New York Giants 27 – Jacksonville Jaguars 20
Overall: The fumbling problem ruined for me a game that I should have enjoyed more. The Giants lost seven fumbles – including six consecutive to start the second half. It was joke. These are professionals and this kind of crap should not happen.
The starting offense was once again amazing. Call me a pessimist, but I won’t really believe these guys are real until they start doing this in the regular season when opposing defenses are game-planning them, running stunts, jamming our receivers at the line, etc. Still, the improvement in the passing game is startling. At the very least, it has to help the confidence of the entire unit. Kent Graham is clearly “the man.” His performance this week was in some ways even more impressive than last week. The offensive line is doing a hell of a job and has not given up a sack yet in the preseason. The receivers are making plays.
The first- and second-team defenses played well except for CB Jeremy Lincoln and FS Percy Ellsworth. More on that below.
Kick coverage is still too much of a problem, though it is improved. I still do not have a lot of confidence in Brad Daluiso.
The best news is that it looks like there were no major injuries. David Patten, who played an excellent game, did hurt his ribs, but X-rays proved negative.
Quarterbacks: As I mentioned above, Kent and the entire offense has to do it on a regular basis once the real season starts to firmly convert me. Nevertheless, Graham has played consistently well since the Denver game last year and seems to be improving all the time. What impressed me the most against the Jaguars was his mobility in the pocket. Though he was provided with very good pass protection, there were times when Kent really helped his cause and bought extra time by stepping up in the pocket or rolling out of it.
Kent did start off the game a little shaky and a few off his throws were well off the mark. I said to myself, “Here’s that damn inconsistency again.” But Kent quickly got his game back and led the Giants on several impressive drives and made a number of big plays in difficult third-down situations. Graham finished the first half going 14-of-23 for an amazing 269 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.
On his first touchdown drive, he avoided the rush, ran to the far sideline and lofted a 22-yard strike to David Patten on 3rd-and-nine. On the Giants’ second touchdown drive, Graham stepped up into the pocket and hit Patten deep for 47-yards on 3rd-and-23. Both of these plays picked up key first downs and kept those drives alive – drives that resulted in touchdowns. Then with less than two minutes in the half, Kent ran the two-minute drill to perfection. First, he dumped the ball off twice to Tiki for 28 yards. Then he threw a very accurate strike to TE Pete Mitchell for 40-yards and a touchdown – giving the Giants a 24-7 halftime lead.
Mike Cherry just doesn’t do it for me. To be fair, he was able to get into the flow of the game due to all the butter-handed running backs he was in there with. And his numbers do not look bad – 9-of-14 for 124 yards, no touchdowns, and no interceptions. His first throw was also dropped. But his overall accuracy was off and he threw into double-coverage too much for my liking. He badly overthrew Brian Alford deep on pass he should not attempted. He also lucked out when a defensive lineman dropped a sure interception on an attempted screen pass. His deep pass to Fred Brock was successful and worked because the ball was underthrown – still the ball WAS underthrown.
Running Backs: FB Charles Way didn’t play because his hamstring tightened right before the game started.
All of these guys deserve a big, fat “F.” The fumbling was inexcusable, ridiculous, and painful. Seven fumble?!? Give me a break!!! Sean Bennett lost two (and was involved in a third on failed exchange). Tiki Barber lost two; Greg Comella lost one; and LeShon Johnson lost one. Fassel has a real problem here. He has to put the fear of God into these guys about fumbling, but at the same time, he doesn’t want this to get into their heads. Maybe the best thing to do is to write it off to a freaky situation. But you had better believe that ALL of the Giants 1999 opponents know about this now and every opposing defender will be coming after the ball when Tiki and Sean are carrying it.
And it is Tiki and Sean who are the main concerns because both are expected to carry the ball quite a bit in 1999 and beyond. Tiki has had a problem with ball security since he has been here. Is Sean Bennett going to have this problem too? The fumbles ruined otherwise nice performances. Tiki (five carries for 30 yards) was putting on a show running the ball, displaying excellent elusiveness and breaking tackles. Although he dropped one sure pass, he also caught 4 for 44 yards (including a real tough catch on the play he fumbled the ball on). Bennett (15 carries for 54 yards, one touchdown) ran another screen pass to perfection for 18-yards and setting up the Giants’ first touchdown. I also spotted him making a nice blitz pick-up – an area that has been a weakness for him. I hope Fassel and Defensive Coordinator John Fox have their defenders test Sean and Tiki all week. These two had better start sleeping nights with the ball in their hands.
LeShon Johnson (4 carries for six yards) fumbled without being hit. FB Greg Comella (4 catches for 36 yards, 2 carries for 5 yards) looked good as a receiver, but put the rock on the ground for the second game in a row. Reynard Rutherford saw his first action only because Fassel had gotten so upset at the rest of his charges. He looked ordinary, carrying the ball 5 times for seven yards – but at least he held onto the ball.
Wide Receivers: Though there were a couple of drops (Hilliard, Brock), the receivers put in another excellent game. David Patten made a superb leaping reception for 47 yards from Graham. He ended the night with two catches for 69 yards and seems to have secured the fourth wide out job ahead of the disappointing Brian Alford (no catches once again). Ike Hilliard (2 catches for 57 yards), for the second game in a row, displayed the catch-and-run skills that made him famous at the University of Florida. His 53-yard catch-and-run was a thing of beauty as he did a great job of setting up his blockers. Toomer had four catches for 37 yards and a touchdown. Fred Brock made a nice diving catch of a deep Cherry pass and finished with two catches for 58 yards. He has shown more than Alford too. James Kidd (1 catch for 18 yards) had to hold up for a poorly thrown Cherry pass.
