Aug

19

2008

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Preseason Week 2 Review - Giants 37, Browns 34

07:16AM by PLam

Ah, much better.  After a sluggish preseason opener last week, the Giants’ starters shook off the rust and looked like a team that wanted to defend its Super Bowl title.  The final score of Giants 37, Browns 34, did not tell the story of the starters, where the Giants dominated with a 23-3 first quarter blowout.

Before getting too excited by this performance, it’s important to remember that (a) this is a preseason game that has little meaning for projecting overall regular season results, and (b) this was the Cleveland Browns, who despite a 10-6 record last year ranked 30th in team defense in the NFL.  But it was good to see the team play with vigor and speed, and to see the execution at a level that was much higher than last week.

OFFENSE:

The Giants were missing their top 3 receivers (Burress, Toomer and Smith), but that didn’t matter.  Domenik Hixon was a complete stud, scoring on two excellent mid/deep receptions as well as returning a free kick all in the first quarter.  He reminds me of a young Terry Glenn, with excellent speed and good hands.  He learned his lessons about dragging his feet near the sideline well (after missing on a fabulous grab last week with a 2nd foot out of bounds).  Talent-wise, I think he will push Steve Smith for the #3 WR spot this year.  And I think the Giants’ 4-receiver set this year will be extremely dangerous.  Sinorice Moss was able to stretch the field a little, but I think he is definitely on the bubble here.  None of the other receivers really stood out in this game, so Moss didn’t do anything to hurt his status as the #5 WR.  But the fact that (it appears) he is no longer being considered in the kick-/punt-return game is a big strike against him; I would be shocked if the Giants kept a #5 WR that didn’t contribute on special teams.  Among the other receivers, I thought Craphonso Thorpe showed some talent, but it was apparent to me that he needs to get physically stronger as he seemed to get pushed around a bit.  Michael Jennings was hot and cold, making some tough catches but missing some easy ones.  I was disappointed that Brandon London didn’t make an impact.

The Giants’ running game looked tremendous.  Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw looked like they did last season, all running with conviction and power.  Jacobs could have done better to secure the ball, but the Browns’ defender did put a nice hit on it.  Bradshaw redeemed himself from his alligator-arms last week to pull in a nice catch this week.  And like last week, Ward did not look like a player who was coming back from a broken leg.  Among the new players, Danny Ware was amazing.  Keeping in mind that Keith Elias at some point looked pretty good against 3rd string backups in preseason, Ware looked like the second coming of Bo Jackson.  I’ve said earlier in the off-season that Reuben Droughns would stick with the team because his contract was friendly for a veteran player who contributed as a backup HB, FB, and special teams.  But Ware looks too talented to give up on at this point.  How this guy ended up on the Jets practice squad is mind-boggling to me; but then again, Derrick Ward was also a Jets practice squad player, so perhaps the Jets have always put highly talented runningbacks on their practice squad.  And even Kay-Jay Harris was looking pretty good until he got injured (by what looked like to me a horse-collar tackle).  Initial reports on Harris’ injury is that it’s an ankle (based on his reaction, I thought he tore up his knee).

For the QBs, Eli Manning looked solid.  Nice accuracy on his deep balls, good anticipation on this short/midrange throws.  Good pocket presence and mobility.  A big improvement over last week.  For the backups, I thought that Anthony Wright struggled a little bit.  He wasn’t as decisive and comfortable as he was last week, perhaps because the Oline wasn’t protecting him as well and he was getting hit a little bit.  David Carr, on the other hand, appeared to be a little more comfortable than he was last week, and he was asserting himself more to his teammates.  I hope that Carr gets to play with the 2nd string offense next week to see a more apples-to-apples comparison against Wright.  Andre Woodson made his debut and it was nothing special.

DEFENSE

The starting defense played well.  In this game, the defensive line definitely asserted itself with its pass rush, forcing Cleveland QBs into hurried throws.  As much as our DEs get a lot of praise, I thought that Barry Cofield and especially Fred Robbins at DT looked particularly good, even though the Giants weren’t quite as good against the run as they should have been.  Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora both looked like they were in mid-season form.  Of the backups, I continue to like what I see from Renaldo Wynn.

For some reason, I didn’t feel like the linebackers made much of an impact in this game.  Antonio Pierce and Danny Clark were active and did nice jobs on stretching running plays out wide, but I didn’t see a lot of playmaking from the LB spot.  Perhaps its because the DL was playing so well.

I didn’t hear Aaron Ross or Corey Webster’s names much, which is an excellent sign for cornerbacks.  When the second team came in, the Browns seemed to pick on Kevin Dockery, and despite giving up a TD, I thought Dockery did pretty well.  The TD should have been an INT, because Dockery had excellent position and caught the ball, but he didn’t secure it quite as well as he should have, and the receiver was able to rip the ball out and take it for a TD.  Among the other backup CBs, Terrell Thomas did not have as good a game as he did last week, but he still showed good physical skills; he just needs to be more decisive with his play.  At the safeties, Sammy Knight had a good game, and James Butler got a TD off a fumble recovery (not all that impressive, since the fumble was not forced).  Kenny Phillips again showed excellent explosiveness, but was not in on as many plays as he was last week.  Michael Johnson really needs to step his game up, and he appeared to not have very good closing speed.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Domenik Hixon: Stud.  No question that Hixon is the best kick and punt returner on the team at this point.  Bradshaw looked a little better on returns this week compared to last week, but especially on punt returns, his decision-making seemed a little iffy; he let a couple of punts bounce when he shouldn’t have, and he grabbed a bouncing ball with defenders just a little too close.

Nice job by Droughns to push his blocker into a punt, blocking it enough to cause a safety.  I do get the sense that Droughns is in better physical condition this year than he was last year.  Will it be enough to keep him?  At this point, I think Danny Ware has the edge.

Overall, this was a good showing by the Giants.  Yes, giving up 34 points was lame, but the starters only gave up 3.  The backups, particularly on offense, looked pretty solid, so I look at this game and the Giants’ performance as a good step towards their regular season preparation.