3 Final Storylines in New York Giants versus Jets Clash
By Curt Macysyn
The New York Giants face off against the New York Jets at their annual preseason clash. The crowd’s allegiance will likely be split tonight, as the teams finalize rosters. Last season, Gang Green took a regular season 23-20 final verdict from the Giants in overtime. Kicker Josh Brown missed potentially game-tying field goal to the dismay of Giants’ faithful.
Game three of the preseason usually has starters play into the third quarter. This evening, the Giants certainly need that type of workload. The G-Men come off a less than inspiring 21-0 loss to the Buffalo Bills last Saturday.
What are today’s storylines for the Giants? The game represents the final chance for some players to make the roster.
Final Offensive Line?
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. – Albert Einstein.
This quote seems to sum up the Giants’ offensive line woes. Unlike other NFL organizations, the Giants get rid of coaches, not players. Last season’s other designated scapegoat, Ray Flaherty, was replaced by Mike Solari, as offensive line coach.
Unfortunately, not much else has changed, especially the play.
I will be looking for improvement from guard John Jerry and tackles Marshall Newhouse and Ereck Flowers. Because of the play of the right side of the offensive line, Flower’s noticeable lack of improvement has flown under the radar. Clearly he needs to step up. And he purportedly was happy Flaherty wasn’t retained, according to the New York Post on June 16, 2016. Go figure.
“At tackle, Ereck Flowers and Marshall Newhouse were both among the lowest-graded OTs in the league last season, and no upgrades were made at either spot this offseason,” according to Pro Football Focus.
In addition, with several mid-to-late draft pick failures, Jerry Reese hung his hat on Bobby Hart (7th Round, 2015) as offensive line competition. Since 2010, we have seen Mitch Petrus (5th), James Brewer (4th), Brandon Mosley (4th), Matt McCants (6th) and Eric Herman (7th) given opportunity and get cut.
As an aside, NFL.com gave Hart a grade of 5.23 in 2015. According to their grading system:
| 5.20-5.49 | NFL backup or special teams potential |
So this means that Hart is exactly where he is supposed to be. Makes you wonder what the thought process is in the front office.
Final False Start for Victor Cruz?
Everyone has their fingers crossed for this one. according to the New York Daily News on Aug. 26, 2016, Cruz declared, “I’m ready.”
It’s the equivalent of James Brown returning to the Apollo Theatre.
“In 2010, Cruz, then an undrafted rookie out of Paterson Catholic High School and UMass, broke onto the scene with six catches, 145 yards and three second-half touchdowns in his first NFL action — a 31-16 preseason win over Rex Ryan’s Jets on Aug. 1.”
Cruz’s injury situation has been repeated ad nauseam, so no need to do it again. But the team can’t bury its head in the sand either. Moving forward, Cruz should be a limited participant in practice. And the final roster should be configured in a way that acknowledges that Cruz may be unable to give you a full season.
And tonight, Cruz needs to give the team quality, not quantity. If we can see four to five legitimate targets from Manning, then that should be enough to judge.
Win The Final Score
Isn’t winning the final score tantamount to winning the game? Perhaps.
But in preseason, coaches and players do take every opportunity to declare victory while losing the actual game. That has to stop tonight.
Factually speaking, the G-Men ended their 2015 campaign by losing six of their final seven games. The team has lost its first two preseason games, and last week they weren’t in the contest.
There has been enough if’s and maybe’s to last a lifetime. Enough of excuses, like Jerry Reese’s post season presser, “We were close a lot of times. What if we win three or four of those games, two of those games? We’re not even having a conversation of some of the things we talk about here today.”
Instead how about more of Bill Parcell’s, “You are what your record says you are.”
Another loss, and the pressure builds exponentially. And a regular season game has not been played. There exists very little difference on the rosters of all four NFC east teams. The division clearly remains in play, especially with Tony Romo’s broken back.
On the other hand, this team, this locker room and this front office cannot expect that an “on” switch magically triggers a resurgence.