Loading ...It was the long-awaited rematch of Super Bowl XLVI between the New York Giants and New England Patriots. The hottest ticket in town! Fans lined up deep into the city as they waited to get into MetLife Stadium! Well, not really, but it was yet another game between the Giants and Patriots. And like so before, Big Blue came out victorious after a late fourth quarter rally.
Alas, winning and losing matters not in the preseason … especially in game four of the preseason. Instead, it was all about youngsters facing last rights. For some, this is the end of the line. For others, it's just the beginning.
The Positive:
- Steve Weatherford – Weatherford was a superstar in the first half, having several punts downed inside the 20. He also boomed one out of the Giants' endzone following a disastrous display by the replacement officials. We'll have more on that later.
- Jacquian Williams – J. Will looks far more polished heading into his second season, and once again displayed his athleticism in pass coverage. Although he whiffed on a would-be pick-six, it's clear he's more than capable of holding his own against the pass.
- Mark Herzlich – On one particular screen in the third quarter, Herz did a great job sniffing it out, weaving through traffic to make the tackle after a very short gain. He is the future at MLB.
- Ramses Barden – He needed two big games to save his roster spot, and he produced in both. Was it enough to save his job? We think so.
- Justin Tryon – Tryon looked like a guy fighting for his job tonight. He was active, in on most plays, didn't allow many yards after the catch and appeared very disciplined.
- Rocky Bernard – Although he didn't play too much, Bernard looked in mid-season form early in the game. He made several plays, including a tackle after moving laterally down the line, that reminded us of what he did back in Seattle.
- Adewale Ojomo – Because of Adrian Tracy's ongoing injury situations, Ojomo has been getting a lot more attention than he otherwise would have … and he's made the most of it. He's dominated deep reserves, which is exactly what he should be doing, and may -just may- have earned himself a spot on the 53-man roster. There may be something here…
- Matt Broha – Practice squad, anyone? There seems to be some future talent in Broha, but just not enough room for him right now given the success of Ojomo.
- Marcus Thomas – Thomas was in on quite a few plays, had a couple pressures and recovered the Ojomo forced fumble that set the Giants up for the victory.
The Negative:
- Replacement Referees – Offsetting penalties. No, wait … both on the same team. Five yards for a personal foul. Blah, blah, blah. They don't know the rules, they have problems speaking in public and they're both intimidated and overwhelmed by the coaches. They are a disaster, and will cost at least one team a win in week one. Guaranteed.
- Mitch Petrus – Even with all of the offensive line injuries, Petrus came into this game on the bubble. He didn't do himself any favors as he allowed Eli Manning to take several hits he had no business taking.
- Martellus Bennett – The Black Unicorn had the worst game of his preseason thus far, including a drop and missed block.
- Matt McCants – The rookie really struggled tonight, giving up tons of pressure. He bit on several inside moves, several outside moves and then fell victim to a few bull rushes.
- Isaiah Stanback – Add yet another special teams penalty (his third of the preseason) to Stanback's resume.
- Eli Manning – Oh no! The sky is falling!
Mixed Bag:
- David Carr – Statistically, Carr had a solid game. However, when the Giants go back and watch the tape, they're going to see that he held onto the ball a little too long and, on some occasions, failed to see a wide open man downfield. He also nearly stepped out of bounds for a safety late in the fourth quarter.
- Andre Brown – Brown really flashed tonight and showcased some skills that once reminded everyone of Derrick Ward. He has a good balance between speed and power, and also demonstrated excellent vision and footwork. He was routinely able to find cutback lanes, and made several positive gains after being trapped in the backfield. If nothing else, he made Tom Coughlin's decision on his future very difficult. Unfortunately, he topped his night off with an inexcusable fumble on a first down run in the fourth quarter. New York kept the ball, but that's a pet peeve of the coach.
- NBC – Really? Twice NBC missed live action while showing commercials, and early in the first quarter suffered through some major programing issues. But hey, they did show a Giants 101 tweet!
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Unless we do a complete 180 come Wednesday we are going to be one erratic and sputtering offensive
I think last week was a much better judge than this game. I don’t think the starters played with any energy. I’m not worried about Eli or the passing game. The running game will get help from the passing game.
You’re right about lack of energy, but it was downright embarrassing to see our starters being beaten in the trenches by their second-string defense. We really missed Snee tonight. It’s a HUGE drop from him to Petrus.
