After the New York Giants opened the preseason with an absolute stinker against the Minnesota Vikings, the G-Men bounced back in a big way with a complete and utter annihilation of the Miami Dolphins in Preseason Game 2, walking away with a 26-3 statement win.
Big Blue looked like the better team all afternoon. Franchise quarterback Jaxson Dart did not see any action in the game, leaving Jameis Winston with the start. The 32-year-old had himself a hell of a first half -- he completed 15 of 21 passes for 150 yards, adding an 11-yard rushing touchdown because Famous Jameis is never not electric.
It was a much-needed bounceback after an underwhelming start to the John Harbaugh era. The vision is starting to come together at the right time, with one more preseason game against the Jets remaining on Friday. But before I get too far ahead of myself, it’s time to look at some winners and losers from Saturday’s win.
5 winners and 3 losers from Giants’ preseason win over the Dolphins
Winner: Darius Slayton
It’s been a while since Darius Slayton was a winner for his performance on the field. Sure, the three-year, $36 million extension he inked last year was a win for him, but he followed that up with a 37-reception, 538-yard, one-score season. So when he was a non-factor in the preseason opener, it felt like it might be the beginning of the end.
Then he finished Preseason Game 2 with four receptions and a team-leading 58 yards. He and Jameis Winston were in sync all day, and it finally felt like the break he needed with his WR2 spot never feeling more vulnerable.
Winner: Giants' defense
Is the Giants’ defense really this good, or is the Dolphins’ offense really that bad? That’ll be the question on everyone’s mind as they try to wrap their heads around the shellacking of the aqua and orange.
For all the years of “this is the year” talk, this might actually be the year. They held the Phins to three points, three first downs, and 102 total yards while forcing two turnovers and limiting them to just 19 minutes of possession. I want to believe this is the breakout we’ve been waiting for, but we’ll unfortunately have to wait until the regular season to find out.
Winner: Calvin Austin
When Big Blue signed the 27-year-old earlier in the offseason, the hope was that he’d bring his underrated receiving ability and special teams prowess to East Rutherford. And while he failed to make a difference against the Vikings, he did exactly what they brought him here to do against the Dolphins.
Austin only touched the ball four times, but three of those went for 10-plus yards. He caught both of his targets for 24 yards and added another 29 yards on two punt returns, including a long of 18. He’s excelling in the role NY was hoping for when they brought him in -- sounds like a winner to me.
Winner: Dominic Zvada
Harbaugh robbed us of a 62-yarder from the undrafted rookie last game, but he made up for it on Saturday, giving his 22-year-old kicker two chances to send the pigskin through the uprights.
Two words: Mission successful.
He first hit a 43-yarder to put the G-Men up 10, then knocked in another from 32 yards to close out the first half with New York leading 20-3. Not only did he pipe both of his field goal attempts, but he also made both of his extra-point attempts, finishing the game with eight points.
Winner: John Harbaugh
To say Saturday’s game was a must-win would be an insult to must-wins, but Big Blue’s 63-year-old HC needed a bounce-back in a big way. So for the G-Men to go belt-to-you-know-what for a full 60 minutes after doing much of nothing one week ago was a really encouraging sign.
No one’s expecting overnight success in Year 1, but after suffering through Sunday afternoons over the past several seasons, watching this team continue to be unwatchable would have been the absolute worst-case scenario. We’ll give him a one-preseason-game grace period for trash football, and from here on out, Saturday’s effort is what we’ll expect.
Loser: Tyrone Tracy Jr.
Just when you thought TTJ was working his way out of Harbaugh’s doghouse, the third-year back got an unfortunate case of the fumble bug. Late in the first quarter, following two rushes of 11 and 12 yards, the 26-year-old watched the football slip right through his hands at Miami’s 10-yard line to end the drive.
Just last week, Tracy completely missed a block on Vikings safety Jay Ward that ended with Dart taking a trip to the blue medical tent to get checked for a concussion. Harbaugh is not about the avoidable mental mistakes, and that’s now back-to-back weeks for the 2024 fifth-rounder. With Najee Harris now in the running back room, TTJ just can’t afford to make any more of these unforced errors.
Loser: Ben Sauls
Ben “Better Call Sauls” Sauls made both of his field goal attempts on Saturday. From that standpoint, he’s definitely not a loser. However, he’s in a Carolina-reaper-spicy kicking battle with Zvada, and the knock against Sauls has been that he doesn’t have the same leg strength or potential as his competitor.
With makes from 27 and 37 yards, Better Call Sauls had better call Harbs and ask him to give him an opportunity to prove he can keep up with the undrafted rookie because even his makes don’t mean much for the competition anymore.
Loser: Darnell Mooney
There was no bigger loser of New York’s impressive win than Darnell Mooney. You know it’s bad when you’re not hurt (that we know of) and you can’t even get run in a preseason game.
The seventh-year wideout is in the middle of a heated roster battle with about 45 other receivers on the Giants’ offseason roster, and not getting reps means not getting a chance to separate himself from the rest of the pack. It also strongly suggests that he could be on the move in a trade over the next couple of days.
Mooney’s name has been brought up in trade talks over the past couple of weeks, and being a literal non-factor in the win says a lot.
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