The Good the Bad and the Ugly
The Good
Another Ho hum day for the Giant running backs….the big three were all at 4 or more a carry and the group finished with a 5 yard average. Bradshaw looked great (expect a terrific year from a kid who is far more then just a change of pace), Ware dominated the scrubs, nothing new here. Brandon Jacobs was solid and x-rays were negative on his forearm, but he returned and fumbled after corralling the ball in his other arm (a slight concern). I wouldn’t be surprised to see Brandon out for week 4 of the pre-season. Still this unit, along with the O-line, is the strength of the Giant offense and continues to show why.
David Carr looked better, but still continues to hold on to the football for far too long. There are many times he has the opportunity to make the smart play and throw the ball away but he continues to take the sack instead. Still this was a vast improvement from weeks one and two.
As usual Eli was very effective in the no-huddle offense, which lead to a 60 yd TD drive.
Brandon Jacobs is catching the ball in the pre-season.
The Bad
Overall this was another disappointment for the receiving core. This unit desperately needs to show up if Brandon Jacobs doesn’t want to see a wall of 8 on every run. The lone bright spot was 1st rounder Hakeem Nicks who welcomed himself to the NFL with 6 catches for 144 yards and 2 td’s, but (yep there’s a but) he did all this against two Jets who may not be around come opening day. Alright one more somewhat bright spot, Mario Manningham. Manning seemed to target Mario often and he responded with 4 catches for 41 yards through 2.5 quarters, but he too dropped a deep ball. I believe Steve Smith will emerge as Manning’s number one guy but his deep drop last night didn’t help to inspire confidence. Speaking of drops Hixon was a non-factor and put one on the ground himself, but perhaps the most disappointed wide-out should be Sinorice Moss who didn’t even get a chance to drop a ball. Moss barely saw the field. This could be a sign that Moss will be gone come cut day, although Coughlin did say he wanted to see more of Barden and Nicks. For the most part Manning and the receivers looked out of sync, and when they were on the same page there were far too many drops for Eli to be effective. There is still time but it’s running out, no doubt Giant fans will continue to watch the Brandon Marshall situation, althought there is a good chance that the current unit is the one that will take the field week one.
The Ugly
Tough day for Darcy Johnson. One drop (although it was a tough catch on his back shoulder) a holding penalty and he may have helped get David Carr destroyed by Vernon Gholston (although only the tape will tell). By the way I assume that is the first and last time Gholston gets to a QB all year, not suprised it came in an unblocked fashion, sorry but the work out warrior seems to be just that.
De’andre Wright got completely turned around by Aundrae Allison for a TD reception and may be loosing the battle against Stoney Woodson for the last cb spot.
Far too many missed tackles.
Kevin Dockery did not impress on the outside.
Rich Seubert came back from injury but only played one quarter, according to the coaching staff this was a precautionary.
