New York Jets 15 – New York Giants 14
Game Overview: Despite the final result on the scoreboard, this was an encouraging performance by the offensive and defensive first units. The Giants scored touchdowns on each of their first two drives. One was a 21-play, 95-yard marathon that took nearly 10 minutes off the clock. The other was a 3-play, 96-yard sprint – the big play being the 88-yard touchdown catch-and-run by WR Ike Hilliard from QB Kerry Collins. Unfortunately, the starters could not put anymore points up on the board during their next three possessions, though one of those drives resulted in a missed field goal.
The starting defense, minus DE Michael Strahan, DE Kenny Holmes, and SS Shaun Williams, played well too, limiting the Jets to 6 points before the back-ups took over. In the first half, the Jets were held to 26 yards rushing, 68 yards passing, and 5 first downs.
The bad news was that the offensive second-teamers stunk up the joint for the second game in a row. Last week against the Carolina Panthers, the second team offense of the Giants couldn’t manage to pick up one first down in the entire second half of the game. This week, the second team offense not only couldn’t put any points on the board, but they handed the Jets their only touchdown of the night.
The special teams were OK, but didn’t stand out.
Quarterbacks: Aside for the stupid interception threw on his only drive in the 3rd quarter, Kerry Collins (13-of-23 for 198 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception) was very sharp. His numbers would have been even more impressive if Amani Toomer and Tim Carter had been able to get both feet inbounds on perfectly thrown deep sideline passes. A number of drops by Ike Hilliard didn’t help matters either. As usual, Collins was at his very best on 3rd down, making fine throws for first downs on 3rd-and-5, 3rd-and-10, 3rd-and-2, 3rd-and-10, 3rd-and-2, and 3rd-and-13. He also made great throws for 22 yards on a 2nd-and-17 pass to Amani Toomer. I know I harp on this a lot, but it so nice to have a quarterback who can keep drives alive with accurate passes in these more difficult situations, contrary to the days of Dave Brown, Danny Kanell, and Kent Graham. The Giants would have had more points on the board if his receivers hadn’t let him down on the drive in the second quarter that resulted in a missed field goal. On last quick note, for two games in a row now, Collins has looked much more nimbler in the pocket than previous seasons; he has been moving away from pressure very well.
After reviewing the tape, I think Jesse Palmer (8-of-12 for 47 yards, 0 touchdowns, 1 interception) got more criticism than he probably deserved. My biggest complaint about him however remains his reluctance to throw the football down the field. The one time he did – his deep toss to Tim Carter that should have been caught was a perfect throw. Palmer was also hurt by the fact that Ike Hilliard couldn’t stretch for the first down on the 3rd-and-6 pass on his first sets of downs at quarterback. On the last drive, Antonio Warren was forced to come in at halfback after Delvin Joyce got poked in the eye…and Antonio is not a dynamic pass receiver…his two pass receptions only picked up a total of 9 yards. That was followed up by TE Visanthe Shiancoe’s drop of what would have been a first down on 3rd-and-1. If this play is completed, the Giants most likely get into field goal range to win the game. Palmer’s worst play was his interception deep in Giants’ territory that set the Jets up on the Giants’ 2-yard line for the game-winning points. Palmer, who was under heavy pressure as Joyce couldn’t pick up the blitz, didn’t see the linebacker dropping into coverage.
Wide Receivers: If this game is any indication of what is to come, Ike Hilliard (7 catches for 150 yards, 1 touchdown) may lead the team in receptions this year. With TE Jeremy Shockey out of the line-up and Amani Toomer seeing coverage rolled to his side, Ike was left with many favorable match-ups that he took advantage of. Indeed, his numbers would have been stellar had it not been for three drops. He dropped a perfectly thrown strike down the middle of the field from Collins on the first drive when the defender hit him as the ball arrived. But what were more costly were his two drops on third down that ended New York’s only two non-scoring drives of the first half. The good news is that Hilliard was a factor on other 3rd down passing situations. He caught an 8-yard pass on 3rd-and-5, an 88-yard pass on 3rd-and-2, and a 15-yard pass on 3rd-and-10. On Hilliard’s 88-yard run-can-catch, Hilliard showed surprising speed after catching the quick slant from Collins. Ike also looked nifty on the 11-yard end around on the first drive.
