first scoring drive by getting down the deep middle of the field for a 31-yard reception. How long has it been since the Giants have had a tight end who could threaten the deep middle of the field? It is also obvious that opposing defensive backs have already become wary of tackling the big guy. Shockey still does need to improve in the blocking department. He was flagged with holding on an obvious take-down on a Ron Dayne outside run to the right. He’s no Mark Bavaro as a blocker, although he should develop into a good one.
Dan Campbell’s role is pretty much defined on this team – that of a jack-of-all trades blocker. Campbell lines up all over the place – stationary tight end, move tight end (or H-Back), fullback, etc. How well his performs in this role will largely determine how successful the ground game is, especially on runs outside of the tackles.
Marcellus Rivers needs to start making some plays in the passing game to stick on this roster – especially with Darnell Dinkins being switched to tight end after the game. Rivers had a shot to make a statement with Palmer’s 3rd-and-12 strike down the middle of the field, but he couldn’t hold on to what would have been a nice catch with the defender all over him. Rivers is doing a better job of getting in the way of defenders on running plays, but he is never going to be a root-them-out type; he needs to work to sustain better on these blocks instead. He did have a couple of decent blocks. However, he was also flagged with a false start.
Offensive Line: The Giants had to scramble on the OL in this game due to the injuries to Luke Petitgout (headaches) and Dusty Zeigler (knee). From left to right, the starting line-up was Chris Bober, Rich Seubert, Jason Whittle, Tam Hopkins, and Mike Rosenthal. If Luke had played, Bober would have been at center and Whittle at right guard.
BBI offensive line expert Chris Jacobs has presented some of his own views on their performance (see his review below). My general impression was that this line did a good job against a Super Bowl-caliber defensive team. The stats from this game don’t show it due to some individual breakdowns (that can be corrected), but this line is much more physical and stronger than last year’s line. There were 2-3 plays where the front five drove the entire Pats’ defensive line off of the line of scrimmage – something that never happened last year. Also, aside from a few breakdowns, the pass protection was pretty good – especially on Palmer’s last minute touchdown drive right before halftime. Now for some individual observations…
For his first start at left tackle, I thought Chris Bober did a fine job. He is a physical run blocker and he generally kept his man at bay on pass protection. His feet are not ideal and he does have to be careful to keep his feet moving on those quick outside charges against his left shoulder, but he does have the strength to shove his man wide of the pocket.
The interior trio of Rich Seubert, Jason Whittle, and Tam Hopkins got good movement on most interior running plays. But Hopkins whiffed on DT Bernard Holsey on a 3rd-and-1 play on the first drive, causing Dayne to be nailed in the backfield from the backside. If Hopkins makes this block, Dayne has room to run through a big hole to the left. But it is clear that both Seubert and Hopkins can drive block (I won’t get a good read on Whittle until he moves back to right guard). Seubert made a nice trap block on a neat, quick-hitting running play to Sean Bennett out of passing formation that picked up eight yards (Mike Rosenthal got a great block on this play as well). Whittle was responsible for two pass pressures that led to busted plays. His man beat him on a 2nd-and-12 play on Palmer’s first series, leading to an incompletion (though to be fair, this COULD have been a screw-up by Seubert in not adjusting properly to a blitz situation). On the next drive, Whittle got beat again on 3rd-and-16 and Palmer was forced to scramble (and was sacked). Tam Hopkins also had some problems in pass protection on a play in this latter series.
I still can’t get a good feel for Rosenthal. At times, he does very well and drives his opponent back, creating running room. But there was also a frustrating play (the one Shockey was called for holding) where he was called to kick out on the defensive back. He got there, but didn’t take out the DB, who scrapped off of the block and tackled Dayne for no gain. Rosenthal hasn’t gotten beat for any sacks yet in the preseason, but he has been successfully bull-rushed back into the pocket. I wonder if he is playing with proper leverage. The good news is the man can drive block.
