Giant Football Blog

Jets 20, Giants 12

The Giants dominated on the field but not on the scoreboard last night while their starters were in action against the Jets. It was a 12-6 Giants lead at halftime before the reserves finished up and faltered in a 20-12 preseason loss to the Jets at humid and sweaty Giants Stadium.

After the Jets struck suddenly for a 79-yard touchdown on the very first play, the Giants dominated the remainder of the first half, outgaining the Jets 201 to minus-13 in yardage. Playing the first half, Eli Manning (17 of 35, 146 yards, 1 TD) was solid but not especially productive. Continue

Preseason win is a Giant pain

The Giants' performance was better last night. The body count was worse. Any joy the Giants felt from their 13-12 preseason win over the Baltimore Ravens was tempered by the fact that they lost at least six players to injury, including one - receiver Michael Jennings - for the entire season. Safety Will Demps, tight end Jeremy Shockey, rookie receiver Steve Smith, cornerback Sam Madison and backup offensive lineman Grey Ruegamer all were hurt in the game.

Jennings is facing season-ending surgery for a ruptured Achilles tendon. Of the others, Demps' dislocated right elbow appeared to be the most serious, though he's optimistic he'll be sidelined for only two weeks. Continue

No defense for Big Blue

The Giants' former defensive coordinator, Tim Lewis, was on the Panthers' sideline last night, which is exactly where his old players wanted him. They're much happier playing for new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. They're just not much better, at least not yet.

Spagnuolo's new aggressive, attacking defense had an inauspicious debut as the Giants lost to the Carolina Panthers, 24-21, in their preseason opener at Giants Stadium. The Giants' starting defense - notably without Michael Strahan, of course - provided little resistance for the Panthers, surrendering a touchdown on the opening drive. It also was shredded by the Panthers on the ground. Continue

Open season

There wasn't much impressive about the way the Giants front-liners performed in last night's 31-23 preseason victory over the Patriots at sparsely-filled Giants Stadium. Not long after the starters hit the field, they escaped to the safety of the sideline, eager to move on to games that count.

"It's good to get the preseason over with and try to get started on the real season," linebacker Antonio Pierce said, "and get started with our goals, our quest to get to Miami this year." Continue

Giants go on faith

Just 15 days before opening night, the Giants' offense was in the middle of a not-ready-for-prime-time performance. But all it took was one look around the huddle for Plaxico Burress to know everything would be all right. "We've got a lot of weapons on this offense," Burress said. "All we had to do was settle down and make plays, and when we do that, we can pretty much do whatever we want to do."

Maybe he's right, but last night it was a surprising struggle in the Giants' 13-7 preseason win over the Jets at the Meadowlands. Against a rebuilding Jets defense, the Giants managed only one penalty-aided touchdown and a 39-yard field goal out of eight first-team drives. And their first four drives went nowhere at all. Continue

A Giant step forward

All the Giants' offensive pieces were back in place last night, and that's all it took for them to look like their old selves again. With Tiki Barber and Jeremy Shockey back in the lineup, the Giants' first-team offense lit up the Kansas City Chiefs, scoring two touchdowns on its three first-half possessions. It was a vast improvement over the Giants' shaky start a week ago and sparked a 17-0 preseason win, spoiling Herm Edwards' return to the Meadowlands.

From the moment the Giants opened the game with a 20-yard end-around to receiver Tim Carter, it was clear their offense had already found its groove. Eli Manning completed 11 of his 14 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown, Barber ran five times for 22 yards, and Shockey (one catch, 10 yards), Plaxico Burress (2-22) and Amani Toomer (2-14, TD) combined for five catches and 46 yards. Continue

For openers, it's sloppy Giants'win

Tom Coughlin was able to find two good things about last night's preseason opener. The first was that the Giants pulled out a last-second win. The second was that his starters left plenty of things for him to work on at camp during the next few weeks.

Thanks to a 57-yard punt return for a touchdown by Michael Jennings and a 29-yard field goal by Jay Feely as time expired, the Giants beat the Baltimore Ravens, 17-16. But the result had little to do with the starters on either side of the ball. The offense, led by quarterback Eli Manning (4-for-7, 74 yards), looked out of sync against the Ravens' first-team defense. And the defense looked awful against the Ravens' first-team offense and worse, according to Coughlin, it was "soft" up front. Continue