Amani Toomer only had one catch, but it was big one – a 22-yard reception on 2nd-and-17 despite a big hit on him as the ball arrived from the safety. Toomer made a great over the shoulder catch on a perfect thrown pass from Collins despite excellent coverage, but he couldn’t quite get both feet inbounds. Toomer was flagged with a holding penalty, but he did get a good block on an 8-yard run around left end by Tiki Barber on the first drive of the game.
Tim Carter (3 catches for 19 yards) had two miscues on very well-thrown passes or he would have had a really big night. He couldn’t get both feet in bounds on a perfectly-thrown deep strike from Collins in the 2nd quarter. He also dropped a sure 92-yard touchdown bomb from Jesse Palmer in the second half of the game – this was a perfectly thrown pass right into his hands. Great that Carter got open; bad that he dropped it. Carter did come up with a clutch 5-yard reception on a 3rd-and-2 pass from Collins.
Running Backs: Tiki Barber (10 carries for 31 yards, 2 catches for 6 yards) had a so-so night. The Jets’ run defense was pretty stingy. His best run of the night was his 13-yard cutback run to the middle on the first drive of the game. Tiki also looked sharp on his blitz pick-ups.
Dorsey Levens (10 carries for 34 yards, 1 catch for 6 yards) also had an ordinary performance. But he did look far quicker and more decisive to me than Ron Dayne. Levens had a nice cutback run of his own to the middle of the defense for 10 yards on the first drive of the 3rd quarter. He also looked very nimble on a 11-yard pitch to the left side where he also broke a tackle. He did drop one pass however.
Delvin Joyce (4 carries for 19 yards) looked quick. But the one big advantage Ron Dayne has over him is that Dayne does a good job of picking up the blitz. Joyce is so small that it is tough for him to pick up big linebackers. On Palmer’s interception, Palmer was under heavy pressure because Joyce couldn’t pick up the blitzer.
I thought Charles Stackhouse did a better job in the run blocking department this week than Jim Finn. Finn missed his block on 1st-and-goal from the 1 on the first drive, or Tiki may have scored the play. Stackhouse, on the other hand, made some good blocks such as his lead block on Levens’ 11-yard run around left end. He also got a good lead block on Joyce’s best run of the night (a 9-yard run off the right side). On the down side, the play after the first good block I mentioned, he whiffed on his guy in the hole and Levens lost a yard. Stackhouse needs greater consistency.
Tight Ends: I thought Marcellus Rivers had a nice game. His blocking continues to come along and I actually saw him get some movement in some of his run blocks this wee. He had key blocks on 7- and 8-yard runs by Barber on the first drive. He then made a really clutch 10-yard reception on 3rd-and-10 on that drive that put the ball on the Jets’ 1-yard line. Rivers had another good block on a 5-yard run by Dorsey later in the half.
Darnell Dinkins didn’t have a really strong night. He dropped a pas on the opening drive and was a major negative factor on Collins’ sole interception of the night when he couldn’t pick up the rusher who forced Kerry to throw a bad pass.
Visanthe Shiancoe looked pretty decent in the blocking department on the aforementioned 10-yard run by Levens at the start of the 3rd quarter. His big catch was the 4th-and-goal reception for a touchdown on the first drive where he got wide open. In the second half, I really liked the job Shank did run blocking. He clobbered his man on Levens’ 11-yard pitch-out and got a good lead block on the following play. The bad news…his 3rd-and-1 drop of Palmer’s pass on the last drive may have cost the Giants the game.
Offensive Line: The Jets have a very good front seven, yet the Giants’ pass protection largely stone-walled them. A late linebacker blitz up the gut did get to Collins as both Jim Finn and Dorsey Levens went to run pass routes, but other than that Collins was rarely threatened. What helps the line look good is that the Giants use a lot of quick throws, plus Collins is really good at getting rid of the ball when under pressure. There were a couple of plays where I would have liked RT Ian Allen to hold his pass block longer, and RG David Diehl did get beat one time, but the right-side was very steady. LT Luke Petitgout gave up a couple of pressures against a talented opponent, but generally did a good job. Chris Bober and Rich Seubert also gave up a quick pressure on Collins’ deep pass to Carter that fell incomplete, but were rock solid other than that.
