New York Giants: Preseason Week 2 Recap

Recap is going to cover a lot of the 1st half. I’ll throw some highlights and thoughts about the 2nd half as well.

1st quarter was not a good one for the Giants during week 2 of the preseason. Cruz went down with a bruised heal, Baas has a sprained MCL may be out 3-6 weeks. Bad LUCK struck as well with a circus play in the endzone.

I’ll start with the offense. David Wilson had a nice 21 yard run on the 2nd play from scrimmage.  The long run was followed by a long throw by Eli in which Cruz was interfered with. The drive ended on the 7 yard line after Brown could not get the 2 yards needed on 4th and 2 from the 7, again the Giants struggle in the “green zone”.  Hardy got Cruz’s reps in the slot and dropped a ball on the 2 yard line, leading to a field goal. 3rd drive, Brown was in the whole time. This is when the Giants busted out the “mach” offense, and the first play ended with an interception.

Cox had a nice 36 yard KR to kick off the Giants 2nd drive of the 2nd half. David Wilson showed he can be a receiving threat with a hard 16 yard catch and run. “Mach” made its appearance again, with a loss of 3 followed by a reception by Nicks for 20. DWilson then had a nice reception and juke move while one on one with a linebacker, if he were not on the sideline, probably would have been a very solid gain. Drive ended up stalling once again inside the 20 leading up to another field goal.

Pugh got his first reps at LT when the 2nd teamers came in, looked good. Barden had two solid catches in a row but that drive also stalled inside the 20, ending the half 17-9.

That’s it, here’s the defensive side of the ball:

With Webster out, Ross took his place to start at corner on the outside. First Colts drive, we saw the 3-4 defense on the 2nd play yet again with Tuck standing up and getting a good pass rush on Luck. Kiwi ended the drive with a solid stop on a 3rd down running play.

2nd drive we saw Tuck barely miss a sack, but from there Luck carved up the defense and the drive ended very LUCKily for the Colts. On 2nd and 3, Luck heaved the ball up to Reggie Wayne with Ross right there in perfect position for the pick. The ball bounced off Ross’s hands, up in the air, Wayne tipped it up, and ended up catching it in the endzone. A blown opportunity for the Giants leading to a Colts TD.

Next drive, Tuck continued to show his health with a batted pass at the line.

4th drive Tuck had another hit on the QB but the drive ended on an interesting play with Hosely in position on Hilton in the back corner of the endzone but seemed to miss time his jump and completely miss the ball, leading to a great catch by T.Y. for the TD.

When the 2nd teamers came in, Connor was still at MLB. Curry got burned BAD by a PA fake and Hasselbeck ran the ball for a 9 yard gain. The drive ended with a pick by Hosley after patterson blew through a double team to get a hit on the QB.

2nd Half Highlights

Sash looked good once again, knifing towards the line of scrimmage and making plays, obviously trying his hardest to stay on this team. Jacquain Williams seems to be a 3rd down linebacker and looked great in coverage.

Torain was getting plenty of carries as the 3rd running back for the Giants after being out last week, looked okay.

Ramses had a key drop on 3rd and 13 to bring up 4th

Bad luck struck the Giants once again as a 50 yard field goal banked off the left upright and in for the Colts.

Adrien Robinson had a bad false start on 3rd and 2 bringing the Giants back 5 which resulted in a sack the following play.

New wide receiver Marcus Harris had a nice grab for a first down

Cox came in with 1130 left in the game and not soon after caught a screen that went for 28.

They ran the same play again for 20 and the drive ended with a 47 hard field goal.

Will Hill finally got some snaps, made a nice play behind the line chasing the ball carrier down and also was close to blocking a punt.

Adalwale Ojomo loves playing against 3rd-4th stringers, blowing up plays in the backfield.

Nassib finally got in late in the 4th, showed nothing, line was awful again.

Conclusion:

The Giants still have a terrible time scoring inside the 20, this will be the downfall of this team if they can’t get it figured out (Calling Brandon Myers!) David Wilson had a much better game tonight with 8 for 35 and some nice receptions. Cruz and Baas leaving early hurt the offense. Nicks looked almost 100%. Tuck looked like his old self, getting into the backfield, knocking down passes but ended the game with a slight strain of a hammy. Pugh actually looked okay at LT, but Diehl had an awful game. I would like to see Pugh against first teamers at RT instead of Diehl, maybe 50-50 in reps. Did not see DaMonstah or Webster on defense that hurt as well.

“Mach” looked shaky to say the least. The pick is something I was worried about before the game and it happened. Hosley impressed with the pick and return and was in position for a play in the endzone. Ross can play, keeping up with Reggie is an accomplishment regardless of age. Besides Williams, none of the linebackers really impressed me. Ramses had a few nice catches despite the drop.

Cox needs to get more playing time versus the better defensive players. His screen passes were over shadowed by poor tackling techniques by the 3rd-4th stringers. I feel like he can contribute this year.

I am sure the team will fill in anything I missed. They do a great job, talk to you soon.