Tight Ends: When was the last time a Giants’ quarterback threw a 40-yard bomb to a tight end in the end zone for a touchdown? Howard Cross could only dream of making such a play. Mitchell, a wide receiver playing in an H-Back’s body, made such a diving reception at the end of the two-minute drill. Very impressive! His blocking was only ordinary at best. Cross came up with a reception for 11 yards and Dan Campbell did too for seven yards. Contrary to scouting reports, Campbell looks to be a better receiver than blocker at this point.
Offensive Line: New Offensive Line Coach Jim McNally is doing a wonderful job with his players. The first- and second-teamers have not given up a sack in two games – an amazing feat. There was one play against Jacksonville where Kent Graham had time to buy a cup of coffee and drink it the protection was so good. RT Scott Gragg continues to remain a bit shaky. His few breakdowns continue to mar what would otherwise be solid performances. He whiffed on a couple of attempted blocks that I saw. False starts also continue to be a problem. RG Ron Stone gave up one big pressure, but was otherwise a rock in the middle, as was OC Brian Williams. The right side of the line blew away the Jacksonville defense on Bennett’s four-yard touchdown run. LG Lance Scott did a real nice job on the left side. LT Roman Oben had only one or two rough plays against Tony Brackens. The Jaguars didn’t run a lot of stunts – something that has given the Giants problems in the past – but overall pass protection was excellent. Getting a read on the run blocking was difficult because the Giants did not run much and I’m not so sure how strong an inside runner Sean Bennett is.
The second team offensive line had far many more breakdowns – as should be expected – but they did not give up a sack either. LT Toby Myles played a very good game and LG Luke Petitigout looked real strong on a left side sweep. It looks like the Giants have some quality depth on the line now.
Defensive Line: I thought DT Robert Harris played extremely well. He was credited with one sack, but in reality his pressure directly led to DE Michael Strahan’s sack as well. Strahan hustled all night and chased the ball all over the field no matter how far away he was. DT Keith Hamilton was active and just missed making a play in the backfield in a third down situation. The Jaguars had some success running right at DE Bernard Holsey and WLB Jessie Armstead to start the game, but Holsey made a great play on in the redzone when he fought through a block, disrupted a left side running play, and knocked the ball lose from Fred Taylor, leading to a key turnover.
The reserves continue to play strong and did a fantastic job of limiting the Jaguars to only 6 points after five Giant turnovers (a sixth was returned for a touchdown by Jacksonville). Christian Peter played a strong game and came up with a devastating sack. George Williams was solid. Outside, Frank Ferrara and Rasheed Simmons remain in heated battle. Both played well once again, though I thought Frank was a tad more active and disruptive. I hope the Giants can figure out a way to keep both.
Linebackers: The first and second teamers played well. Jessie Armstead made a big hit in the backfield (he also jumped offsides however). Marcus Buckley shot a gap and nailed a runner for a loss with a real strong tackle – the type of play I’ve been waiting for Marcus to make for years. Pete Monty was all over the field again and seems to have saved his job. He did a good job of sniffing out a middle screen pass. Scott Galyon also flashed again. Doug Colman came through untouched up the middle and picked up a sack.
Defensive Backs: CB Jeremy Lincoln had a real rough night. He was burned badly on the Jags’ first drive on a 49-yard pass to Reggie Barlow. Percy Ellsworth made matters worse on the play by completely whiffing on a tackle. Very embarrassing. Percy tackles like a Pop Warner player. Get Shaun Williams in there. Lincoln was also later burned deep on third down by Jimmy Smith for 30 yards, a play that set up Jacksonville’s lone touchdown in the first half. CB Phillippi Sparks was beaten badly right before halftime for what should have been a touchdown, but the quarterback badly underthrew his man and Phillippi was able to recover and knock the ball away. SS Sam Garnes came flying in on a blitz and picked up a sack. However, it did look like Kyle Brady was his man on Brady’s touchdown. Shaun Williams got beat in coverage on third down, but made the tackle before the receiver could pick up the first down.
As for the reserves, it was tough to get a good read on them due to the fine play of the Giants’ front seven reserves and the poor play of the Jacksonville offensive reserves. Reggie Stephens was burned badly for what should have been a tying touchdown right at the end of the game, but the quarterback missed his receiver. Bashir Levingston got his hands on an out pass and would have returned it for a touchdown had he been able to hold on. S Lyle West forced a key fumble by hustling from behind the play. Andre Weathers got beat on a short route.
Special Teams: PK Brad Daluiso seems to push too many of his field goals to the right. He missed an important 34-yarder and was only saved by the fact that the defense came up with a turnover on the Jags’ next drive. P Brad Maynard was not as impressive this week. He had one poor punt that ended up well for us as it hit a Jags’ blocker and the Giants recovered. The Giants gave up a 42-yard kick return. Aside from that, kick coverage was pretty solid with Pete Monty, Ryan Phillips, and O.J. Childress making tackles. It is interesting to note that Sam Garnes is on these units now.
Tiki Barber continues to get no blocking on his punts and is tackled immediately or is forced to call a fair catch. David Patten had one nice looking return where he accelerated through a gap. Bashir Levingston looks explosive, but could not break one. He did show a little more wiggle than Patten however.