My intent was to chronicle the trials and tribulations of the second team offensive line, but halfway through the second half of the game, it dawned on me that none of these guys really look like players to me. I’m talking about tackles Ryan Deterding and Andy Stensrud; guards Pat Crummey, Vincent Sandoval, and Sean O’Connor; and center Omar Smith. None of these guys really flash to me. There were too many breakdowns in pass protection and not enough solid run blocking at the point-of-attack. Deterding spends too much time on the ground, Stensrud doesn’t get enough movement for a strongside tackle, Crummey is too small, Sandoval is often bull-rushed, and O’Connor had too many negative plays while both pass and run blocking. Maybe there is something to work with with respect to Smith – I don’t know. Perhaps there is a diamond in the rough there I don’t see (similar to Chris Bober or Jason Whittle of previous years). But my gut says no. I’d be somewhat comfortable with Rosenthal, Hopkins, and Jeff Hatch as the primary back-ups, but the problem is that Hatch hasn’t practiced at all. I think the Giants need to pick up another lineman or two from the waiver wire.
Running Backs: After looking at the stats, I was ready to crucify Ron Dayne (7 carries for 11 yards and a touchdown, 1 catch for 12 yards). But Dayne did not run poorly in my opinion. He ran pretty darn aggressively between the tackles against a very tough run defense. His first run picked up 4 yards behind good move from the right side of the line. But on 3rd-and-1, he was nailed in the backfield when Hopkins missed a block. He then picked up 5 and 3 yards right up the gut behind solid run blocking on the second series. This helped to set up the deep play-action passes to Shockey and Toomer. In the second quarter, an outside run to the left was well-defensed by the Pats and a free man tackled Dayne for a two yard loss. Likewise, he had nowhere to go on a right-side run later in the quarter – you have to give credit to the opposing team too. On his last carry in the first half, the Pats won the battle at the line of scrimmage on 2nd-and-goal and stood up Ron, but to his credit Dayne kept pushing forward and leaned into the endzone. It was excellent display of his power. One final note, this was the second game in a row where the Giants threw the ball to Dayne with positive results. The Giants need to do more of this to keep opposing defenses from loading up against him on running plays.
Sean Bennett (8 carries for 32 yards) played a very strong game, marred by a critical fumble during a promising drive in the third quarter. I liked the quick hitter they ran with him out of a pass formation for eight yards – it caught the defense by surprise. This is where Bennett can help the Giants because sooner or later he is going to break a play like this due to his speed. Sean ran tougher between the tackles than I’ve seen him ever do and he still looks sharp on his outside runs (as usual). Bennett also continued to show great hands as receiver (6 catches for 56 yards). What was somewhat new to me was the moves he used after the catch. There were 3 or 4 receptions where Bennett made the first guy miss with a move or by breaking through a tackle and picking up vital yardage after the catch for first downs. Very impressive.
One of the stars of the game was Antonio Warren. This is the first time I got a chance to watch him play and I came away very impressed. It is difficult to defend the assertion that Warren showed more in his limited playing time than Dayne has. Warren lacks Dayne’s size, but he isn’t small. Plus, he appears to have excellent vision, cutbacks extremely well, and has an impressive burst through the hole. If Dayne wasn’t a first round draft pick and the prestige of Accorsi wasn’t tied up with him, I wonder where Dayne would be on the depth chart after this game. The specifics. On his first run, Warren picked up 4 yards over the left guard. Two plays later he exploded up a good hole, behind a good block from Charles Stackhouse, for 17 yards. On the next play, he cut up behind a so-so block from Stackhouse in tight quarters for 6 yards – an impressive run due to his ability to see the small crease and cutback into it. His next three runs didn’t pick up much as the blocking wasn’t there. His next touch was a spectacular play. Sweeping to the right from the Pats’ 30-yard line, Warren appeared pinned against the sidelines by two tacklers in the backfield. He stopped on a dime, reversed direction and started angling for the left pylon all the way across the field. As the entire New England defense chased, many having the angle on him, he cut back against the grain again to the right and left all 11 defenders in his dust for the touchdown. It was as good a run as I’ve ever seen a New York Giant make, regardless of the caliber of competition. Warren then showed his outside running ability on the successful 2-point conversion attempt.
I really like the way FB Darian Barnes plays. He just launches himself as a lead blocker on running plays and always seems to make contact. He wasn’t as dominating this week as I saw him get stood up by a bigger linebacker on the play where Bennett fumbled. A Pats’ defender also shook off his lead block on the goalline play to Dayne for a touchdown. However, on most plays, he still made good contact and really works to sustain his block. The thing that sticks out to me is his athleticism. He gets to his man pretty quick. He also looks to have good hands (another catch this week).