Excellent analysis Dan.
Bernard did miss one easy tackle, but he played well. You didn’t mention Linval Joseph but he is a complete beast. He’s headed toward being a Pro Bowler.
Herzlich played pretty well, but I thought Blackburn was better and certainly kept his starting job. Williams was very good. Rivers too.
Tryon was, IMO, excellent and definitely secured his spot.
Barden had a good game. No speed and acceleration but sure hands and a really large catching radius will get him on the roster. But he cannot be the #3 receiver and come even close to replacing Manningham’s impact. I thought Randle looked pretty lousy and did very little. He isn’t ready to take that #3 receiver’s spot at this point, and I suspect won’t be there until next season.
Ojomo got himself a job. If the Giants don’t put him on the roster he will be claimed. No way he’s getting to the practice squad. He’ll play in the NFL this season for someone.
Special teams played well, but is there some special rule that says the Giants cannot block the gunners so they have free runs at the punt returner? Jernigan and Randle handled the ball well but had almost no room to run.
I think Andre Brown looked FAR better as a halfback than Da’Rel Scott, but that fumble probably cost him his chance at the roster. I continue to believe Scott is a waste of a spot.
Rolle and Phillips and Webster are in mid-season form. I thought that Coe played decently. Tryon looked like the guy who excelled last season before he broke his arm, not the guy who has struggled this summer. That was, frankly, the best news of the night for me.
Adrien Robinson looked very good and clearly is going to be a player in the NFL. Maybe Reese pegged him correctly.
And then there is the offensive line, which is plenty offensive. Obviously, McCants isn’t even close to ready to play in the NFL. Calling him a turnstile is an insult to that metal assemblage. Petrus was fine on about 70% of his assignments but awful on 30% and almost managed to get Eli killed. Will Beatty and Chris Snee had better be healthy this season. As a matter of fact, we need to make a pact with the Devil to assure the health of the entire starting offensive line, because if any of these second-stringers have to play a lot we’re in real trouble. They absolutely stink. Capers, McCants, and Cordle were terrible with only Cordle making any good plays. Throw the Bad Petrus in there and we would have trouble moving the ball against Alabama on Saturday (we certainly didn’t against the Patriots’ second-stringers). I’ve been way too sanguine about the ability of Flaherty to get this O-line in shape. They are a bad bunch. Thank goodness we got Locklear, who is a pretty decent player (by the way, did Brewer even play? He was not noticeable, which I guess is a good thing if he was actually in there.
Okay, I know it was a meaningless game and the team was using it for evaluation and the offensive play calls were vanilla, but still…..it looks like this defense is going to have to carry the team through the early part of the schedule while the offense tries to get its act together.
The Cliffs Notes version: the defense is going to be fabulous, the special teams are playing very well, and the offense looks at least weeks away from being any good at all and is seriously endangered by what may prove a very weak O-line that could make the season very nerve-wracking because scoring will come very hard.
One thing that occurred to me today is that it may make sense to play Jernigan at the #3 receiver spot (at least share it with Hixon) because Eli may have to release the ball very quickly and depend largely on YAC from his receivers. Nicks and Cruz can certainly provide that. Can Hixon? Maybe. Jernigan can.
Brewer was out with a back injury.
I’ve been very critical of Tryon, but he played much better than expected. I know the coaches seem to love Bruce Johnson, but Tryon leapfrogged him tonight.
Ojomo just looks like a beast compared to the guys he played with/against. He got penetration and he wreaked havoc. He just LOOKS like he could be a very good player in the NFL. Perhaps that’s premature, but he’s got confidence and has been incredibly consistent considering I’m sure few really knew much about him before about 3 games ago. He’s excelled in the role he’s been assigned so far and earned a spot on the roster. There’s no way he sneaks onto the practice squad.
And the O-Line depth really scares me. I’m praying…PRAYING…a solid veteran O-lineman gets cut over the next few days. If not then Reese better have McKenzie’s phone number ready…
Didn’t get to see this one but I still have comments.
- Shame about Petrus. I was really excited when we drafted him and thought he played well in the few regular season games he saw time in. But from what I’ve seen and read this pre season he’s been terrible.
