Giants Win!

Last night, the Giants went into Pittsburgh and won their preseason game.   Big receivers, Kris Adams broke his leg, and Guard Chris DeGeare also needed the cart to come out for him.  So best wishes to both of those guys as they recover.   They were both sort of intriguing.    There was a lot of good news, though.     First off, the Giants didn't draw a single penalty till the 4th quarter, when the remainered OL started jumping and Ryan Nassib drew a delay of game.  

Also, specials looked mostly excellent, high lighted by a blocked punt by Damontre Moore,  a forced fumble courtesy of Zak DeOssie, a dead solid 47 yarder by new kicker Josh Brown - who also buried his kickoffs - and a nice punt return by Jernigan.  Brown did miss one FGA and that was really the only blot on specials.  

The defensive line looked deep and talented even in the absence of JPP and Tuck.   Damontre Moore got a bunch of pressures, and Adewale Ojomo, and Justn Trattou each had a sack or two.   Cullen Jenkins looked like a keeper.   His sack of Big Ben forced the punt that Moore would bock.

The makeshift OL's were decent enough, but they couldn't coordinate any run blocks.   Thus Brown, Wilson and Scott weren't terribly impressive.  Brown even muffed a pitch and turned it over   On the plus side, all three of them were able to catch passes, which we haven't really had since Tiki.     In the late going, Michael Cox ran angry and witch some nice results.  

Eli was Eli.   He hit Victor Cruz for a 57 yard TD, after sliding up in the pocket and avoiding some heat.   A couple of plays earlier he hit Reuben Randle on a third and long.    He and Randle had been unable to connect earlier on a deep pass, and at the goal line after the punt block.   But the third down catch was with some yards after it was Nicks-ish, and opened up the bomb down the seem to Cruz a few plays later.

Carr was Carr.   Made some nice throws but bogged down and missed Jernigan deep.  Jernigan did have a catch or two to go along with his nice punt return.  

Curtis Painter played the third corner.  The line really struggled in front of him.   His one good play was a quick hitter to Scott.

Nassib was a typical rookie.   He got sacked a few times but fortunately didn't fumble.   He had a shotgun snap from McCants go into the endzone, for a Steeler TD, and later lead a field goal drive, which was highlighted by a pass he made to Julian Talley.    It was typical 4th quarter preseason game garbage.

None of the the TE's really shined.   Adrien Robinson had a little catch, and Larry Donnell almost made a few plays.   Donnell will need to shine a little brighter going forward if he wants to validate the hype he provokes in practice.

The linebackers, other than Jacquian Williams, looked crummy.   Nobody else made any plays.

The DB's on the other hand, looked pretty good.  Tyler Sash had a big game including a sack and a fumble recovery on specials.   That was a lot more like the Football Player we expected him to be when he was drafted.   Will Hill also had a game saving shoestring tackle.  Coverage was pretty good all around.

So in all, it was a pretty decent game.   Let's see if they can keep limiting penalties.  The deep pass also looks like it will be a big part of O.   Good special teams would be a nice theme.  And the pass rush was back for a night, even without JPP and Tuck.

They still need to do major work on establishing the run and defending the run.   But they have time and talent.   So that should work out.  Go Giants!