Charles Stackhouse played much more this week and didn’t look bad. He had a couple of nice blocks, leading Warren through the hole and on the successful 2-point conversion. However, there were a couple of attempted blocks that went for naught (including the 3rd-and-5 play when the Giants were attempting to run out the clock). Also, he just doesn’t seem as fast or naturally explosive to me as Barnes. And Barnes also works to sustain better.
Defensive Line: DT Keith Hamilton did not play due a family illness; Ross Kolodziej started in his place. This type of change has a dramatic impact on the entire line as the opposition doesn’t have to focus their energies on Hamilton, one of the better defensive tackles in the game.
It is interesting to note that the Pats came out throwing and not running – that’s the way to beat the Giants – to throw on them early and then come back with the run. There wasn’t much of a pass rush from the starting front four, but to be fair, the Pats ran mostly 3- and 5-step drops where Tom Brady got rid of the ball extremely quickly. On some of these plays it was virtually impossible to get a pass rush started. DE Michael Strahan did get a couple of pressures that I spotted on a quick throw – which shows you how badly he beat his man (I think the fans that want to see Strahan off this team are nuts). DE Kenny Holmes had another uninspiring performance. He wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t good either. DT Ross Kolodziej wasn’t terrible, but he did have some problems at the point-of-attack on running plays. Kolodziej did a nice job of sniffing out a screen pass (with Dhani Jones) in the second quarter. Still, I came away mostly disappointed because he played a lot and didn’t do much with his playing time. DT Cornelius Griffin was quiet.
As for the reserves, I thought Lance Legree played very well. He was stout at the point-of-attack (including an excellent run defense where he met the back at the line) and made three excellent pass rushes (two on Huard, one on Davey). He did a good job of reading a screen pass and chasing the play down from behind.
I’ve also been pleasantly surprised by the play of DE Frank Ferrara this preseason. He was very active against the run and is the Giants most consistent pass rusher among the reserves. A lot of BBI‘ers have written off Ferrara, but he’s starting to look more and more the part of an adequate reserve. He made the huge defensive play of the game by smartly reading a screen pass and dropping back to intercept the ball instead of blindly rushing the passer. This play set up the Warren TD run.
DE Cedric Scott has been frustrating. He looks like an all-world football player with his physique, but his productivity on the field has been lacking. Cedric still has problems disengaging from blocks quickly both as a run defender and pass rusher. He had a couple of decent pass rushes late in the second quarter. Still, it is important to remember that he is green and still learning his trade.
The third team defensive tackles were Matt Mitrione and DT/DE Dwight Johnson and I thought both of these guys played well. Johnson looks more comfortable to me at tackle than end. He combined with Cedric Scott on an excellent run stop on 3rd-and-1 in the third quarter. Johnson later combined with Quincy Monk to nail the running back for a 1-yard loss.
Things didn’t start off well for Mitrione when I spotted him getting turned at the point-of-attack on a running play. But after that it was almost all positive. Mitrione will never be an athletic pass rusher, but he does have a decent bull rush and he is as persistent as a bulldog. He doesn’t give up. For the second game in a row, he also picked up his second sack (though his sack dance leaves much to be desired). It was Mitrione’s fast pass pressure that contributed to Ferrara’s interception.
DT Brad Harris made a nice play against an inside run, but was also flagged with a stupid and costly 15-yard personal foul penalty.
Linebackers: This was the starting debut of Dhani Jones and I thought he played well. He was around the ball quite a bit and in some formations, actually was the de facto middle linebacker. He did a good job of filling the hole and tackling the runner for no gain on the second play of the game. He later sniffed out a screen pass – a good sign for a young linebacker. I spotted him smashing into Tom Brady on a blitz that forced an incompletion – he looked very explosive on this play. Dhani did miss one tackle however. I was surprised to see how well SLB Brandon Short was staying with a tight end or back down the field in the first quarter…this bodes well for the G-Men.