- Theres a documentary about the 6 QB’s drafted ahead of Tom Brady, and in the film Marriuchi talks about how you can do all these measurable tests but at the end of the day you don’t know how a guy will react when 300 pound men are trying to tackle them. That is, can they hang in the pocket and make a great throw while knowing they are about to get blasted. This is a skill you need to be a successful QB in the NFL. It’s also a skill David Carr doesn’t have.
- Who on this site is going to spend the 80 bucks on the coaches tape and give us a weekly analysis? This sounds like a perfect weekly column for Haz. Lets make this happen.
- If Haz won’t do it then Demo should. I remember him posting something about the cover 2 a while back and he seems to know a lot more about football X and O’s then most. So Demo or Haz, or better yet both, weekly coaches tape breakdown. Seems like a good addition for the site.
- Anyone buy the new Nike NFL Jerseys yet? I was real excited when Nike took over rights as Reebok was terrible when it came to the hats and Jackets, unless you like dressing like a 55 year old white guy. But so far the reviews of the Nike jerseys have been subpar. Anyone here bought one yet?
- Not much of a sneaker head but I do appreciate a nice pair of kicks. These NYG ones are fresh.
http://insider.nike.com/us/shoes/nike-nfl-dunk-id-2983/
Did FF55 just suggest that Blessed Pat Flaherty’s beatific coaching methods wouldn’t transform these idiots into quality OL?
Anyone know what “deju” means?
Demo thinks it’s ‘soup deju’.
Everyone knows the 4th pre-season game is garbage. A ‘Last Chance Saloon’ for many … and a listless, zero energy, don’t-tip-your-hand game for the veterans. So all you really can do is look at individual effort … and see if some guys changed their own personal odds of playing in the NFL … one way or another.
Two stood out as clear losers … Mitch Petrus and Spencer Paysinger.
Mitch was everyone’s b-tch. Playing with what we sarcastically call the 1st unit he was abused up and down the line. Often he was left standing in space, unable to even find a defender to miss a block on. As they say, “looks like Tarzan … plays like Jane”. Sorry Mitch …
Paysinger needed to change the discussion from strictly specials to having some sort of value at LB. I don’t think it was ‘mission accomplished’. They have to be looking across the roster to determine if this is enough to warrant one of the precious 53. I’m really not sure it is.
Also in the chum bucket … the entire offensive line.
For certain they were not at full strength … mentally or physically. And I think we all know they’re not that bad. But good grief … will they ever have a good outing? Will they never execute a decent block? It’s like the ceiling is … meh. There doesn’t even seem to be potential there. Beatty … Brewer … the future of OT ??? Right, I’ll hold my breath … while Eli gets his knocked out of him.
I’m going on record again … they’ll pick up a veteran after the cuts.
Plus siders … Barden for sure. And despite the fumble … Brown … though I suspect not enough. Robinson finally showed up. Mojo Ojomo … what a problem he presents.
I agree with you on Andre Brown. I prefer him to Da’rel Scott, even though he fumbled. Given the load he shouldered in this game, not to mention the goofball OL he ran behind, I think he proved he belongs.
I don’t get the tepid reaction by you and Dan to Ojomo. “Might”, “problem”, etc. The kid is Osi 2.0. He makes it. You had the guys in the booth, including Carl Banks, on national TV basically saying you can’t let him go. The kid will NOT clear if you cut him. Tracy still might. You keep Ojomo and cut Tracy.
McCants is an absolute waste and I wouldn’t spend another minute thinking about it. You cut him, he’ll clear, and if there’s room, sign him to the PS. If not, goodbye. He’s a freakin’ turnstile. He almost sacked his own QB. Never saw that before.
By problem I meant that he … Ojomo … played so well he’s no longer an easy decision as to what to do with him. I like him. But let’s not forget … he’s going against scrubs.
And yes, I forgot about McCants. He doesn’t have the feet to play in the NFL. Way too slow to set up.
Yeah, I know what you meant, but I just think it’s a no-brainer to keep him. Then again, you seem more measured with your assessments than I am, which is a good thing because you don’t have to replace as many TVs that way, LOL.
Our scouting team, including the “head scout”, JR, seems to be “whiffing” on these OL guys. One minute they couldn’t find linebackers to save their lives and now we’re rife with them. Now they go after man-mountain O-linemen that either can’t move or can’t stay on the field, or can’t figure out the assignment.
I’m with you. Reese signs an O-linemen 5 minutes after cut-down tomorrow.