Run blocking was OK. The line did a good job getting a surge on a 3rd-and-1 situation on the first drive where Tiki easily picked up the first down. However, the line had its problems down on the goal line, failing to allow Tiki enough room to operate on 1st-and-goal from the 1 and 3rd-and-goal from the 1. The good news is that the Giants have started to run to their right side more and Allen and Diehl did not look bad at all in the run blocking department.
Omar Smith came in with the first unit at the start of the 3rd quarter as Chris Bober (ribs) was hurt. Smith didn’t look too bad in there, getting a nice block on Levens’ 10-yard cutback run. The Giants then went with the unit of RT Allen, RG Diehl, OC Smith, LG Vincent Sandoval, and LT Jeff Roehl for a while. Roehl had his problems in pass protection again. Then the Giants went with an interesting line-up of RT Jeff Hatch, RG Tam Hopkins, OC Wayne Lucier, LG Sean O’Connor, and LT Barrett Brooks. These guys did a decent job in pass protection aside from one play where Hatch and Hopkins had problems with a stunt while Sandoval failed to pick up the linebacker (O’Connor was nicked up at this point). Brooks didn’t look out of place at left tackle in pass protection, although he was flagged with a false start. He also failed to control his man on a Joyce run that got stuffed.
Defensive Line: The starting line from left to right was Keith Washington, Cornelius Griffin, Keith Hamilton, and Osi Umenyiora. This group played a very strong game as they largely dominated the line of scrimmage on running plays and supplied some heat on passing plays. They did such a good job of controlling the Jets’ blockers that the linebackers of the Giants were able to run unfettered to the ball carrier in many instances. Griffin is having a good preseason. He has been very quick and active in run defense. Hamilton isn’t getting a lot of heat on the quarterback, but he has been tough to move out in run defense and likewise active. I’ve been surprised at how quickly Umenyiora is improving his run defense. If he keeps this up, he may be starting soon as he looks far more dangerous as a pass rusher than Kenny Holmes at this point. Osi caused Chad Pennington to scramble up the gut short of the first down on one pass rush in the 2nd quarter. He and Griffin also got a ton of heat quickly on Pennington a few plays before Chad was knocked out of the game. On the next play, it was interesting to see the Jets double-team Osi. Griffin got another good pass rush on the first Jets’ drive of the second half.
The second unit had Frank Ferrara at right end, William Joseph at right defensive tackle, Lance Legree at left defensive tackle, and Radell Lockhart at right defensive end. I was hoping to see more from Joseph. While he did pick up his first sack, he really didn’t make much noise in the game. He did make an excellent play by clobbering the running back in the backfield on the Jets’ last offensive possession. But other than that, he was real quiet despite playing a lot.
Ferrara was his typical self…smart player with physical limitations. He once again expertly sniffed out a screen pass on one occasion. He also got a late sack in the game. But his run defense was suspect (i.e., the Lamont Jordan run around his side for 11 yards). He also lost his contain responsibilities on a pass rush where he got close to the quarterback. The QB scrambled for big yardage on this play, helping to set up the Jets’ final field goal.
Legree was tough against the run except for one play where he over-pursued and gave the runner a cutback lane. He also got a very good pass rush late in the game. Lockhart didn’t do much and was victimized by a quarterback run to his side on 3rd-and-1 on a misdirection play.
Linebackers: Mike Barrow (4 tackles) and Brandon Short (7 tackles) both had very strong games. Barrow flashed sideline-to-sideline ability as he quickly got to Curtis Martin on outside running plays to make sure tackles on three separate occasions in the first half. Short was very active in run defense as well. He stuffed Martin on the game’s first offensive play. He nailed Martin again in the second quarter on a 2-yard run; a few plays later he hit Martin in the backfield as he flew off the right-side corner. It was Brandon’s blitz up the gut that knocked Pennington out of the game on the next drive. On the Jets’ first drive of the second half, Short made two good back-to-back plays. First he successfully defended the cutback by Lamont Jordan. Then he expertly defended a Testaverde pass to TE Chad Becht in the end zone.