As for the reserves, Quincy Monk was a bit up-and-down, but he looked better to me this week. In the first half, there was one play where he successfully strung out a strongside run; however, a few snaps later he got handled on a similar play. He also got beat in the flat by FB Mark Edwards. In the second half, there was a superb play where he stuffed the lead block, shed the blocker, and stuffed the running back. Monk later combined with Johnson the aforementioned 1-yard loss.
MLB Nick Greisen has a nose for the football. Like the other two, he seems to be around the action a lot and runs much faster than his timed speed. I like the way he hustled down the line of scrimmage on the play that Monk strung out. Wes Mallard is a fast sucker. On the other play where Monk got handled, he flew down behind the line to limit the carry to a 4-yard gain. Occasionally, you see both these guys being a bit over-anxious and not breaking down and tackling correctly.
Kevin Lewis looked a bit awkward to me in coverage on one play in the second quarter where the receiver picked up 15 yards in his zone. However, he made a couple of excellent plays in the second half. First he did a good job of holding a receiver 1-yard short of the first down on 3rd-and-8. Then he made a real nice play against the run at the point-of-attack in the 4th quarter. Don’t count him out of the picture just yet.
Defensive Backs: I was really impressed with the play of Will Allen in this game. The Pats came out throwing the ball, often spreading things out and trying to create favorable mismatches. On New England’s second drive, Tom Brady threw a very quick pass to Deion Branch – a quick, impressive looking rookie – but Allen came up to make a very sure tackle for a minimal gain. A few plays later Allen had superb coverage on David Patten on a deep fly pattern and almost came up with the interception (Patten had to play defensive back on the play). Allen did give up a 17-yard completion on 3rd-and-3 on the same drive; he had tight coverage on the play – Patten simply made an excellent grab. Will Peterson performed well except for the first play of the game. The Pats threw deep on him and Will didn’t adjust well to an underthrown ball. The play picked up 62 yards and set up a field goal.
Things didn’t start off well for Ralph Brown when he was beat by Branch on a crossing route for a first down on 3rd-and-6. In the second quarter, Brown made a couple of excellent plays. The first was a run force where he upended the back. The second was tight coverage on Donald Hayes. Hayes is much bigger than Brown, yet it was Brown who almost came up with the ball. In the second half, he did a fantastic job of defending a screen pass and preventing a first down. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Brown had excellent coverage on a deep pass and looked to be in position to intercept, but he misjudged a ball that sailed on him a bit and hence mistimed his leap. A 46-yard reception resulted.
I continue to be uninspired by the remaining corners. David Mitchell gave up 6-yard catch in the second quarter and then got beat for a 4-yard touchdown on a fade pass where he failed to turn around and look for the ball. He later got beat for 11-yards on 2nd-and-2 at the end of the third quarter.
SS Shaun Williams looked good against the run on an outside running play. FS Omar Stoutmire did a good job of staying with the receiver on a short toss in front of him and making the tackle.
I thought S Ryan Clark demonstrated some nice coverage ability despite giving up a few receptions. He did a good job of knocking away a 3rd-and-7 pass in the first quarter (when all of the starters were in there). He had real tight coverage on Branch on a crossing route, but Branch made a superb bobbling reception despite Clark being all over him. Clark did get beat by Branch on a sideline route for 16 yards on 3rd-and-3; he also was in the area of the 15-yard reception that helped to set up the final field goal right before halftime. Late in the game, he put a big hit on a receiver that had found the soft spot in the zone. He also knocked away the 3rd-and-14 pass in the endzone late in the 4th quarter.
Special Teams: It was hard to get a good read on the coverage units due to the inconsistent kicking and punting of Owen Pochman and Rodney Williams, respectively. Pochman’s kickoffs landed at the 2, out of bounds (out to the 40), 14, and 4. Obviously, the second and third kicks are unacceptable. Williams got off punts of 40 (nice directional punt), 44 yards (good punt), 39 yards (a low directional punt that could have been better), 23 yards (terrible), and 38 yards (so-so). Both were too inconsistent and put too much pressure on still struggling coverage units.
