Post-Game Overreaction (Preaseason Week 2: Giants 17; Steelers 24)

~ All things considered, I think Rhett Bomar played pretty well.  Would have liked to see him do a little more against the Steelers' backups but he hung in against a good defense (and a ton of pressure) in the first half.  With the exception of  interception at the end of the half--which was either a miscommunication or an awful pass--he played smart, and looks capable of being a back-up in this league.

~ The stadium looked a lot better in blue

~ Hakeem Nicks: if you're going to get thrown out of a game, at least get your money's worth.


~ Ahmad Bradshaw looks like he's set for a big year.  DJ Ware (until he got knocked out) and Andre Brown looked good as well.

~ Tom Coughlin benched Bradshaw and Antrel Rolle to start the game for being late to a meeting--I'm not sure benching two veterans in a preseason game is much of a punishment.

~ Jason Pierre Paul looked slow and timid.  I'm guessing he was confused, because he never looked timid in college.  All-in-all an absolutely awful performance.

~ Linval Joseph played well with the first teamers, but struggled with the second team.  He seemed to play more shaded on the center with the second team (which drew more double-teams), although I'd have to watch the game more closely to determine if that is true or not.  Either way, the Giants still lack a DT who can really take on a double team, and this could be a big issue going forward.

~ It's understandable, but Keith Bulluck looked really slow.  Kind of like a guy who hadn't played football in a long time.

~ It's good to know that Steve Smith is still really really good.

~ Overall, the defense definitely looked better.  Fewell showed a lot more looks last night.  It's a lot harder to play against this defense when you don't automatically know they are in cover-2.

~ Osi Umenyora and Justin Tuck played very well.  Tuck had to enjoy running by Flozell Adams

~ The Giants offense need to get at least most their starters back by next week if they are going to find any kind of rhythm before the start of the season.

~ Has Clint Sintim made a tackle yet?

~ Matt Dodge is not very good.  Maybe one day he will be, but do you really want to develop a punter?  If he doesn't get it together the Giants really need to start looking for other guys to bring in.

~ I'm glad Tom Coughlin kicked the field goal in the 4th quarter.  It's more useful to get your kicker practice from 40+ yards in live action than it is to see if your back-up QB can complete a 4th and 13 pass. 

~ I've been down on him since the Giants picked him up last year, but I have to admit Rocky Bernard played pretty well.  Chris Canty was disruptive at times too.

~ Aaron Ross is clearly the team's best option as a punt returner.  Still not sure who's going to handle kick-offs.  Andre Brown runs hard but he's not a play maker.  Then again, the blocking on kick returns has been so bad I'm not sure Devin Hester could make anything happen.

~ Victor Cruz may not of had the game he hoped for, but he actually played pretty well at receiver.  Scratch him off the punt returner depth chart though.

~ Still waiting on Travis Beckum do something...anything.


~ Don't panic about the O-line, they'll be OK once Snee gets back.