The back-up linebackers didn’t flash to me at all. Quincy Monk (3 tackles) did get in on a few plays and had one good pass rush, but he also missed a tackle on the tight end. Wes Mallard had only 1 tackle and has shown me nothing this preseason. Nick Greisen left the game early with an injury. Kevin Lewis didn’t have a tackle despite playing a lot.
Defensive Backs Will Allen and Will Peterson played decent games. Allen, however, did miss a tackle on a short pass to Wayne Chrebet on the second offensive play of the game. The 36-yard pass interference penalty on Allen on the next drive was a terrible call (warning: the officials have been terrible again this preseason) as I thought Allen had very good coverage on the play. Three plays later, Allen once again supplied tight coverage on Santana Moss on a deep pass on 3rd-and-2 that resulted in an incompletion. Later in the half, Allen had good coverage on Moss again on a sideline comeback route on 3rd-and-10 that fell incomplete.
Peterson broke up a deep out pass to Curtis Conway on the Jets’ third drive, but he then got beat by Conway for 10 yards on a quick slant on 3rd-and-7. In the 3rd quarter, Peterson stuck with Conway on an unsuccessful deep sideline pass.
Ralph Brown’s blitz on 3rd-and-8 on the Jets’ first drive caused an incompletion. The 7-yard pass interference call on him on 3rd-and-5 was another terrible call by the refs. Brown did get knocked off his coverage by an aggressive chuck by Chrebet on a crossing route that picked up big yardage. This play, and another crossing route by Chrebet earlier in the game against a zone coverage where there was an obvious breakdown, were the two big negatives in pass defense on the night against the first unit.
Omar Stoutmire actually made four nice plays. On 3rd-and-10 from the Giants’ 22-yard line, Stoutmire did a nice job of playing centerfield and knocking a deep middle pass away from Chrebet (the only negative is that Omar probably should have picked this ball off). Late in the 2nd quarter, he also knocked away another ball intended for Chrebet. In the 3rd quarter, he saved a touchdown by making a great open field tackle on Becht the tight end, who is much bigger than him. Later in the quarter, he had superb coverage on a sideline pass to TE Chris Baker.
Rod Babers had a rough game, giving up a 19-yard reception to Kevin Swayne and a 27-yard completion to Jonathan Carter. Kato Serwanga supplied decent coverage on two passes in his direction, but he needs to turn his head around to in order to effectively play the football. On one of these occasions, a touchdown almost resulted.
Special Teams: PK Mike Hollis injured his back making a tackle on the opening kick-off. His kickoff landed at the 6-yard line, but the coverage was terrible as the Jets’ returner had a huge canyon to run through en route to a 41-yard return. Hollis may have saved a touchdown. It was obvious that Hollis’ back injury affected his next kickoff, which was field at the 23-yard line. PK Matt Bryant’s sole kickoff landed 1-yard deep into the endzone, but it was a low, line drive. Making kickoff special teams tackles were Kevin Lewis (after the 41-yard return), Ryan Clark (after a 20-yard return), and Quincy Monk (after a 12-yard return). Bryant missed the only Giants’ field goal attempt of the game – a 47-yarder.
Jeff Feagles’ punting was so-so. He had good height and direction, but his distance was somewhat lacking: 31 yards (Darnell Dinkins making the tackle after a 7-yard return), 37 yards (fair caught), 31 yards (downed by Brian Mitchell), and 51 yards (Nick Greisen making the tackle after a 4-yard return). Steve Cheeks’ sole punt went for 43-yards (touchback where the Giants bungled the chance to down it at the 1-yard line).
Kickoff returns: Brian Mitchell’s only kickoff return went for 23 yards. Delvin Joyce’s kickoff returns went for 32 and 24 yards. Daryl Jones had one return for 13 where he tripped over his own feet. Willie Ponder was flagged for holding on the latter return – this hurt as it put the Giants back up near their goal line and the interception thrown by Palmer soon followed.
Punt returns: Mitchell smartly did not field either of the first two Jets’ punts that were downed inside the 6-yard line; I also liked the way he leveled one of the Jets’ coverage men on one of these punts. Mitchell’s sole punt return went for 10 yards. Delvin Joyce’s sole punt return went for 15 yards. Ray Green was flagged for holding on a punt.