The coverage on the first kick-off was not bad as the Giants stopped the returner at the 24-yard line (this coming on the kickoff to the 2-yard line). The kickoff to the 14 yard line was taken out to the 49 (a 35-yard return) as DeWayne Patmon and Tim Carter got handled (and who knows who else). The kick-off to the 4-yard line was returned 35 yards to the 39. Nobody was in the picture on the left side of the field and the returner had a huge hole to run through. Not acceptable.
On punt coverage, coverage on the first two returns was good. Branch was held to 6 yards on the first return (though Quincy Monk was illegally downfield on the play); and Branch was held to 2 yards on the next return (nice open field tackle by Monk). The next two punts went out of bounds (39 yards and 23 yards). Williams’ last punt was returned 10 yards by Kevin Faulk. This last punt demonstrated the frustration of the special teams unit. Williams had done an excellent job of punting the ball out at the 9 yard line. However, Darian Barnes was flagged for illegal procedure. The next punt was returned to the 29 yard line – a difference in 20 yards of field position. Gabe Lindstrom had one punt for 37 yards. On this play Darnell Dinkins obliterated Faulk for no gain. It was as good a specials hit as I’ve ever seen and had me jacked up. In summary, the punt coverage was decent when the punting was decent and it was an improvement overall from last week.
In the return game, no one has come close to breaking one. Jonathan Carter had one nice return last game on kick-off returns. Ron Dixon had the first return in this game and while he did a nice job of picking up 22 yards, there was too much dancing on the return. Dixon needs to pick a seam and go – not dance looking for a hole. Tim Carter had the next return but could only pick up 14 yards. On the next return, Jonathan Carter could only manage 17 yards, but did bring the ball out to the 30. The last kick-off was returned by Antonio Warren for only 12 yards.
Punt returns. Delvin Joyce looked decent picking up returns of 11 and 8 yards. Antonio Warren picked up 7 and 0. I’m hearing that the punt return job still belongs to Daryl Jones.
Pochman missed a 37-yard field goal wide to the right. The snap from Jody Littleton was not good. In addition, there was a penalty on the play. What else could go wrong? Fassel just buried his head in hands.
Offensive Line Review
by Chris Jacobs
Chris Bober: Looked pretty good, particularly run blocking. Still has a problem moving his feet sometimes pass blocking and tries to keep his man up at the LOS (line of scrimmage) instead of riding him outside. Needs to work on that footwork, besides that he seems like he’s as strong as an ox.
Rich Seubert: Another bull, just a mauler. Didn’t see any negatives except for when the Pats ran a twist stunt.
Jason Whittle: Did a decent job a center, gets some push on his run blocking and did a good job on pass protection, there was one play where he was beat and Palmer was flushed out and made it back to the LOS. All around I’d say good job.
Tam Hopkins: Really a surprise. I like him. Explosive off the ball right at the snap, seems to get off the line quick and get into his man before he has a chance. Pass pro OK, not great but adequate. Has a shot at the starting position depending on how this thing pans out.
Mike Rosenthal: I wouldn’t say terrible, but bad. Well, how about not good. Never impressed me and didn’t impress me Saturday night. On a couple of running plays his first step was actually backwards, ugh. On the nice pass to Shockey in the second series, good thing Collins got rid of it right away because the Pats ran a stunt, Rosey stood straight up and got bull rushed right into Collins. Next play he almost got beat on the TD pass to Toomer, again the quick release of Collins saved him. As the game progressed he settled a little bit but all in all I’d say his footwork isn’t great and he seems to be off balance too much, he seems like he’s either too high and gets bull rushed or too low and falls down. I read a post where someone said he drove his man 5 yards down field on a Dayne run. Not exactly. The DT was trying to scrape off of him to make the tackle. Don’t get me wrong, he did a nice job of staying with the block, but he didn’t drive the guy down field. My opinion is he would be an adequate backup but not starter material. I hate to say this about anyone, but he reminded me a little of Scott Gragg without the false starts.
Here’s another general observation, something in the back of all our minds we worried about. They obviously haven’t been playing together and there seems to be some bad communication up front. Or they’re just confused by some of the stunts up front. I noticed this in the Houston game too. When there’s a stunt up front, some guys aren’t staying home and it’s creating lanes for guys to come free. It hasn’t been disastrous yet, but it’s been happening too much so far. This is something that coaching and discipline can correct, and probably expected from a young O-Line. They need work there.