Post-game overreaction (Preseason Week 1: Giants 31; Jets 16)

Normally this column will appear shortly after the game ends, when I’m still feeling the adrenaline (and alcohol). Unfortunately, I was away for Monday night’s game and only saw the game in its entirety last night on my DVR.

The Giants’ preseason opener can be summed up in one word: sloppy. Their performance was marred by dropped passes, a blocked punt, a shanked punt, slips in the secondary, the goaline defensive personnel debacle,  miscommunications on routes, and of course “the audible” that resulted in the starting QB’s head being cut open. Still, they won the game. Now normally I would say winning or losing a preseason game is meaningless, but it was clear from the start the Jets were trying to win this thing. They kept their starters in a full half, and they ran multiple defensive fronts and multiple blitzes. They can say what they want, but they wanted to make a statement, and I’m not sure they really made one.  It just sits better with me knowing the G-men won the first game in the new stadium.  That being said, it would be hard to argue against the fact the Jets starters outplayed the Giants’ starters.  Long way to go for this team, but here’s my random observations after a single viewing of the game:

~ How about that Victor Cruz? I told you to keep an eye on this kid, but I had no idea the Paterson Catholic alum would put on this kind of performance. I thought Derek Hagan also played well. Sinorice Moss might want to start packing his bags.

~ I know I'm stating the obvious here, but the hit Eli Manning took was absolutely ridiculous.  He'll be fine, but its quite possible he'll miss the next preseason game (or 2) because I can't imagine him putting a helmet on until that cut is completely healed.  Not good considering he was clearly still out of sink with his receivers.

~ Barry Cofield was awful. He got a little pressure on pass plays but got pushed around on runs. Chris Canty and Rocky Bernard were not much better as the defense really struggled against runs up the middle. Jonathan Goff also struggled a bit at reacting to the run from his MLB spot and over-pursued on a few plays. On the bright side, I liked what I saw from Linval Joseph, who seemed to hold his ground better than Cofield or Bernard. I’d like to see him get some reps against Pittsburgh’s first team Saturday night.

~ Jason Pierre Paul played about how you might expect: inconsistently.

~ With the exception of the number he wore (#49, which I assume is due to a lack of available LB numbers), I really liked what I saw from Phillip Dillard. He doesn’t always get to the right spot, but he flies around with a lot of energy and seemed to attack the hole on running plays better than Goff. It looks like he has at least past Gerris Wilkinson on the MLB depth chart.

~ I think there is no point in trying to evaluate the starting offense's performance. They were up against one of the best defenses in the league (who didn’t seem to be holding back anything) with their top receiver, both starting guards, and their top 3 TE’s all out. That being said, there were too many miscues for a unit that has had the same coordinator for 4 years.

~ The makeshift O-Line the Giants put out Monday night was not very good, but William Beatty showed me he is at the very least willing to work hard. Beatty showed genuine hustle as he got down field on that long catch and run by Bradshaw. Beatty’s block downfield help spring Bradshaw for an extra 20 yards.

~ I thought both back-up QB’s played pretty well.

~ I realize the Giants were in a base cover-2 set all night, but the defense better figure out a way to get off the field on 3rd downs. They need to start by getting a better pass-rush, which was disappointing Monday night.

~ I liked that the first person to run up and congratulate Victor Cruz after his 3rd TD was defensive coordinator Perry Fewell. You don’t often see that.

~ It was interesting that Ramses Barden started over Mario Manningham. It was also interesting that Barden once again failed to translate his success in practice to the field.

~ The Giants special teams were absolutely awful. Poor tackling on coverage, absolutely no return game, and nothing went right with Dodge’s punts--a shank, a blocked kick, and one boomed out of the endzone when they were trying to pin the Jets inside the 20. The Giants are obviously still looking for someone to replace Hixon in the return game. If no one steps up, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the them pick someone up after cuts are made (remember they signed Hixon after week 2 in 2007).

~ Despite poor blocking, and really no significant rushing yards, I like what I saw from all of the Giants running-backs. I also like that Bradshaw seems to be the starter. Coming off the bench might help Jacobs.

~ Chris Canty has the most ridiculous facemask I’ve ever seen. It looks like something you’d strap Hannibal Lecter into.

~ So far they’ve called it just a sprained MCL, but I hope Blackburn isn’t out for too long. He’ll never be a full-time starter in the NFL, but he’s a solid back-up and special teammer.

~ I just have to hope the Giants are getting the injury bug out now. It will be a long year if this is a sign of things to come.