Approach to the Game – Jacksonville Jaguars at New York Giants, August 16, 2001: It’s important for the Giants to get their offense more in sync this week. The third preseason game is usually the most important, but the Giants want to come out of this second game feeling good as well. “I want to get in a rhythm,” says Head Coach Fassel. “We didn’t look like we were in a rhythm (last week against the Patriots). We just looked like we were out there executing plays. We weren’t aggressive with the run or quick with the pass. I want to see us pick up the tempo.”
Defensively, I would like to see more plays made on the ball by the corners.
On specials, it will be important to get a good look at the kickers in the kick-off and field goal departments. Evaluation time is running out.
Giants on Special Teams: Rodney Williams has won the punting job and hopefully now his can focus completely on improving his consistency. But we still do not know who the Giants’ placekicker will be and how effective that person will be. Last week, neither Jaret Holmes or John Markham attempted a field goal and only Holmes kicked off. The Giants need a better look at both this time around.
The Giants also need to find someone steady to return punts when Tiki Barber is out. Pat Woodcock was uninspiring last week and Will Allen didn’t field his chance.
The punt coverage men got down the field pretty good last week, but they missed too many tackles. We didn’t get a look at kick coverage because the Giants’ one kick-off went into the endzone. There are some roster spots to be won or lost here.
Giants on Offense: With Tiki Barber, Ike Hilliard, Dusty Zeigler, Sean Bennett, and possibly Jason Whittle out, the Giants will not have their full offensive arsenal. That’s no excuse for looking as pathetic as the team did last week. QB Kerry Collins needs to get into a rhythm and make some plays. So do his receivers. Joe Jurevicius made some plays this week in practice, but he needs to translate that effort to the playing field against quality opposition. Ron Dixon must stop screwing up basic plays. The Giants need these two to elevate their respective games.
There was a lot of talk this week in the press (New York Post) and in the BigBlueInteractive.com training camp reports (Walter B.) about how the lack of a passing threat from the tight end position is hurting the Giants’ offense in the short-to-intermediate area over the middle. This is exacerbated by the fact that Ike Hilliard is out; despite his size, he runs a lot of short routes over the middle. Dan Campbell has stagnated. If he is unwilling or unable to meet the challenge, the Giants need to take a hard look at Adam Young. Marcellus Rivers and/or Taman Bryant are probably a year away (and both probably won’t make the team).
Besides letting Collins get into a rhythm, Fassel needs to let HB Ron Dayne do so as well. I’d give him the ball at least 10-15 times in this game. How effectively the starting line can help him remains to be seen. Both the starting and possibly back-up center will be out. LT Lomas Brown’s leg injury must be watched. LG Glenn Parker is still trying to round into form after missing much of the early practices. The bad news is that the Jags have a couple of very strong run defenders at safety in Donovin Darius and Carnell Lake. The linebacking corps of Kevin Hardy, Hardy Nickerson, and T.J. Slaughter is also excellent.
As for the back-ups, particular attention should be paid to LT Chris Bober, and RT Chris Ziemann, OG Mike Rosenthal. I would also like to see some marked improvement by QB Jesse Palmer, WR Jonathan Carter, WR Quinton Spotwood, and WR Thabiti Davis in the passing game. They guys were too quiet last week.
Giants on Defense: The good news is that DT Keith Hamilton (wedding) is back; the bad news is the DE Kenny Holmes (knee) is out. In his place will start rookie DE Cedric Scott. Assuming Jags’ LT Tony Boselli plays, Scott is in for a rude awakening. The pass rush last week was pretty impressive from the front four. They will face a far tougher test against the run by facing old nemesis Fred Taylor. It will be interesting to see how DT Cornelius Griffin fairs against the run.
As for the reserves, a trio of tackles stood out last week: Ryan Hale, Ross Kolodziej, and Lance Legree. The Giants need more noise from the back-up ends.
At linebacker, all eyes continue to remain on SLB Brandon Short – who played well last week. Still, he needs improvement in coverage. I’d like to see him tested by TE Kyle Brady. Reserves Dhani Jones and Jack Golden look to continue to build upon last week’s strong performance as well. I’d like to see Clayton White show something as he flashed on special teams last week.
I was disappointed in the play of the corners last week. No one made a play on the ball. Dave Thomas and Emmanuel McDaniel were burned badly. Facing QB Mark Brunell and WR Keenan McCardell will be an excellent test. Will Allen flashed ability and hopefully he will start to make some plays. Same story with Ralph Brown. Will Peterson (knee) remains sidelined.