Giants Finish Preseason With a Win: The NFL Champion New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots 19-14 earlier tonight at the Meadowlands. The Giants finished the preseason 2-2 and will face the Washington Redskins in one week at Giants Stadium in the regular season opener.
As for the game against New England, Head Coach Tom Coughlin decided not to play QB Eli Manning, QB Anthony Wright, WR Plaxico Burress, WR Amani Toomer, TE Kevin Boss, RT Kareem McKenzie, and DE/DT Justin Tuck. Six other players did not play due to injury: LB Antonio Pierce (back), LB Danny Clark (groin), LB Jonathan Goff (back), CB Terrell Thomas (hamstring), OG Na’Shan Goddard (concussion), and PK Lawrence Tynes (knee).
In place of the regular starters were Domenik Hixon and Steve Smith at wide receiver, Kevin Boothe at right tackle, Renaldo Wynn at left defensive end, Chase Blackburn at middle linebacker, and Bryan Kehl at strongside linebacker.
The Giants held a 19-0 lead early in the fourth quarter. Two late New England touchdowns cut the final score to a 5-point margin.
The Giants’ defense shutout New England’s offense (minus QB Tom Brady and WR Wes Welker) in the first half. The Patriots’ first five drives of the first half only netted 45 yards. And while their final drive of the first half accrued 71 yards, that possession (and the half) ended with an interception by CB R.W. McQuarters in the end zone on 2nd-and-goal from the 2-yard line.
The Giants, led by QB David Carr, moved the ball 80 yards in nine plays on their first possession of the game, the drive culminating in a 26-yard touchdown throw from Carr to TE Darcy Johnson. Johnson broke a tackle and ran over defenders on the way to the end zone. HB Brandon Jacobs had two key runs of 19 and 11 yards on this drive and HB Derrick Ward also gained 11 yards on another run.
“We had a flag route called and they brought two on the blitz and I turned around and caught the ball,” said Johnson. “I turned around and a little guy tried to tackle my legs. Last week I got tackled at the two-yard line and they chop blocked me. I figured they were going to try to do that again. I just stiff-armed them and saw the end zone. The little dude tried to tackle me up high and I drove him for a couple of yards, especially when I saw the end zone was so close. I just wanted to make it in.”
The Giants’ next three drives were unproductive, including two 3-and-outs, but the Giants put together another touchdown drive on their final possession of the first half, marching 71 yards in 12 plays. Carr found WR Mario Manningham for 12 yards on 3rd-and-4 and Darcy Johnson for 14 yards on 4th-and-1 before finding WR Sinorice Moss for a 9-yard touchdown catch. PK Josh Huston missed the extra point. Giants 13 – Patriots 0 at the half.
The Giants absolutely dominated the time of possession in the third quarter with two drives that resulted in field goals. New England only had the ball for three plays and 90 seconds in the entire third quarter.
The first Giants’ drive went 54 yards in 13 plays and the second 64 yards in 18 plays. However, on the first drive, the Giants had a 1st-and-goal from the 1-yard line and could not punch the ball into the end zone. Huston’s 20-yard field goal extended the lead to 16-0. Key plays on this drive were Carr’s passes to Manningham for eight yards on 3rd-and-7 and WR Brandon London for 11 yards on 3rd-and-3. HB Danny Ware converted on two key third-down situations on the 18-yard drive that ended with a 30-yard field goal by Huston. Giants 19 – Patriots 0.
New England scored touchdowns on their final two possessions of the game. The first being a 7-play, 47-yard drive that was set up by a 44-yard kickoff return. The second drive was a 5-play, 18-yard effort that was set up by a 42-yard punt return.
The Giant ran off the last five minutes of the game with a 9-play drive.
“I thought that David Carr did a nice job tonight,” said Head Coach Tom Coughlin. “We were able to rush the ball; we were able to do a few things early on. Trouble on our special teams and our cover teams late, but we were able to hang in there and win a game. We got a lot of people to play. We saw a lot of versatility, so it is a good way to finish up the preseason for us.”
Carr finished the game 20-of-29 for 192 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. Ware was the leading ground gainer with 49 yards on 13 carries, but HB Reuben Droughns (34 yards), Jacobs (32 yards), HB Ahmad Bradshaw (30 yards), and Ward (11 yards) all chipped in.
As for the receivers, Manningham caught 5 passes for 41 yards, Darcy Johnson had 2 catches for 40 yards, London 4 catches for 40 yards, WR Steve Smith 3 catches for 16 yards, and Moss 2 catches for 19 yards.
“I was just trying to contribute to my team as much as I could,” said Manningham. “I was just trying to make plays and get better every play. I felt tonight was a real good night to develop chemistry with the team. I also felt we started to come together. Even though the starters weren’t out there, the second and third strings were also contributing which is really important for this team to develop depth. I felt we did pretty good tonight with so many different guys in.”
Defensively, DE Mathias Kiwanuka had a sack and DE Dave Tollefson and DE Renaldo Wynn shared a sack.
“Basically I felt good,” said Kiwanuka, who was recently moved back to defensive end from linebacker. “I’m glad the change came early enough in preseason so that I could get acclimated to the position and get enough reps going into the regular season. I have 100% confidence that I will get the job done this year. It wasn’t 100% for me. I know I’m not where I need to be. I know I’m not where I can be. I’m not playing up to my potential yet. But for having one week of practice with my hand in the dirt, I felt good about it.”
Injury Report: WR Domenik Hixon left the game with back spasms. Also suffering injuries were LT Guy Whimper (turf toe), DE Dave Tollefson (stinger), and OC Digger Bujnoch (knee).
Giants Must Cut Roster to 53 on Saturday: The Giants must cut their roster from 75 to 53 by 6:00PM on Saturday.