Consider yourself lucky if you missed the game. All you need to do is read this recap and you’re done. Count your blessings that you were not subjected to 60 minutes of preseason horrendousness.
There are no winners in preseason. Abdication is better. It is why coaches have been reducing meaningful player exposure to the point where embedded starters get one/two appearances and that’s it. Steve Young calls September the new preseason- teams are just trying to get in enough work to get the f#$& out of there.
Watching preseason is an exercise in masochism. Whether your team wins or loses, it loses something.
Could this game have been any worse?
1) OBJ’s season flashes before our eyes, called ankle sprain. (Seen walking on sideline in H2.)
2) Run Blocking is pathetic.
3) Ereck Flowers pass protection continues to look shoddy. No improvement from bad 2016.
4) Specials punt coverage is shoddy.
5) Shep nauseating turnover.
6) Marshall shoulder injury (extent?)
7) 2 ugly turnovers in the red zone. Geno brain fart and Gallman handoff.
8) 2 consecutive games without a TD.
The Defense picked up where it left off. Dominating. Olivier Vernon deflected one pass which was picked off by JPP. He had a pass defensed downfield against a TE. He (0.5) sacked the QB and had another QB hit. According to Gruden, he played with a broken hand for 94% of the snaps in 2016. (We knew about the broken hand, but were not aware it was 15 out of 16 games.) Back to health in 2017, he should be an integral part of a suffocating D.
Engram and Goodson look like they are ready to make the leap to the speed of the pro game.
If there is ANY good news at all from training camp and these destructive preseason games, it is that the Giants have likely found themselves a young kicker in Aldrick Rosas.
Here is a perfect example of why preseason matters less. The Giants are in 2nd and 5 in drive #2 of Q1, they bring in a TE and FB for what is an obvious power set. Perkins has nothing and runs wide with 15 Brown defenders in pursuit. The Giants are not going to get much there when the Defense expects run. Shocking, they lose 1 yard. At least in the real world of the regular season, the Giants MAY pass the ball. But not here. The opposing defense knows this too, so they play vanilla run.
The true message of this game is- can we get the %$@* out of here and end the preseason? Yes, we understand (via Mark Schlereth) that while “preseason does not count, (but) it matters.” It really matters for guys trying to earn roster spots. It still matters for the OL; they need to improve.
Summary: We saw very little improvement. The Defense is very solid. The Offense (particularly the OL and run game) continues to struggle. FGs and no TDs. Punt coverage is still an adventure. And injuries may or may not set the team back. Fingers crossed that our starting WRs are both okay. Two more episodes of Survivor before the cast and crew can return to the real world’s regular season games. It can’t happen soon enough.
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